I can't believe it's only Wednesday. The last week feels as if it's been an entire month. We have moved out of our apartment that was to be for 3 months but turned into 3 years and into our new house in Apex, North Carolina! I will send pictures once I am out of box hell! We unloaded an entire POD plus an entire apartment. Needless to say we have way too much stuff.
The boys are doing absolutely amazing. I took them to the apartment to clean out the last bits and turn in our keys and they didn't even bat an eye. I asked if they wanted to say goodbye to the apartment and Coop said, "Let's get outta here!" They have named the new house Peggy Sue. Whenever we are coming home they are shouting for Peggy Sue. They LOVE the front yard and are constantly asking to go outside and play on their little scooters. I can't wait to get a fence up and feel safe letting them run around. So far the neighbors have been wonderful. I couldn't find the keys to the POD locks and the locksmith got stuck in our very wet yard. Neighbor comes out and in about 3 minutes has him towed out it was so cool. Turns out there are a lot of families in the neighborhood so I'm looking forward to meeting them. I have sliced my thumb with a knife and feel totally helpless without a thumb!!!! BUT tonight I have 94% unpacked the kitchen and successfully hijacked a neighbors wireless internet. Meg, our new babysitter, and I had to go through every box to find my battery to the laptop and I kid you not it was in the very last box we looked in. Tomorrow we have the dishwasher, fridge, stove and dryer being delivered. No washer in stock yet so the dryer will just look pretty. The cable company is scheduled as is the plumber so we won't be leaving the house tomorrow. The boys bathtub is broken so I had to turn off water to the whole house tonight. I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to do that!!
I had a class to teach on Sunday- still not sure how I pulled that one off. With out Bebba here this weekend I'm sure I wouldn't have. They came to deliver the stove and it turned out I didn't have the right connection- just so happened to have the electrician there who could fix that but while we waited to talk to him Cooper pulled out all the instruments we had and had all of the guys playing music and dancing. We went to drop off the cable box and Coop announced to the whole office as he barged in, "I'm here!!!" As we made a quick dash to the bathroom he interrupted some folks giving a presentation to tell them he was going to go potty now. Oh and on move night I asked the movers not to put his crib back together so he is now in his big boy bed. He fell out once but has been fine ever since. The new routine in the morning is for both of the boys to jump up on the bed and fly into my arms. Good for me as I've not been able to work out in a week!
I'm hoping to get a bit more situated before Jim comes home for the holidays so we can focus on enjoying our time together. I'll be sending out an e-mail with our new address and new phone number shortly!
Showing posts with label Monthly Updates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monthly Updates. Show all posts
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
November 2008 Update
We stopped posting updates because it was more of that hurry up and wait! Back in January we made the decision that Jim would go back into the Army. Snafu after snafu somewhere along the line we shifted to him joining the National Guard and then more sanfu's ensued.
Jim has now officially been sworn into the North Carolina National Guard and received his orders yesterday!! What that means is he will be deploying for 16-18 months starting December 1st. So while we knew this was a possibility and knew it would eventually happen it's now REALLY happening and we have a lot to do! We are looking to buy a house and finally get our stuff out of storage and have a yard to play in. That may or may not happen before Jim leaves but we sure will try. We will be in NOVA for Thanksgiving as well!!
The boys are doing absolutely amazing. They are speaking to each other in their own language and Cooper likes to translate for me. Yesterday we went to the playground and they could see the early moon out. As they were swinging they kept reaching for the moon saying, "Momma I can't reach it!" They watch Thomas the Train and Coop will point out each train and get Bear to repeat each one after him. It's quite adorable. The boys even celebrated their first Halloween with costumes that they got to pick out. (Although they switched them when it came time to wear them.) I'll post those pictures soon.
I spent most of October getting my new office set up and I'm lucky to have some classes scheduled that keep me busy and distracted. I picked up some work at my gym daycare to help on our cutting back program. I get my gym membership (as long as the boys) for free plus a little extra. I'm still amazed at how little we pay those to take care of our children!
We'll keep everyone posted now as things should start moving along (FINALLY).
Jim has now officially been sworn into the North Carolina National Guard and received his orders yesterday!! What that means is he will be deploying for 16-18 months starting December 1st. So while we knew this was a possibility and knew it would eventually happen it's now REALLY happening and we have a lot to do! We are looking to buy a house and finally get our stuff out of storage and have a yard to play in. That may or may not happen before Jim leaves but we sure will try. We will be in NOVA for Thanksgiving as well!!
The boys are doing absolutely amazing. They are speaking to each other in their own language and Cooper likes to translate for me. Yesterday we went to the playground and they could see the early moon out. As they were swinging they kept reaching for the moon saying, "Momma I can't reach it!" They watch Thomas the Train and Coop will point out each train and get Bear to repeat each one after him. It's quite adorable. The boys even celebrated their first Halloween with costumes that they got to pick out. (Although they switched them when it came time to wear them.) I'll post those pictures soon.
I spent most of October getting my new office set up and I'm lucky to have some classes scheduled that keep me busy and distracted. I picked up some work at my gym daycare to help on our cutting back program. I get my gym membership (as long as the boys) for free plus a little extra. I'm still amazed at how little we pay those to take care of our children!
We'll keep everyone posted now as things should start moving along (FINALLY).
Monday, July 14, 2008
June 2008 Update
So much to tell so little time to write it all down! June seemed to zip right on by us. We had figured that it would be our last busy month here before we got Jim’s oh so coveted orders and we’d be packing up and moving. I completed two of my level 2 courses and passed those with flying colors. I’m now a Certified Living Foods Instructor/Raw Chef and have been bumped up to Wellness Counselor. It was pretty exciting. Coop completed (I use the term loosely) his football session with the Rec Center and we made our own little playground in front of our apartment.
So here we are in July and the calls are coming in asking are we still here??? Unfortunately the answer is yes we are still in Raleigh and I’ve just called the apartment office asking for yet another work order and also to extend our lease until the end of October. If anyone cares for the details please feel free to call Jim but my non-Army speak version is he’s STILL waiting on some medical waiver (after 5 attempts just to get a physical) for his previous asthma diagnosis. Once that get’s approved his “packet” will be sent to the Active Army Re-Appointment Board (no clue if that’s really their name) and they will then determine our future. Turns out the last packet he submitted was for the Reserve Board and they told him he was accepted into the Military Police Branch or the MP3 Branch as Jamie and I call it. Jim’s not keen on that option so he’s holding out for the Active Army Board or he’s now talking to a National Guard Unit here. (Did I mention the Guard Unit here deploys next year???? Sigh….)
So onto more fun things- the boys are a just a blast. Bear’s favorite phrase is, “Here you go!” as he slings the toy at you. He now thinks its fun to hit and pinch and he hates his naughty corner with a passion. But he sits there which is amazing now. Bear is a happy camper now that he and Coop share a room. If I get Coop out though while Bear is still sleeping every time within 5 minutes he wakes up! He hates being alone. He has finally gotten over the tantrum phase at the gym and just RUNS in now without giving me a second thought.
Potty training- well let’s just say I’m holding on to the fact that all the other mom’s at the gym are in the same boat I am- It’s not working out that well. He knows what to do he’s just not doing it. In fact he now has an aversion to the potty and is finding other “potties”. He filled up his sand bucket a few times and my personal favorite was when he filled up a ¼ measuring cup. Good news is we know the boy has aim and he ALWAYS cleans up after himself. He takes whatever he’s filled up and put it in the toilet, flushes it and then washes it out. I continue to call Jamie and ask, now what do I try??? All the women at the gym bribe their kids with chocolate treats or with a choice of characters on underwear. We spent 30 minutes choosing which ones he wanted at Target and he was so excited to put the Little Einstein underwear on but as soon as it was on he started sobbing that it was, “broken!”
