Last night Cash was talking and talking and talking - i guess he had a lot to say after camping and getting back to school. He asked me all sorts of questions about hair and how your skin knows how to grow hair and where it is and why it is different colors and why Slider's skin makes her hair white. Then it got interesting...he started asking me about different colors of dogs. And asked how "guard dogs" knew where to walk when they helped people. Then it became obvious that he was talking about "guide dogs". Then he asked if Cooper needed a "guard dog". I said, "Why would Cooper need a guide dog?" Cash said, "Because he is blonde."
So then we talked about the difference between the words "blonde" and "blind".

updates

Cooper is now a full-fledged BIG BOY. and please don't call him a baby or little guy or anything of the sort because he will immediately stop what he is doing and shout at the top of his lungs, "NO! I am a big boy, I wear big boy underpants." So, he's potty trained - woo hoo, that saves us some money at school. We decided that we would give all our diapers to baby Noah and started wearing underpants a couple weekends ago. He wore diapers to bed twice, pee'd in the bed once and now we're on a roll. He even will have a little tiny sip of water at bed time and then say, "i have on underpants so i can't drink too much." He gets it. Even his #2's are getting better - Cooper has always had a rough time with #2 - something about the shape of his tail - but he's got the hang of it now and loves to make everyone proud of the huge and stinky poop he puts in the potty. Hey, it's better than outside on the patio!

Cash is an awesome swimmer. He really loves to swim and is so brave. He can totally do it but freaks himself out sometimes when he thinks about swimming in the big pool without his vest on. But then he does it and is so proud of himself. he is working on not plugging his nose. I bet swimming with Wiley at the beach will be the highlight of his summer. He's a bit of  a daredevil though and I wish he would slow down when he's around the pool. he'll take a running start and cannonball into the spa - he's headed for danger but wont listen. Cash is also going camping in Oregon with Chandler and the Martin Sr.s on Friday.

The boys also started a new school this week. Based on how poorly they did at their spring break school (crying all day, every day) Chandler and I were very concerned about this transition but surprisingly they did wonderfully. I don't love the school as much as I did UNLV but it is less than a mile from our house and we needed to not have such a lengthy commute every day for our sanity. So we are starting them with summer camp and they'll stay for the school year starting in August. They made playdough on Monday which seemed to really get them excited for the place. I was really surprised and happy to know that Cooper really didn't cry at all after we left. It helped that he started the day in the same room as Cash and saw a few familiar faces when Noah and Lindsey came in. Coop did ask if he was going back to his regular school today - so we haven't quite grasped the concept but we'll get there. Cash was a rockstar as usual but we are still fighting the urge to call the teacher (whose name is Mrs. Butler) Mrs. Stinky BUTTler.

I tell you all that to tell you this, the boys have been awful lately. We are at our wits end and ready to pack them into a box and ship them off somewhere. Just terrible. Terrible behavior. Terrible attitudes. Terrible at listening. Terrible, terrible, terrible. They wont go to bed nicely, they wake up and fight. Just the worst. We're hoping it's a phase. Cash is a smart aleck and gets Cooper to do naughty things. He doesn't listen and purposefully defies us. Cooper is so annoying when he laughs in your face when you try to correct him and he hits, punches, kicks and scratches. Cash got TV taken away last night. Send help.

Dentist

Well, since Wiley is doing it we better post our dentist story too.
the boys both saw the dentist this week. Cash had a much better time than he did last year. Last year he wouldn't even stand by himself to get x-rays and i had to hold him to let the dentist brush his teeth but this time he did everything. He sat in the fun chair all by himself, got x-rays taken, let the hygienist clean and floss his teeth and then the dentist came in and counted his teeth and used the laser to see where the weak spots were. He has our family's deep grooves and is at high risk for cavities. The laser (which i would have really liked to have had when I was little) is used to feel for weak spots in the dentin instead of that little pick thing that i got poked with. Cash has quite a few weak spots and one dark spot between his back molars - which will sure turn into a cavity soon. There is another spot on the other side that looks similar but not as imminent. The dentist wants us to come back so she can give him a filling and put sealant on all his other back teeth. He'll need sedation and gas for that. yikes. Also, sealant isn't covered by insurance so that'll be $20 a pop.
I am torn between sealing his teeth or not. On one hand these are just baby teeth and they'll fall out. But on the other I would do anything possible to keep him from having the same traumatic experience I did when I was young. And just because they are baby teeth it doesn't mean they will fall out before he gets cavities and if he gets cavities in them he'll still need fillings.

And Cooper's experience was a joke. He wouldn't even let the dentist look in his mouth. but when he was leaving he gave her a hug and a high five.

Well, i guess we know what kind of teenager Cooper is going to be

This morning Cooper must have been very tired because he was still sleeping at 7am. We usually leave the house between 7:15 and 7:30 so I needed to get him moving so he could get dressed and have breakfast. I went up to his room and he was sleeping so soundly I was able to get his clothes out of his drawers without him stirring at all. When I left the room I left the door open. A few minutes later we were downstairs gathering up our things for school and work and heard Cooper's door slam. We thought he had gotten up and closed it behind him like he normally does in the mornings when he comes into our room. But the door was closed and there was no sign of Cooper. Chandler went upstairs to see where he was and as he poked his head in the door Cooper said, from back in his bed, "no, i'm sleeping!"
He had gotten up, closed the door and gotten back into the bed for some more sleep. We were late today.

Cash is gathering quite an army. his latest acquisition is Chuck Norris. Chuck is a total badass and can do anything and is better than a Jedi.
Now he wants to take Kung Fu/Karate classes.

