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.

a note on naptime

for a while there we let Cash give up his afternoon nap on the weekends. We thought he was over it or outgrowing a nap. But we were walking on eggshells as to not upset him and miserable come 6pm. and continuing the misery when we tried to get Cash to fall asleep.

For the past few weekends we have reinstated the naptime for Cash - against his will for sure! But we forced him to lay down and sleep. it wasn't easy but Chandler and i are sort of experts when it comes to being tough about sleep so we knew if we just forced it, Cash would succumb (sooner rather than later).

I find that he is obviously a better, nicer, easier boy if he sleeps - even for an hour - and that he falls asleep faster when it is bed time. Whereas he was laying in bed talking, singing and carrying on for hours (and hours) when he wouldn't nap, now he is asleep within 20-30 minutes.

It just goes to show that kids need sleep. And sleep really effects them. positively and negatively.

disclaimer: I am lucky that my kids are both good sleepers naturally and there is probably only so much a parent can do to get their child to sleep if it isn't in them to sleep.

its hard to be taken seriously when you're laughing. last night Cash had a rough time going to bed. actually, he had a hard time staying in bed. after a few times of getting out we told him that if he got out of bed we'd have to close his door. knowing that he really wants to have his door open when he falls asleep this is usually enough of a deterrent. he go out of bed. we shut the door. he cried and got back in bed. once we opened the door, a few minutes later he got out of bed. when we closed the door for the second time he howled "Oh no! Not again!" and the sobbed. we were both cracking up. it was such a funny thing to hear come out of the little guy. he eventually fell asleep with his door open.

i wish i could bottle yesterday

our weather was perfect and our kids were perfect! Cash isn't wearing diapers anymore. i am not buying another pack so he's in underpants and totally gets it. he didn't have a single accident all weekend. we even went pee in a restaurant and store bathroom. this morning when he woke up his diaper was completely dry. the morning pee is usually the hardest to catch because Cash wakes up in a bit of a fog and it takes him a few minutes before he wants to engage. this is usually when he does his morning pee. this morning though he woke up and daddy got him to pee on the potty!
Cash also did an amazing job sleeping last night. he did not have a nap and went straight to bed (after watching a little bit of Dora) and didn't make a peep. he stayed in his bed all night with the door open. he slept from 8pm to 7am. just how we like it.

minor set back

we've had a lot of crying tonight. lots of whimpering. and more crying. begging. pleading. hopefully he'll wear himself out. before he wears us out.
he had a good day though. wore underpants all day without an accident. although i think he holds it when he's not wearing a diaper. he really only pee'd three times.

i think we have a winner

tonight we did the routine with Cash. asked him if he wants the door open or closed [open]. asked him what would happen if he got out of bed [close the door]. so what should he do [stay in bed]. he didn't get out of bed one time. he did cry and whine for a little while (20 minutes) but he didn't get out of bed, not at all. he even dropped his dummy off the side of the bed and called out to daddy to come and get it!
next we have to get rid of the dummy.

happy campers

so far so good. we have been working on a new sleep solution for Cash and it seems to be working. he has chosen to have his door open when he sleeps. that's just fine with us. but the rule is, if you get out of bed we close your door for 5 minutes. he gets out of bed and we close the door. he is very unhappy about this and usually cries for the whole 5 minutes. we go back, open the door and ask him to get back in bed. repeat "do you want the door open or closed? [open, ok]. if you get out of bed we have to close the door and it will be longer next time. please stay in your bed so you can keep the door open."
the first night he got out of bed 3 times and came into our bed at 4am. the second night he got out of bed 1 time, whimpered for a while and then fell asleep. he woke up at 3:30am and turned on his light (?). I explained the process and he got out of bed, door closed (for a shorter period since it was the middle of the night), he didn't like it. got back in bed and slept until 7am.
the best part. the best part of all...he was such a happy camper this morning. he was pleasant, no whining, no complaining, no bossing. just the picture of perfection - sweet, kind, funny, loving. it is really obvious now how a good night (plenty of rest and no fighting/crying) really effects him in a positive way.
i'm on cloud nine right now! we can do this. we can get our good sleeper back.