I have so many pictures to put up this week. We realized July 4th was coming up and decided we had to get out of here. So we found this cute little condo at Carolina Beach and had a quick 4 day trip that was so wonderful. (You may hear more about Carolina Beach as we think we may open a business down there in the next few years.) We went to a local kid’s museum called Marbles that was a hoot and we even had a puddle day where I joined in. They’ve even started to play patty cake together now- I will definitely get that on video! We finally heard from Poppi (Chris) today and we are so grateful that he’s back up and had a smile on his face again. Please send him your love right now he really needs it.
Hope everyone is doing well!!
Thursday, June 05, 2008
May 2008 Update
June is here!! I can’t believe how quick May zoomed in and out. We were busy in May so I didn’t get to post all the Monihan happenings. Jim had a lot of work events and I was pretty slammed with classes a mid-term and clients. I tried to keep the boys on schedule with going to the gym but they are not wanting to go lately. Coop will say no to going to the gym and say bye to it all the time if we pass it. But they go in screaming every day. It’s on the edge of embarrassing me and it takes a lot to embarrass me these days. Not sure what it’s about. It’s like they just don’t have as good as a time. They do have new staff so it could be that or maybe its new kids. Makes it harder for me to want to stay longer but that could just be my excuse!!
No big news on Jim’s career change. The big ol board met and he’s trying to get a physical done. He sat there watching ESPN for 8 hours today waiting to get a physical and then they sent him away for some glitch. (I have to admit I’m not looking forward to the bureaucracy.) HOWEVER Jim did say he would be fine if he never watched ESPN again so as far as I’m concerned it was a good day lol! We expect to hear in 2-4 weeks what the deal is so as we’ve been saying for what seems like forever we’ll let you know as soon as we know.
Bear turned 2 on May 27th! Where has the time gone??? Other than that life is pretty much potty training for Coop and weaning for Bear. The stubborn gene is alive and kicking in our house that’s for sure. But I guess it keeps things interesting. I was talking to Jamie the other day and said I wish I knew a psychic that would tell me if we were going to ever have a girl. A few hours later a client came over and asked me if I was going to have another kid. I vehemently shook my head no and said we were done. She said and I quote, “Oh I am sorry Abbie but I’m a little psychic and I see you with a girl.” GULP. I had an interesting conversation today with our grounds keeper and was reminded just how grateful I am for my children and their “health” issues. He was telling me that the only way I could help my children eat well in school was if they were in private school so we needed to start saving now. Am I naïve to think just because our children go to public school it means they will start eating everything but what we pack for them? I was hunting through pictures and was shocked to see some older pictures of Coop and all the tape he endured so he couldn’t get to his skin. It feels like that phase was just yesterday but in the same breath at times I forget what we endured. It reminded me of the many people who still think he just outgrew his allergies and eczema. Sometimes that frustrates me because it takes away from all the hard work we’ve done and from the hard work that is still to come. It’s hard to be so different sometimes. But that’s typically when I’m feeling sorry for myself and wanting a pat on the back.
Yesterday Cooper and Bear greeted every single person we came across. They literally stopped a group of kids from their trek to the playground to say hi to each one. Then as they left they said bye over and over until each one said goodbye back. Today Cooper helped an older gentleman down a flight of stairs it was simply delightful. Tonight is bath night and Jim has figured it out!! He’s made a clean up song and making the sudsing part fun instead of them freaking out over water going over the heads. Now Coop is running around the apartment with his frog towel saying, “where’s momma?” Looks like my blogging time is up!
Friday, April 18, 2008
What's New With Us?
Feels like time just slips away and so many changes have happened without us realizing it. I look up and all of a sudden Bear is really talking! Today Super Reader Wyatt asked what the super letters were and Bear said, "O I." it was a little mangled but I look up and lo and behold there's a big fat O and I on the screen. We've been working on the ABC's with Coop and he's just there absorbing it all.
If you ask Coop to tell you the ABC's or to count he won't do it. But today on our walk he was trying to jump rope and every time he would do it he would count quite nicely. He just abhors me asking him to do it. Forget him telling you his name. He will tell you in his own way but if you ask forget about it! When we practice the ABC's (Which persists of me trying to get him to sing the song with me and him being very bored with it.) I have had to get more creative and visual. We write it out and he will find the letters but he won't sing the song. Coop's favorite game is to say, "Momma where's the R?" He's pointing to it. So I point to it too and he says, "Good job Momma that's an R!" And on and on he goes. I have to get much more creative I think.
Did I mention Coop is a stickler for manners? If he does something I ask him to he reminds me to say thank you. He knows how to close the doors and he knows how to lock the sliding door and front door. That's a little scary for me but he's so helpful always keeping the screen door closed for us to keep out the bugs. Bear's manners are getting there. He says please a lot. Unfortunately he doesn't quite get that just because he says please doesn't mean that he is going to get it. So most of the time he says, "Pweeese.........Yeaaaahhhh!" and he throws his arms up in the air in triumph.
I have to admit though Bear has come a very long way in the last few weeks. He's not been happy with the boundaries we are putting in place but he's pulling through like a champ. Coop is also big on coloring with markers right now. He likes to draw shapes and he makes lots of shapes that he calls leaves. He's very orderly, each page gets its own color. When he's done with that color (code for he's jammed the marker tip and it won't color anymore) then he asks for a new page and gets a new marker. Heaven forbid Bear try to take a marker. Coop will not allow that to happen! So Bear gets all the crayons. (Thankfully Bear's not eating the crayons anymore!)
As for our moving and career plans we are still in our holding pattern for the summer. Jim won't find out anything until June so until then we just keep going as is and I'm working to get some clients to help supplement our income. (We want to send Coop to pre-school in the fall so we need to get ready for that. I had no idea how pricey that got!) We sold our townhouse so that was wonderful!!! The market just wasn't what it was 3 months before we left and we got way way less than we had been anticipating so it's not the windfall we had been hoping but that's a $500 loss a month we don't incur anymore it gets our line of credit and credit card bill paid off so it helps keep the panic at bay for the next few months. I've just started my level two training for my Wellness Consultant Certification and I've also just started a course where I can analyze blood and tell you what's happening in your body. I'm over the moon excited about it. (Now I'm just visualizing the money coming in to pay for the microscope and materials because that will really help my practice take off.) Jim's been very busy with his job. They have him working a lot of weekends and staying out in the rain to learn tactics and other things I know nothing about. He gets excited about it though. He's going to start going to his CrossFit gym twice a day during the summer and he's uber determined to do these road marches with up to 85 pounds. (More power to you baby!) I did lift his last backpack up and get it in the house but I give major kudos to Jim I probably went 15 steps and I was done. He went over 6 miles!!!
A few days ago we were going to the grocery stores and I forgot our bags. I left the boys in their car seats and ran to get them. When I got back Cooper said, "Momma?" A little winded I said, "Yes Coop?" He paused, smiled and said, "Gigi's better." Talk about taking the wind out of you. "Gigi's better?" I repeated to make sure I heard him right. "Yeah Gigi is better," he annunciated then he went back to picking through the toy bucket. (Bebba just reminded me that the day he told me that was the one year anniversary of her Virginia service.)
So that's our update!!
