December 06 Update

Oh where to start….. Life with the boys is never dull that much is for sure. After a lot of traveling to Northern Virginia and then to Charlotte for Thanksgiving we all succumbed to a nasty little bug. Sully started us off with a fever and congestion that was heartbreaking to watch. He doesn’t quite get that you can breathe through your mouth yet so he would try to breathe through his nose and then suddenly his arms would start flapping until he would figure out how to take a breath. That was three nights of torture but he pulled through that to let the rest of us get it. I had a 24 hour bug where I got knocked flat out for a day of fever and misery and a few days of a really sore throat with white lumps. Coop had a fever for a few days and his turned into a nice cough. Jim kept saying he was getting sick but he’s escaped any of the fever or misery. So everyone is on the mend now thankfully.

The boys have turned on me! Not really turned on me but they both decided to hit the phase of-if mommy isn’t holding me I’m going to start crying and screaming and they do it at the same time! I knew I was in for it when I went into the kitchen and Sully would start screaming at the top of his lungs raising his arms up for me to pick him up. Then as soon as you pick him up he is pushing away to get to something else that he wants in his mouth. The frustration is nothing works! He just wants to be everywhere at every moment. Fascinating to watch. I do remember though at 6 months Cooper went through the same thing so that made me feel better to remember it is just normal and will pass. I just got used to being able to go to the bathroom without having to bring the boys with me. Cooper literally chases me in there and Sully I have to bring or risk someone calling child protective services on me J I tell Jim it’s so hard to be so loved…sigh!

I decided to join a little gym right up the street that is run by two sweet women who welcome children. Monday was my first day. I was embarrassed that the boys were so fussy, they usually are happy to play with whoever is playing with them. I attributed it to them being a little tired (wishful thinking!) I packed them up to try it again Tuesday thinking it would be better….. ha ha ha ha ha! Sully was having a ball but Cooper decided that he wanted to have full access to the gym and didn’t want to stay in the kid area. Full tantrum mode. Throwing himself down with horrible sobs. I’m talking full belly hiccups and snot all over his face. At one point he had calmed down and I pulled out my bag of tricks some sweet potato chips and left the bag with him. A few minutes later I hear one of the women yelling, “Cooper!!!” I dropped my weights and went running over and he was literally shoving the potatoes in his mouth so that his cheeks were puffed out and he wasn’t swallowing. I still have no idea what that was about but the poor women were freaked out! So I gave her the bag to give him one at a time and she asked him to say please and he started screaming again. I forgot to tell her that when you try to get him to say please he starts screaming. (I’m choosing to not pick that battle right now but I forgot to mention that to her.) The ladies were angels though and weren’t upset by it at all. Wednesday I went in better prepared. I pulled a full tub of toys I was planning on rotating with the current toys and brought them to the gym. We were able to put up a barrier and I got through almost the entire workout! I swear Cooper is too funny. I give him a full bowl of the sweet potatoes at home or a whole banana and he will eat it regularly. But in front of Diane he shoves the ENTIRE thing in his mouth. Freaked her out again on Wednesday. I think he is being funny- I really do. Thursday I waited till Jim got home and I went alone. I don’t want them to revoke my membership!! Next week they will have a tv so I think that will keep them better occupied. Cooper did get his way though on the way out on Wednesday. He broke loose and ran to the step of the ONLY woman in there working out and tried jumping with her. She laughed and jumped with him thankfully.

Sully is up on his knees and crawling backwards! He gets where he wants by rolling or skootching around and last week he started moving backwards. I think it’s a frustrating time for him right now because he just wants to be where Cooper is and he wants to be there now! I’m going to pull out the video camera so I can get his first real crawl forward!

Important Announcement: There will be no more naked baby time in the Monihan house. Cooper jumped up today from getting his diaper changed and went running around the apartment. I tend to think it’s cute because he will go into the Downward Dog yoga position and I’ll start laughing and he starts laughing and it’s our little thing. I start saying, “downward dog downward dog!” and he giggles and I’ll finally get him in his diaper. So today he’s running around and I get Sully changed and then finally get Coop all changed and dressed. I’m making breakfast and I notice Sully on the other side of the room now but his hair is soaking wet. Cooper had peed on Sully’s play mat! Kind of like a dog marking his territory. I couldn’t believe it. Needless to say there will be no more naked baby time until they are potty trained!

Everybody keeps asking how they boys are doing together. I think that depends on the moment. Sully adores Coop. The love in his eyes is so sweet. I wish Cooper understood it. Unfortunately all Cooper sees is Sully wants his toys and there is a lot of frustration there. I now have certain things that are only Sully’s and only Coop’s. Everything else is fair game. Coop will go from pushing Sully away from him to reaching over to give him kisses or pat his head. His latest is to grab his nose and saying nose but Sully isn’t quite keen on that little game. Twice now when Sully has been crying I’ve seen Cooper grab a toy and go give it to him. Then on two other occasions I’ve caught Cooper well pretty much lying on top of Sully in what I’m thinking was meant to be a hug but Sully just didn’t know it. After I got him off of Sully he went to Sully’s face and cupped both his hands on his cheeks and gave him a kiss. Talk about melting my heart.

Cooper’s jibberish is starting to turn into real words. Today he said, “One Two Three!” He is into animal sounds right now. Meow, roaaaar and woof-woof he says in the car over and over. He loves to say “Choo Choo”. Sounds a bit more like, “shooo shooo” but he pumps his arm in the air as he says it. His favorite toy is his cho cho train. This thing goes everywhere with him. He eats with it, sleeps with it and takes a bath with it. One night I watched him wake up just to find it and he cuddled with it and sighed and went back to sleep. We’ll say, “Ok Coop let’s get ready for night-night.” He will literally start running around the apartment looking for the train and then run into his room saying, “night-night.” Now he’s got to have a lego on the back end of it for some reason. He is very particular about it. It’s really a fun stage because you just know he’s soaking it all in and learning so much. Yesterday I was telling a car, “Go, go, go!” Cooper started yelling, “Go, go, go!”

Well that’s the update for now.