The Cashmonster

Cash is a challenge. he is a totally different boy than from a year ago - obviously. but if you has asked me a year ago i would have told you that he was perfect and that he'll always be perfect. no so. he is a great kid and lots and lots of fun. he is so funny and witty and has amazing comedic timing (whether he knows it or not). Chandler and I often remark that we love him so much during the day we just wish the sun would never set. He is an actual werewolf or vampire or gremlin. Choose whatever analogy you like, something happens to the kid when the sun goes down. He turns into a sassy, misbehaving, opinionated, rude little stinker who will fight us until midnight to not go to bed. we've tried everything (which i believe to be the root of the problem) and nothing seems to work to get the kid to sleep. you all know that we used to be able to put him in bed, turn around and walk away and it would be 7am before we would hear from him again. now he's up until midnight, waking in the night and up at 5am. something ain't right. we can't seem to get him to stay in bed or not cry for hours. door closed, door open - doesn't matter. rewards charts - puuhh-leeeeze. incentives - nope. discipline - ha! staying with him seems to be the only thing that works but still that takes hours. Chandler and i have really come to our whit's end with this problem. last night i was wishing that the Supper Nanny would come flying down our chimney.
i know we have to figure out a plan and stick with it. we thought that was locking him in his room and letting him cry it out but this kid can cry it out for hours. and that's a lot easier said than done when you have a baby sleeping in the next room. And then he threw a wrench in that plan when he said that he wanted the door open (another tactic on his part but it hit me right in the mommy-heart). so now we were trying the "trust" plan. "we'll leave the door open if you can stay in your bed" - didn't happen.
anyway, Martinville is the new City that doesn't Sleep

Cooper 7 months

Cooper can go from laying down to sitting up. its pretty fascinating to watch him do it. he is also not crawling yet but he definitely gets from point a to point b effectively by rolling and stretching and wiggling.

He eats like a linebacker. we feed him 3 meals of baby food a day, he snacks on cheerios and puffs and has 2-3 six ounce bottles. he loves the nasty, mesh sucker thing filled up with bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc. he'll put anything in his mouth.

He's as happy as a baby can be. laughs constantly. laughs more when Cash is around. Elizabeth's blog the other day about Wiley and Archer laughing after W hit A - i am sure that will happen at our house too. Cash fell down the other day and Cooper erupted into giggles, then Cash did it over and over until the two were hysterical.

Cooper sleeps through the night for the most part. he goes down at 7:30pm and wakes at 5:30am but i usually leave him in his crib until 6 or 6:30. he will just coo and talk and roll around and practice crawling in that hour. he doesn't need anything during that time and its a great way for me to wake up, listening to him sing his song. occasionally he will wake up one time - the other night i think his teeth were bothering him. the thing about not nursing anymore is that night time waking really sucks because i don't have a good way to comfort him and put him back to sleep unless i want to make a bottle.

Cooper likes his dummy but isn't attached to it like Cash was (is). Cooper's top teeth are coming in and we can just see the tippy tops of them starting to come through.

bottom line: we like him a lot.

What a day...

On the way to the park Cash said, “I go to park Mommy” I said, “yes, we are going to the park”. Then Cash said, “Drive faster daddy”

I accidentally spilled Cash’s milk at lunch today – all over him. He immediately said I was naughty mommy and told me to go outside. I guess Chachi has been getting in trouble a little more than normal lately.

Well, it finally happened. Cash didn’t stay in his bed during nap time. Actually, he never went down for a nap as planned. As usual, we put him in bed at about 1pm. He had been super crazy today so we knew it was going to be a challenge to get him to nap but we put him in there. Chandler came out of the room and downstairs. A moment later Cash’s bedroom door opened and he came strolling out. We didn’t have the gate closed since it was nap time and we were both up. He of course stood at the top of the stairs and was yelling something that totally reminded me that I’m in for it with these boys.

Later – much later – on we got Cash down for a nap (about 4pm). I sent Chandler out to the store and at 5pm Cash woke up screaming. He was completely inconsolable. It was scary and sad. At first I didn’t think he was even awake when I went in his room and he let me hold him and rock him for a minute and I think he might have fallen back asleep but then he woke up again and was crying and screaming. He wouldn’t tell me what was wrong and nothing I did made him feel better. It was 45 minutes later before he stopped crying and even then he was very sensitive and didn’t want mommy or daddy out of his sight.