If you ask Coop to tell you the ABC's or to count he won't do it. But today on our walk he was trying to jump rope and every time he would do it he would count quite nicely. He just abhors me asking him to do it. Forget him telling you his name. He will tell you in his own way but if you ask forget about it! When we practice the ABC's (Which persists of me trying to get him to sing the song with me and him being very bored with it.) I have had to get more creative and visual. We write it out and he will find the letters but he won't sing the song. Coop's favorite game is to say, "Momma where's the R?" He's pointing to it. So I point to it too and he says, "Good job Momma that's an R!" And on and on he goes. I have to get much more creative I think.
Did I mention Coop is a stickler for manners? If he does something I ask him to he reminds me to say thank you. He knows how to close the doors and he knows how to lock the sliding door and front door. That's a little scary for me but he's so helpful always keeping the screen door closed for us to keep out the bugs. Bear's manners are getting there. He says please a lot. Unfortunately he doesn't quite get that just because he says please doesn't mean that he is going to get it. So most of the time he says, "Pweeese.........Yeaaaahhhh!" and he throws his arms up in the air in triumph.
I have to admit though Bear has come a very long way in the last few weeks. He's not been happy with the boundaries we are putting in place but he's pulling through like a champ. Coop is also big on coloring with markers right now. He likes to draw shapes and he makes lots of shapes that he calls leaves. He's very orderly, each page gets its own color. When he's done with that color (code for he's jammed the marker tip and it won't color anymore) then he asks for a new page and gets a new marker. Heaven forbid Bear try to take a marker. Coop will not allow that to happen! So Bear gets all the crayons. (Thankfully Bear's not eating the crayons anymore!)
As for our moving and career plans we are still in our holding pattern for the summer. Jim won't find out anything until June so until then we just keep going as is and I'm working to get some clients to help supplement our income. (We want to send Coop to pre-school in the fall so we need to get ready for that. I had no idea how pricey that got!) We sold our townhouse so that was wonderful!!! The market just wasn't what it was 3 months before we left and we got way way less than we had been anticipating so it's not the windfall we had been hoping but that's a $500 loss a month we don't incur anymore it gets our line of credit and credit card bill paid off so it helps keep the panic at bay for the next few months. I've just started my level two training for my Wellness Consultant Certification and I've also just started a course where I can analyze blood and tell you what's happening in your body. I'm over the moon excited about it. (Now I'm just visualizing the money coming in to pay for the microscope and materials because that will really help my practice take off.) Jim's been very busy with his job. They have him working a lot of weekends and staying out in the rain to learn tactics and other things I know nothing about. He gets excited about it though. He's going to start going to his CrossFit gym twice a day during the summer and he's uber determined to do these road marches with up to 85 pounds. (More power to you baby!) I did lift his last backpack up and get it in the house but I give major kudos to Jim I probably went 15 steps and I was done. He went over 6 miles!!!A few days ago we were going to the grocery stores and I forgot our bags. I left the boys in their car seats and ran to get them. When I got back Cooper said, "Momma?" A little winded I said, "Yes Coop?" He paused, smiled and said, "Gigi's better." Talk about taking the wind out of you. "Gigi's better?" I repeated to make sure I heard him right. "Yeah Gigi is better," he annunciated then he went back to picking through the toy bucket. (Bebba just reminded me that the day he told me that was the one year anniversary of her Virginia service.)
So that's our update!!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
October Update 2007
October has been yet another busy busy month. I started school in August to become a Wellness Consultant. I have learned so incredibly much and I've been studying so much I can hardly believe it. I have dark circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep lately. I've wondered if I could have made better grades in college if I'd just been interested in what I was learning. Any spare moment I have I pull out the books. I've gotten 100 on both of my exams so I feel really good about it. I have 13 practice clients I'm working with now and it's helped me learn so much more. For the first time I'm really and truly excited to be doing something that follows my passion and I feel like I can really help others.
I feel so fortunate to have found my practitioner and teacher Wanda Boone. Through her we've made so much progress in the whole family. I don't do a lot of blogging about Cooper's health because most of what we do is not mainstream and it's hard enough learning ourselves and we end up having to explain or defend what we are doing. But if you look back at old pictures of Cooper you will see him all taped up and covered in a rash. Sometimes just looking at the pictures I can't believe how far we've come. I wish I had learned what I know now when I was pregnant with Cooper but I try hard to accept this was how it was supposed to be and as long as I do better when I know better I can be ok with it. He is a totally different kid now. He is 95% rash free and no longer is taped up. Those days seem like a distant memory. It's totally normal now for him to walk around in just a diaper.
We still have some work to do. He has a systemic Candida/yeast infection that is really hard to turn around. (So does 98% of America it just shows up in our family on our skin.) Candida/yeast is the only organism that will kill it's host so it's imperative you do it slowly and you turn the balance around. I push it from time to time and then he breaks out all over so I take a deep breath and know we are doing the right thing for him in the long run. It's really hard when things like Halloween come up and everyone tells me he will be eating all that stuff in pre-school that will cause him to break out. I just can't buy into that. Sugar will only feed his infection and make him sick. I'm trying hard not to live in the future and worry about it. But really if I hear about how I just have to give in for him to be accepted by his peers well I might scream. If he's considered different because he doesn't eat junk foods well then I guess he can hate me as a kid for it. His health is my responsibility and I won't give in on that. We've come too far to give in to mass marketing and peer pressure. I'd love to specialize in children's health in the future because I believe our kids are so much sicker than they need to be and we have control over it.
I also just started my certification course to become an Iridologist. The iris of the eye reveals structural defects, latent toxic settlements, inherent weaknesses, and the activity of the organs of the body. It's one of the most fascinating things I've ever studied. I have pictures of all these eyes up all over the walls and Jim comes home and shivers with all the eye balls looking at him. I'm getting set up with my gym to start doing some free readings for practice so I'm nervous but really excited. Just seeing my own eyes and knowing why I've always had issues in certain areas has helped me get motivated to work on my on health more! Next year I plan to get certified to do blood analysis on a dark field microscope so I can show clients what is happening in their blood as well. That part just cracks me up- my grandma used to tell me I needed to become a nurse and I just kept telling her needles scared me too much.
Jim has been more than busy at work. He has worked every weekend for the last two months and he's on tap to do the same in November it looks like. We miss him that is for sure. He has been so busy at work and then he comes home and still finds time to help me because I'm trying to study. The job that opened up in Charlotte was only opened for someone else that was already there so it seems as if our potential to move to Charlotte any time soon with this job is not so hot. We've been having discussions as to what is next. Jim talks a lot about going back into the military or doing some deployments. He has a strong passion for the military and to help others. It's hard for him to be around all these other military guys who've all got combat patches. Those who know me wouldn't recognize me when I say I'm just staying open to whatever happens. This last year has been one of the hardest I've ever had. I don't want anyone to live with any regrets and if that means Jim has to get deployed then so be it. We can make it through anything together so what will be will be. No matter what we need a bigger place. The boys need a yard and room to run.
Cooper is now bilingual. With me so busy studying I have definitely used the TV a lot more as a babysitter. They don't seem to mind but I love it because Cooper now uses all these Spanish words when I least expect it. On Monday coming out of the day care there were a big bunch of kids at the door waiting for the mom's to open it. Cooper busts through the group and starts banging on the door, "Abre, abre, abre!!!" (Open) We open it and he runs out into the gym and yells at the very top of his lungs, "We did it, we did it, we did it!!" I asked the other mom, "Can you tell he watches Dora? They do everything in three's I guess to get the kids to repeat it. Coop has this fun game of yelling, "Help me" when I put him in the car seat or when I put him in the crib. He sounds so pathetic like I'm killing him it's so funny. Yesterday he was yelling, "Aiudeme." I don't know how to spell it in Spanish but it's help! He has a little Dora, Swiper and Boot's play set. He walks around saying, "Do you see Swiper? If you see Swiper saaaaay Swiper." If we say Swiper he yells at us. In fact he still hates it when I sing- not sure if I can not let it hurt my feelings much longer :-) When he eats on his place matt there are all these different animals and things. He will say, "Do you see duckies? If you see duckies saaaay duckies." It's really very cute. He also throw in abajo (over) from time to time. Not sure why he says it but he likes to mix it up.