Scarlet Fever

we can add another illness to the baby book. Cooper had Scarlet Fever last week. After a fantastic long weekend of playing and general happiness we noticed a rash on Cooper's belly. It didn't seem to be bothering him at all so we just chalked it up to rolling around in the grass or something. Just to be sure we made him a last minute appointment at the doctor's. The next morning the rash looked better - less raised and red - so we took him to school and canceled the appointment. A couple hours later the school called. We needed to come pick up Cooper. He's not allowed back in his classroom until we have a note from the doctor explaining the rash. It got a little sticky since Chandler and I both had pretty busy days and no real options. I had to leave in the middle of a big meeting/workshop to go get him. I took him to the doctor and to everyone's surprise the rash was from the streptococcus virus (also causing strep throat). He walked away with another 10 days of antibiotics since his ear infection hasn't gone away yet.
The good news is that he never acted sick or had a fever. The doctor even remarked that she didn't think it would be strep since he's not acting sick at all. He only once or twice complained that his ear hurt. I'm ready for spring to spring and these germs to be gone.

Sick. Again.

It seems that the Martins have been very sick for the past few months. Much sicker than they've ever been. Starting in about November we've been taking some sort of medicine or another.
Last Friday the boys woke up coughing and before anything got too out of control I got them into the doctor. I had heard the cough before when Cash had croup so I didn't want to have to go down that path again. Turns out the boys were in need of a doctor but they had completely different ailments.
Cooper had a double ear infection and croup. Cash had a sinus infection (i hope this is why he was picking his nose so much) and laryngitis. They both got some antibiotics and are on the road to recovery - again.
We also got prescription strength lotion for their poor hands. They wash their hands at school every time they turn around and Cash has some pretty nasty rashes from how dry his skin gets. I was even worried that he's caused scaring and permanent discoloration. So hopefully we can remember to put this lotion on them 2x a day.

Parker, AZ

This weekend we went to Parker, Arizona to go "camping" with Grandma and Poppy. They have the trailer down there at Buckskin Mountain State Park so we thought it would be fun to catch up with them. We left after breakfast on Saturday morning and were home for baths and bedtime on Sunday night. It was the perfect amount of time.
The camp ground is very nice and right on a section of the Colorado River. As soon as we got there the boys raced for the water and started playing in it despite how freezing the water was. The dog enjoyed fetching sticks out of the water. We played in the water, in the little playground, went for walks, got out the old action figures, made a camp fire, ate, ate, ate, made s'mores and ate some more.
We actually didn't do any "roughing" it in the traditional sense. After the s'mores were finished we went down the road a few miles and stayed in a hotel for the night. Everyone was pretty tired so they slept well but woke up bright and early ready to get back to G&P's trailer. We were there in time for breakfast. On Sunday we played more (constantly) and after lunch and one last run into the water we hit the road. Everyone, including the dog, was asleep before we pulled out of the gas station. Although that didn't last too long and they woke up and the rest of the drive home was very, very long with tired children. We needed to stop for each child's "needs" at least twice. Once was on the side of the highway when Cooper pulled the lid off his juice and was soaked from the neck down!
It really was a fun weekend though and the boys loved the warm weather and the adventure.

Cooper can now climb out of his crib. At first this was not welcomed but now it has made life so much easier. If he can continue to understand that he can only get out of his crib when the sun comes up (and not in the middle of the night) we'll be ok. For a few nights he was getting up at 2 and 3 am. He would climb out and come into our bed or go into Cash's room - either way, the whole house was up (except for me, i was out of town). Chandler handled it well and this weekend we implemented a reward chart for all boys who stayed in their beds the whole night. We've got 3 stars across the board - time for some rewards. The cutest part is that Cooper will come out of his bed after a nap or in the morning, crack the door open and say "peek-a-boo".

Cash has a cough again but has been sleeping well despite that.

The boys tend to get in each other's craw quite a bit lately. Cooper is an antagonist and Cash likes to be left alone. These two things do not mix. Cooper is also a morning person and Cash is not. There are countless learning opportunities here - I just hope we begin to learn soon. Cash is and has always been a hot head but seems to really react positively to emotionless redirection and positive reinforcement. We've noticed that he hits and pushes far too much for our liking. If we can catch it early and send him to time-out or for some "quiet time by himself" without yelling or emotion he does much better. We have to remove him from the situation early and often though or it escalates and someone ends up in tears. Cooper is getting a few time outs for bothering Cash but mostly he just needs to stay out of his way. I really hope these boys will become friends soon.

almost back to reality

we've had over 2 weeks off. together. we are exhausted and well rested all at the same time. it's been great to have all this quality time but i think we're all ready to get back into the routine that the Martins love. Even school-hating Cash has asked me a couple times in the past two days when he goes back to school.
Believe it or not, the preschool is closed for another two weeks but they have a special-session childcare for these two weeks before actual school is back in session. When they go back the boys will be combined into two larger classes. This means that Cash gets to be with the classroom above him. And Cooper as well. Hopefully they do well. Cooper's teacher left at the end of last year so we are waiting to hear who his new teacher will be.
The boys had a great Christmas as you can see from the Flickr pics. We are so lucky to have had such a mild winter (even milder than usual) and it's been in the upper 60's since Christmas so the boys have been out in the street driving their new Jeeps around or batting with their new swords. We've been having lots of playdates with Devin and Riley.
Tuesday morning back to school is going to hit us hard. very hard.