When Coop wants to watch tv our conversation goes like this.
Cooper- "Wonder Pets?
Me- "No honey not right now."
Cooper- "Dora?"
Me- "No we've had enough tv for a while let's play a game."
Cooper- "Go?" (That means Go Diego go.)
Me- "How about we do some coloring?"
Cooper- "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh"
Get him all calmed down. About 30 seconds of silence.....
Cooper- "Wonder Pets?"
These kids are so persistent it is truly amazing!
"Cooper do you want to take a nap?"
"NO!" big yawn. He doesn't like to go to sleep at all. He tries to distract us with reading him books. He will keep us up for as long as possible reading if he can. His favorite thing right now is to go through all of the picture book and name things. The funniest is when he sees anything with polka dots on it then he calls it a pizza.
Bear likes to walk around and find his reflection in things and wave. He has all sorts of words now. Bird, truck, train, car, circle, Momma. Oh yeah- he says momma all the time :-)
We also had a big switch over of clothes. Grandma Kathy and Bebba hooked the boys up with some fall/winter clothes and now they are styling and growing. Cooper is wearing 3T tops now and Bear is in 18 months clothes. We also did a little bit of organizing and packing of stuff. I figure if we start acting like we are moving then we will so I'm packing whenever I get the chance!
Now Cooper's new little phrase is to cup my face with his little hand and say, "Ohhh Mommy," and walk away. He's done it to Bear a few times as well. If Bear is sleeping Cooper will say, "Oh Bear I love you." Seriously I'm not sure how much more cuteness a mom can take!
I feel so fortunate to have found my practitioner and teacher Wanda Boone. Through her we've made so much progress in the whole family. I don't do a lot of blogging about Cooper's health because most of what we do is not mainstream and it's hard enough learning ourselves and we end up having to explain or defend what we are doing. But if you look back at old pictures of Cooper you will see him all taped up and covered in a rash. Sometimes just looking at the pictures I can't believe how far we've come. I wish I had learned what I know now when I was pregnant with Cooper but I try hard to accept this was how it was supposed to be and as long as I do better when I know better I can be ok with it. He is a totally different kid now. He is 95% rash free and no longer is taped up. Those days seem like a distant memory. It's totally normal now for him to walk around in just a diaper.
We still have some work to do. He has a systemic Candida/yeast infection that is really hard to turn around. (So does 98% of America it just shows up in our family on our skin.) Candida/yeast is the only organism that will kill it's host so it's imperative you do it slowly and you turn the balance around. I push it from time to time and then he breaks out all over so I take a deep breath and know we are doing the right thing for him in the long run. It's really hard when things like Halloween come up and everyone tells me he will be eating all that stuff in pre-school that will cause him to break out. I just can't buy into that. Sugar will only feed his infection and make him sick. I'm trying hard not to live in the future and worry about it. But really if I hear about how I just have to give in for him to be accepted by his peers well I might scream. If he's considered different because he doesn't eat junk foods well then I guess he can hate me as a kid for it. His health is my responsibility and I won't give in on that. We've come too far to give in to mass marketing and peer pressure. I'd love to specialize in children's health in the future because I believe our kids are so much sicker than they need to be and we have control over it.
I also just started my certification course to become an Iridologist. The iris of the eye reveals structural defects, latent toxic settlements, inherent weaknesses, and the activity of the organs of the body. It's one of the most fascinating things I've ever studied. I have pictures of all these eyes up all over the walls and Jim comes home and shivers with all the eye balls looking at him. I'm getting set up with my gym to start doing some free readings for practice so I'm nervous but really excited. Just seeing my own eyes and knowing why I've always had issues in certain areas has helped me get motivated to work on my on health more! Next year I plan to get certified to do blood analysis on a dark field microscope so I can show clients what is happening in their blood as well. That part just cracks me up- my grandma used to tell me I needed to become a nurse and I just kept telling her needles scared me too much.
Jim has been more than busy at work. He has worked every weekend for the last two months and he's on tap to do the same in November it looks like. We miss him that is for sure. He has been so busy at work and then he comes home and still finds time to help me because I'm trying to study. The job that opened up in Charlotte was only opened for someone else that was already there so it seems as if our potential to move to Charlotte any time soon with this job is not so hot. We've been having discussions as to what is next. Jim talks a lot about going back into the military or doing some deployments. He has a strong passion for the military and to help others. It's hard for him to be around all these other military guys who've all got combat patches. Those who know me wouldn't recognize me when I say I'm just staying open to whatever happens. This last year has been one of the hardest I've ever had. I don't want anyone to live with any regrets and if that means Jim has to get deployed then so be it. We can make it through anything together so what will be will be. No matter what we need a bigger place. The boys need a yard and room to run.
Cooper is now bilingual. With me so busy studying I have definitely used the TV a lot more as a babysitter. They don't seem to mind but I love it because Cooper now uses all these Spanish words when I least expect it. On Monday coming out of the day care there were a big bunch of kids at the door waiting for the mom's to open it. Cooper busts through the group and starts banging on the door, "Abre, abre, abre!!!" (Open) We open it and he runs out into the gym and yells at the very top of his lungs, "We did it, we did it, we did it!!" I asked the other mom, "Can you tell he watches Dora? They do everything in three's I guess to get the kids to repeat it. Coop has this fun game of yelling, "Help me" when I put him in the car seat or when I put him in the crib. He sounds so pathetic like I'm killing him it's so funny. Yesterday he was yelling, "Aiudeme." I don't know how to spell it in Spanish but it's help! He has a little Dora, Swiper and Boot's play set. He walks around saying, "Do you see Swiper? If you see Swiper saaaaay Swiper." If we say Swiper he yells at us. In fact he still hates it when I sing- not sure if I can not let it hurt my feelings much longer :-) When he eats on his place matt there are all these different animals and things. He will say, "Do you see duckies? If you see duckies saaaay duckies." It's really very cute. He also throw in abajo (over) from time to time. Not sure why he says it but he likes to mix it up.
When Coop wants to watch tv our conversation goes like this.
Cooper- "Wonder Pets?
Me- "No honey not right now."
Cooper- "Dora?"
Me- "No we've had enough tv for a while let's play a game."
Cooper- "Go?" (That means Go Diego go.)
Me- "How about we do some coloring?"
Cooper- "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh"
Get him all calmed down. About 30 seconds of silence.....
Cooper- "Wonder Pets?"
These kids are so persistent it is truly amazing!
"Cooper do you want to take a nap?"
"NO!" big yawn. He doesn't like to go to sleep at all. He tries to distract us with reading him books. He will keep us up for as long as possible reading if he can. His favorite thing right now is to go through all of the picture book and name things. The funniest is when he sees anything with polka dots on it then he calls it a pizza.
Bear likes to walk around and find his reflection in things and wave. He has all sorts of words now. Bird, truck, train, car, circle, Momma. Oh yeah- he says momma all the time :-)
We also had a big switch over of clothes. Grandma Kathy and Bebba hooked the boys up with some fall/winter clothes and now they are styling and growing. Cooper is wearing 3T tops now and Bear is in 18 months clothes. We also did a little bit of organizing and packing of stuff. I figure if we start acting like we are moving then we will so I'm packing whenever I get the chance!
Now Cooper's new little phrase is to cup my face with his little hand and say, "Ohhh Mommy," and walk away. He's done it to Bear a few times as well. If Bear is sleeping Cooper will say, "Oh Bear I love you." Seriously I'm not sure how much more cuteness a mom can take!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
September 2007 Update
We had our Monihan Beach trip the first week of September and then the rest of the month was just to recover :-) Cooper has taken to being my little helper. His favorite thing is to climb up to the top of the stairs and yell, "Come on Bear!!" One day I was in the kitchen and they were out on the patio playing. Cooper came running in and grabbed my hand. I was in the middle of cooking but went with it. Got to the patio and there was Bear laying upside down on this bike/walker. Just hanging out with his feet up in the air enjoying the view. Without Coop poor Bear might have been there for a while before I realized he wasn't running in and out of the apartment!
They are both in a huge train phase right now. They will take the whole ride to the gym going, "Chuga chuga, chuga, choooo choooo!" Both of them doing the hand motions. We have 4 trains but they only want the one that the other has. Makes for some creative distractions when I need to get the trains away from them.
Coop loves to tell you he is stuck. If you put him in the car seat and he doesn't want to go he starts saying, "stuck" over and over and trying to wiggle out. As soon as we get home he stops at the door and sticks his foot out saying, "Shoe, shoe, shoe." I take the shoes off he starts in on the, "Toes, toes, toes." Which means socks in Cooper world. Everything is in threes! Actuallyhe just keeps saying it until he gets what he wants. Coop is doing all of his puzzles like a champ. Every time I buy one he puts all the pieces in looks at me as if I'm insulting him by not making it more challenging and then he takes the pieces to bed to play with. I have a bug bucket of puzzle pieces that he loves to play pretend with.
One day the three of us were on the recliner. Bear was nursing and Coop likes to sit on the arm and watch a show. We were watching Go Diego Go. They told the kids to get up and wiggle wiggle wiggle with them. Cooper got up on the recliner over a sleeping Sully and stuck his butt out and started to wiggle. He turned and shot me this grin I just thought it was the funniest thing. He is starting to interact now with the tv instead of just staring at it blankly. The other fun thing was getting some Backyardigan stickers from Miss Emily. We had stickers everywhere they just had a ball. I think I finally have found them all but there are still a few in the bathtub.
Bear is starting to teethe again and he loves to teethe on sticks. I have a thing full of theething type toys but he just throws them down when I try to get him to use them. He runs out the door and starts yelling, "Stick!" in case you weren't sure what he was playing with. He can point out birds and he likes to point at things and say, "What's that?" On the 19th I saw him start dancing for the first time.
Sleep continues to be a challenge. I'm learning to let go of what I think it should be and to work with what I have. There seems to be a routine of taking naps on the couch emerging but they last for 2-3 hours so I'm thinking I may just go with it.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
The Month of May 2007
The Month of May
Sully has learned to give us high fives! The same day he learned his first sign language- he did the “All done” sign when he was done eating. We were pretty darn excited. He is a walking fiend now. I even put his first pair of shoes on last week . He had them off before I could take a picture and every time I put them back on him he would get out of them. He got a brand new pair of sneakers for his birthday that tighten up so he can’t escape them! He just walks around the apartment now because he can. He is always carrying something with him. I find everything that should be in the bedroom in the bathroom, and everything that should be in the living room in the kitchen. It’s exhausting cleaning up after him! Yesterday they found my hot rollers and spent most of the day taking them out and putting each roller back in. I was cleaning up and I can’t find some of the rollers now.
Bear’s new game of the week is to hide the remote control under the stove. He and I literally race to get to the remote and have each taken a few dives to get to it. I’m not kidding when I say we race and he wins more than I do! When he does win he cackles and cackles and starts pressing all the buttons!
Bear has also figured out how to hold onto you and climb up onto the couch. Now we find him sitting in his little chair at his own will. A little disconcerting when you just assume he is on the floor. Speaking of will- I am amazed every day at this kid’s tenacity and stubbornness. Jim says he gets it from me but I think he has enough for the both of us. Temper though he gets from Jim. If he is hungry or he wants something he will pitch an absolute fit until he gets it.
Yesterday I took Cooper into his room to take his nap. I partially closed the door to read him his story and I heard the instant Bear realized we weren’t in the living room- this irritated squawk and then thump thump thump he came crawling on his fists and BAM slammed open the door, looked at the door like how dare you be closed. Then he pounded his way over to us and climbed in my lap to hear the story too. I laughed through the whole story!
Bear has graduated to the high chair now. It’s fascinating to me the differences in these boys. I mean Cooper was in the high chair at 5 months. He’d roll the high chair over to us asking to eat. Bear fought it and fought it ripping off the bib and trying to escape the chair in absolute fits. We had to pull out the restraints just to keep him in the chair! He’s adapted to the chair now but he doesn’t want mashed up food at all. He only wants the stuff he can pretend to chew on so no baby food for him.
Cooper’s new phrase is, “Hi Joe.” If he sees anyone he will call them Joe. My theory is he loves Joe on Blue’s Clues so everyone is Joe to him. In the morning he says, “Hi baby Bear. Hi Joe.” He is very good with his manners now. He will say, “Please, please, please.” If you don’t give it to him it’s, “PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!” but he almost always remembers to say thank you! Coop is also our little tickle monster. He loves to tickle everyone. Last week he and I were at Whole Foods and he was mad that I had him in the cart. I asked him to please hold on while I put things on the conveyer belt and he reached out and well basically hit me. The shock on my face was clear and I did a sharp intake of breath. His face fell and then just as quickly he reached out and said with this huge smile on his face, “Tickle!” I thought it was a good recovery on his part.
Coop is a champ now with eating with his spoon. Yesterday we had a stew we were eating and I had some left so I pushed my bowl over to him. He took my spoon and his spoon and would eat from one to the other. If you try to help him he gets really upset and will only allow you to put the food on the spoon, he has to bring it to his mouth. We had just been commenting on what a great eater he was and how he never pushed himself back too far in the chair so that it would fall over. We must have jinxed it because out of nowhere he just kicked back and in slow motion the chair hit the wall and then he tumbled out the side and smacked his face onto the kitchen floor. Wasn’t his week because earlier Bear was walking and got going too quick and basically jumped onto Coop who lost his balance and bam knocked his face onto the cement floor on the balcony! Poor kid I had to pull out the ice pack twice in one week.
The beginning of the month Coop has started his head bob as his way of jamming to the music. Now he will spin around and move his legs with his head bob. Mostly gets dizzy but it is fun to watch. Coop is now practicing his colors. He refuses to say blue although he loves to say that everything is purple. For a while he would count to 10 but now everything is 2. And I mean everything. He is still all about the proper order of things. Toilet lids should be down, trash can lids need to be closed, and cabinets should be closed. Bear opens them, Cooper runs behind him to put it back. Must be the plight of the older child.
Sully has learned to give us high fives! The same day he learned his first sign language- he did the “All done” sign when he was done eating. We were pretty darn excited. He is a walking fiend now. I even put his first pair of shoes on last week . He had them off before I could take a picture and every time I put them back on him he would get out of them. He got a brand new pair of sneakers for his birthday that tighten up so he can’t escape them! He just walks around the apartment now because he can. He is always carrying something with him. I find everything that should be in the bedroom in the bathroom, and everything that should be in the living room in the kitchen. It’s exhausting cleaning up after him! Yesterday they found my hot rollers and spent most of the day taking them out and putting each roller back in. I was cleaning up and I can’t find some of the rollers now.
Bear’s new game of the week is to hide the remote control under the stove. He and I literally race to get to the remote and have each taken a few dives to get to it. I’m not kidding when I say we race and he wins more than I do! When he does win he cackles and cackles and starts pressing all the buttons!
Bear has also figured out how to hold onto you and climb up onto the couch. Now we find him sitting in his little chair at his own will. A little disconcerting when you just assume he is on the floor. Speaking of will- I am amazed every day at this kid’s tenacity and stubbornness. Jim says he gets it from me but I think he has enough for the both of us. Temper though he gets from Jim. If he is hungry or he wants something he will pitch an absolute fit until he gets it.
Yesterday I took Cooper into his room to take his nap. I partially closed the door to read him his story and I heard the instant Bear realized we weren’t in the living room- this irritated squawk and then thump thump thump he came crawling on his fists and BAM slammed open the door, looked at the door like how dare you be closed. Then he pounded his way over to us and climbed in my lap to hear the story too. I laughed through the whole story!
Bear has graduated to the high chair now. It’s fascinating to me the differences in these boys. I mean Cooper was in the high chair at 5 months. He’d roll the high chair over to us asking to eat. Bear fought it and fought it ripping off the bib and trying to escape the chair in absolute fits. We had to pull out the restraints just to keep him in the chair! He’s adapted to the chair now but he doesn’t want mashed up food at all. He only wants the stuff he can pretend to chew on so no baby food for him.
Cooper’s new phrase is, “Hi Joe.” If he sees anyone he will call them Joe. My theory is he loves Joe on Blue’s Clues so everyone is Joe to him. In the morning he says, “Hi baby Bear. Hi Joe.” He is very good with his manners now. He will say, “Please, please, please.” If you don’t give it to him it’s, “PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!” but he almost always remembers to say thank you! Coop is also our little tickle monster. He loves to tickle everyone. Last week he and I were at Whole Foods and he was mad that I had him in the cart. I asked him to please hold on while I put things on the conveyer belt and he reached out and well basically hit me. The shock on my face was clear and I did a sharp intake of breath. His face fell and then just as quickly he reached out and said with this huge smile on his face, “Tickle!” I thought it was a good recovery on his part.
Coop is a champ now with eating with his spoon. Yesterday we had a stew we were eating and I had some left so I pushed my bowl over to him. He took my spoon and his spoon and would eat from one to the other. If you try to help him he gets really upset and will only allow you to put the food on the spoon, he has to bring it to his mouth. We had just been commenting on what a great eater he was and how he never pushed himself back too far in the chair so that it would fall over. We must have jinxed it because out of nowhere he just kicked back and in slow motion the chair hit the wall and then he tumbled out the side and smacked his face onto the kitchen floor. Wasn’t his week because earlier Bear was walking and got going too quick and basically jumped onto Coop who lost his balance and bam knocked his face onto the cement floor on the balcony! Poor kid I had to pull out the ice pack twice in one week.
The beginning of the month Coop has started his head bob as his way of jamming to the music. Now he will spin around and move his legs with his head bob. Mostly gets dizzy but it is fun to watch. Coop is now practicing his colors. He refuses to say blue although he loves to say that everything is purple. For a while he would count to 10 but now everything is 2. And I mean everything. He is still all about the proper order of things. Toilet lids should be down, trash can lids need to be closed, and cabinets should be closed. Bear opens them, Cooper runs behind him to put it back. Must be the plight of the older child.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
It’s Been A BIG Week
It’s been a BIG week. Bear took his first step, Coop was bitten by a turkey, finally said please and I got beat up! It’s been eventful I tell ya.
(If you’ve noticed the lack of pictures it’s because I got a new camera and I’m technically challenged in figuring out how to use the new reader and get them from my camera to my computer. I have big plans to get that figured out by this weekend and will have like two months worth of pictures to post!)
Jim came home a little early last Friday (23rd) and the boys were excited in their greetings as usual. This time Bear just stood up on his own and took a step towards dad! It was one of those moments you know you will never forget. It’s rare to get one of the milestone when you are both looking- it was so cool. He gets himself in a lot of interesting predicaments as he gets up but can’t get down yet.
Saturday we met up with Cristina and Todd and their baby Davis for a day at the Life and Science Museum. It was an amazing museum. I can see bringing the boys there quite often so they can learn just about anything and everything. We made our own tornado, felt a cloud, saw way too many snakes, spiders and insects but the coolest was going into the jungle of butterflies. We took a train ride (still not sure why we thought that was a good idea in February) but Cooper got to say his favorite word, “Choooo chooooo.” There were a few temper tantrums as I had to pull Cooper away from other kids toys or when Jim took him out of the sandbox. There is this huge section of types of drums for the kids to play on. Cooper was jamming out. (Side note: whenever we sing to a song on the tv or even when I try and sing ABC’s or Itsy Bitsy Spider Cooper will honestly start screaming and throwing himself down. It’s quite disturbing he hates to hear us sing! Jim’s theory is he is so musically adept and in tune that when we sing he can hear how out of tune we are and he wants us to stop.)
So then we make our way to the petting zoo type area only it’s really not a petting zoo just an observation kind of thing. A random mom points to us and says um he just got bit by the turkey. We were so busy pointing out the cow to Davis and Sully we hadn’t noticed Cooper putting his hand in the turkey’s cage and getting bit! We look down and see Cooper holding his finger carefully but he won’t let us look at it instead he goes to put his hand back in the cage and the turkey tries to bite him again! No harm done but I checked and it said domestic turkey- domestic my ass!
So we get home to make lunch and as we are all in our tiny kitchen Cooper starts flinging open cabinets and flings the pantry door right into my forehead! I couldn’t believe how bad it hurt. Jim tried not to laugh but I could tell he was laughing. On Sunday we were all on the floor wrestling when Cooper just thunks me right on my left eye. I saw stars covered my face and tried to fight back tears. Jim is thinking I’m joking so he jumps on top of me and grabs hold of my eye (right where I was thunked) and starts trying to pry it open. All the while the boys are laughing at my pain. It’s now Wednesday and I still can’t touch the left side of my forehead or my eyebrow. I’m bloging this because I’m not getting ANY sympathy at home for my wounds I’m hoping someone out there will take pity on me.
Wondering what the big deal is about Cooper saying please? We’ve been trying to get him to say please and thank you. He says something that resembles thank you when you give him something but he just flat out refuses to say please. So over the weekend we took a stand. If he wanted some of our drinks he would just have to say please. It took many many attempts and he was at the table eating dinner when he started yelling at the top of his lungs, “Please, please, please, please, please!” while doing the hand signal. We still have no idea what he was saying please for but he’s back to not saying it again.
Other than that our only other excitement was a trip to NOVA two weeks ago and we are now going to a new gym. I got a call on the 9th that my little gym was closing after only being open for three months. I was so bummed because it was so nice to go there, they would come out and get the boys out of the car with me and help me pack them up and play with them the whole time I worked out. BUT it’s turned out to have a silver lining. We signed up at a brand new Gold’s Gym right around the corner with a Kiddie Korner. Can I just say it has been so awesome!! Bear literally beams when we go in there and jumps out of my arms and Cooper just runs in there and doesn’t even look back at me. I can work out for up to two hours and I know they are right around the corner. It’s definitely pricey but it gets me some time and they get to socialize and burn off energy.
GiGi and Chris are headed to our neck of the woods this weekend and we are preparing a birthday bash of epic proportions for GiGi. Cooper is demanding we go all out so I will be sure to take pictures.
Jim is home early tonight and not feeling well. We all seem to have stuffy noses and I’m hoping that’s the extent of it. I guess the downside to the Kiddie Korner is more germs. Well I hope February has been good to everyone!
(If you’ve noticed the lack of pictures it’s because I got a new camera and I’m technically challenged in figuring out how to use the new reader and get them from my camera to my computer. I have big plans to get that figured out by this weekend and will have like two months worth of pictures to post!)
Jim came home a little early last Friday (23rd) and the boys were excited in their greetings as usual. This time Bear just stood up on his own and took a step towards dad! It was one of those moments you know you will never forget. It’s rare to get one of the milestone when you are both looking- it was so cool. He gets himself in a lot of interesting predicaments as he gets up but can’t get down yet.
Saturday we met up with Cristina and Todd and their baby Davis for a day at the Life and Science Museum. It was an amazing museum. I can see bringing the boys there quite often so they can learn just about anything and everything. We made our own tornado, felt a cloud, saw way too many snakes, spiders and insects but the coolest was going into the jungle of butterflies. We took a train ride (still not sure why we thought that was a good idea in February) but Cooper got to say his favorite word, “Choooo chooooo.” There were a few temper tantrums as I had to pull Cooper away from other kids toys or when Jim took him out of the sandbox. There is this huge section of types of drums for the kids to play on. Cooper was jamming out. (Side note: whenever we sing to a song on the tv or even when I try and sing ABC’s or Itsy Bitsy Spider Cooper will honestly start screaming and throwing himself down. It’s quite disturbing he hates to hear us sing! Jim’s theory is he is so musically adept and in tune that when we sing he can hear how out of tune we are and he wants us to stop.)
So then we make our way to the petting zoo type area only it’s really not a petting zoo just an observation kind of thing. A random mom points to us and says um he just got bit by the turkey. We were so busy pointing out the cow to Davis and Sully we hadn’t noticed Cooper putting his hand in the turkey’s cage and getting bit! We look down and see Cooper holding his finger carefully but he won’t let us look at it instead he goes to put his hand back in the cage and the turkey tries to bite him again! No harm done but I checked and it said domestic turkey- domestic my ass!
So we get home to make lunch and as we are all in our tiny kitchen Cooper starts flinging open cabinets and flings the pantry door right into my forehead! I couldn’t believe how bad it hurt. Jim tried not to laugh but I could tell he was laughing. On Sunday we were all on the floor wrestling when Cooper just thunks me right on my left eye. I saw stars covered my face and tried to fight back tears. Jim is thinking I’m joking so he jumps on top of me and grabs hold of my eye (right where I was thunked) and starts trying to pry it open. All the while the boys are laughing at my pain. It’s now Wednesday and I still can’t touch the left side of my forehead or my eyebrow. I’m bloging this because I’m not getting ANY sympathy at home for my wounds I’m hoping someone out there will take pity on me.
Wondering what the big deal is about Cooper saying please? We’ve been trying to get him to say please and thank you. He says something that resembles thank you when you give him something but he just flat out refuses to say please. So over the weekend we took a stand. If he wanted some of our drinks he would just have to say please. It took many many attempts and he was at the table eating dinner when he started yelling at the top of his lungs, “Please, please, please, please, please!” while doing the hand signal. We still have no idea what he was saying please for but he’s back to not saying it again.
Other than that our only other excitement was a trip to NOVA two weeks ago and we are now going to a new gym. I got a call on the 9th that my little gym was closing after only being open for three months. I was so bummed because it was so nice to go there, they would come out and get the boys out of the car with me and help me pack them up and play with them the whole time I worked out. BUT it’s turned out to have a silver lining. We signed up at a brand new Gold’s Gym right around the corner with a Kiddie Korner. Can I just say it has been so awesome!! Bear literally beams when we go in there and jumps out of my arms and Cooper just runs in there and doesn’t even look back at me. I can work out for up to two hours and I know they are right around the corner. It’s definitely pricey but it gets me some time and they get to socialize and burn off energy.
GiGi and Chris are headed to our neck of the woods this weekend and we are preparing a birthday bash of epic proportions for GiGi. Cooper is demanding we go all out so I will be sure to take pictures.
Jim is home early tonight and not feeling well. We all seem to have stuffy noses and I’m hoping that’s the extent of it. I guess the downside to the Kiddie Korner is more germs. Well I hope February has been good to everyone!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
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.
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.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
July 2006
Cooper's favorite treat is to eat an avocado right out of the skin now. He will lick it clean! Thankfully Cooper is throwing less and less of his temper tantrums. With the birth of Sullivan I think his world was just a little rocked and he had to adjust. Don’t get me wrong he still can throw a tantrum but we’ve learned a few tricks. First we got consistent- I know- imagine that! He must have been sent to the corner in daycare (or seen it happen) we have surmised because one time he was in trouble someone pointed to go a different direction and he went right to the corner and put his nose in it! We have created the “Comfort Corner.” It has a pillow and it’s where he goes when he is having a really horrible tantrum. Granted he is still pretty young for this. (We’ve been recording Super Nanny and taking notes!) So when he threw his water bottle at me for the umpteenth time and bruised my ankle Jim told him he needed to not do that again and apologize to me. Well that didn’t seem acceptable so he proceeded to scream and throw himself around so Jim put him in the CC till he could calm down. He knew what he was doing. He would cry if we were looking in his direction. As soon as we would turn our heads he would try to sneak out. But Jim was on him like white on rice man. It took a few trys but he finally sat there, got calm and then came out ready to play. Although he never apologized he hasn't been throwing his bottles at my feet anymore. No joke he would wait for me with all his empty sippy cups to throw them at me. I never screamed or gave a reaction but for some reason he felt he needed to do it. Anyway now we just tell him he needs to stop (insert behavior) or he will go to the CC and he stops. We’ll get back to everyone in another 6 months on that one.
We now have our trashcan elevated on a stool. We have lost way to many tupperware lids to the trash now. If you've lost it in our house look in the trash!
He is now climbing down the stairs now. Until now it was just up. That has opened a whole new world. He is fanatical about closing all the doors. He says, “Closing” but it sounds like “cloo.” Something new for us is one second he’s there and the next he’s GONE. We had to take the baby gates down for painting and he is taking full advantage of that. Coop used to avoid the top of the stairs like the plague. He made it to the basement one day and all the bills we had put in a crate to be filed were strewn all over the floor! Hard to get mad when he looks like he had a blast doing it.
Cooper must have my stubborn streak. He has learned some baby signs which make our life much easier. He will say eat and put his fingers together. His finger to his mouth is drink. Wipe your hands across the tray for all done. He even will say GiGi!! But the little bugger refuses to say Mamma. Our conversations go a little something like this:
Abbie: Can you say GiGi?
Cooper: GiGi
Abbie:Can you say Mamma?
Cooper: Dadda
Abbie: Mamma
Cooper: Dadda
Abbie: Mamma
Cooper: Dadda
Abbie: MAMMA
Cooper:DADDA
Abbie:MAMMA
Cooper:DADDA
Jim: "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"
We couldn't believe how much stuff we have. This was one day of trash!His comprehension of words is getting better and better. He used to wave but not know why he was doing it just that he was getting praise for it. Now he knows what goodbye means and will wave without any prompting. One day I left for a bit and as I was pulling out I looked back at the house and there was Cooper at the door waving goodbye to me. I honestly don't know how to explain the lump in my throat when I saw him doing that.
He still says, “baby” but mostly now it sounds like, “pappy” and will pet Sully. He likes to sit next to him and play footsies with him it’s very cute. Sometimes a pained look will still come over him and you know he’s upset that the baby is in my arms. But boy oh boy what a difference a little time makes. He is such a patient little guy. When I'm nursing he's either playing, or sitting next to me. He tries to crawl on top of Sully only when he's really tired but other than that he just waits it out. I've learned to do the poop patrol at the same time which saves a lot of time!
And oh my goodness is Sullivan is such a little gem. He is gooooing a lot and sleeping a lot….. during the day. He likes to get all his gas at night and will wake me up every hour and a half usually punching me with his little boxer arms. Once he finally gets the gas out he’s ready to nurse and go back to sleep. I’ve been lucky that Jim has been there to get Cooper at 6:30 to make him breakfast so I can get another hour of sleep still.
Sully loves to push up and stand up on your lap. Nowadays if you jump on the rebounder he is smiling within 5 seconds and 30 seconds later his eyes are rolling up into his head. It’s absolutely a phenomenon. Nothing else works like the rebounder. We can’t even put him in the swing until he’s mostly asleep. We’ve broken him on the swing though. He pretty much has to have it during the day or every time Cooper screams or pokes him when he’s sleeping on the couch he’s awake. I just can't describe how easy Sully makes it. He cries very little and goes to sleep pretty easily. Besides the fact that he continues to poo on me constantly I really can't complain. We were eating out during the big packing phase and he did break out in eczema. That was a huge bummer. But I stopped eating all dairy and wheat and within 2 days it was gone. (phew)
I'm watching him now in his swing making his little chipmunk noises. If you would have told me a few years ago my heart was capable of holding this much love for these two children I wouldn't have been able to imagine it. We may complain about the poo's or the temper tantrums but I wouldn't give it up for the world.
This is Sully's toy that Cooper isn't allowed on. It drives Cooper nuts to not be able to crawl all over it!!
Friday, July 14, 2006
June Update
I really did write this post right at the end of June I just haven't had the chance to get the pictures together so it's a tad outdated.
...It is unbelievable that Sullivan is now over a month old and Cooper is now 18 months old! June has been the most amazing yet one of the most challenging months. It feels as if a lifetime has passed.
Most of Sully’s time has been spent doing what babies do- sleeping. I keep telling everyone what an easy baby Sullivan is but the midwives told me that I’m just a different mom. It’s so true. We don’t freak out over every little noise he makes. I don't make everyone whisper if he's sleeping and I'll actually put him down if he's sleeping. He can sleep through Cooper screaming and that is saying something. He makes adorable baby kisses and has this deep gaze. Several people have told us that he just looks at you and you can tell he has an old soul. When he graces you with a little smile it’s so precious. He’s holding his neck up pretty steadily now. He doesn’t feel like the completely little helpless baby anymore.
Did I mention that Cooper is 18 months old now and he’s throwing these wonderful temper tantrums? It’s not been easy, I mean I feel like we finally figured out how to handle the infant phase. I kinda thought we had this parenting thing down. I started to lose it last week, it just seemed like Cooper was figuring out how to throw these tantrums and he was getting what he wanted from us. I can’t tell you how awful it is to feel like we could now be a candidate for Supernanny! I called my dear friend Jamie and sobbing begged for advice. (She’s our child development specialist!) Thankfully Jamie talked me down from the ledge and reminded us that it’s Cooper’s job to test us right now. Very good to remember as he’s kicking us and throwing his head back without a care that we have hardwood floors with a nice resounding thunk! Just yesterday he decided to throw his food on the floor and when I told him that we didn’t throw our food on the floor please pick it up and put it back on the plate- he started to scream as if this was the most horrible thing in the world and thunked his head in the food and start throwing it at me! Needless to say I bought the Supernanny and Dr. Sears Discipline book. Should be a fun phase!
It’s not all been temper tantrums. Cooper has almost totally adjusted to Sullivan now. By adjusted I mean he no longer starts crying at the sight of Sully and will in fact sit next to Sully and pet his feet or head quite lovingly. As Jim has posted he will say “Baby” and point to Sully. We are careful not to say to him that he is now a big boy and take the fact that he is still very much a baby away. If I’m nursing Sully then Cooper will either sit next to me or pull my legs down and flop down on them and go for a ride. Great workout for my legs!
We’ve now taken to a morning walk. GiGi and Poppy gave us this awesome Chariot that allows the boys to ride side by side. The first couple of trips they both fussed a lot but now they even seem to look forward to it and Cooper yells “yaaaaaaaa” whenever we run across the street. This week the big ordeal has been Sullivan’s wayward arm. It flops over and whacks Cooper upside the head at every little bump. Cooper gets mad and screams which causes Sully’s to startle and whack Cooper again! So when the screaming didn’t work Cooper tried kicking the bottom of the sling causing Sullivan to get yet another whack! So now he just takes his forehead and pushes Sully’s arm away from him. Is it mean to laugh as it’s happening?
The wonderful rebounder!! Sullivan and Cooper couldn’t be more different. Cooper took the pacifier right away- Sully spit it out and looked at me almost as if I was insulting him. Cooper loved to be swaddled; Sully will fight until he can get his arms out to have his little fists on his chin. Stick Cooper in the sling and he was happy as a bug in a rug. Sully will scream during his fussy time (typically when Cooper is getting his bath) unless he’s really tired. You could put Cooper in the swing and within minutes he was knocked out for hours! Put Sully in the swing and you may get 30 minutes tops before he wants out of there. But the best thing ever is this little rebounder. We are so tight on space as it is, but I wanted one to start working out. I promised to keep it tucked away, but it has become the staple of our living room! I get my workouts, Cooper will use it to put all his toys on or play on, but best of all when the swaddling or nursing don’t calm Sullivan down we jump on the rebounder and within a few minutes he is gone! The best is when you are bouncing Sully and Cooper climbs on and sits between your legs as you bounce.
One of our favorite things to eat is homemade sauerkraut. This time Cooper decided to help out with the mashing part.
...It is unbelievable that Sullivan is now over a month old and Cooper is now 18 months old! June has been the most amazing yet one of the most challenging months. It feels as if a lifetime has passed.
Most of Sully’s time has been spent doing what babies do- sleeping. I keep telling everyone what an easy baby Sullivan is but the midwives told me that I’m just a different mom. It’s so true. We don’t freak out over every little noise he makes. I don't make everyone whisper if he's sleeping and I'll actually put him down if he's sleeping. He can sleep through Cooper screaming and that is saying something. He makes adorable baby kisses and has this deep gaze. Several people have told us that he just looks at you and you can tell he has an old soul. When he graces you with a little smile it’s so precious. He’s holding his neck up pretty steadily now. He doesn’t feel like the completely little helpless baby anymore.
Did I mention that Cooper is 18 months old now and he’s throwing these wonderful temper tantrums? It’s not been easy, I mean I feel like we finally figured out how to handle the infant phase. I kinda thought we had this parenting thing down. I started to lose it last week, it just seemed like Cooper was figuring out how to throw these tantrums and he was getting what he wanted from us. I can’t tell you how awful it is to feel like we could now be a candidate for Supernanny! I called my dear friend Jamie and sobbing begged for advice. (She’s our child development specialist!) Thankfully Jamie talked me down from the ledge and reminded us that it’s Cooper’s job to test us right now. Very good to remember as he’s kicking us and throwing his head back without a care that we have hardwood floors with a nice resounding thunk! Just yesterday he decided to throw his food on the floor and when I told him that we didn’t throw our food on the floor please pick it up and put it back on the plate- he started to scream as if this was the most horrible thing in the world and thunked his head in the food and start throwing it at me! Needless to say I bought the Supernanny and Dr. Sears Discipline book. Should be a fun phase!
It’s not all been temper tantrums. Cooper has almost totally adjusted to Sullivan now. By adjusted I mean he no longer starts crying at the sight of Sully and will in fact sit next to Sully and pet his feet or head quite lovingly. As Jim has posted he will say “Baby” and point to Sully. We are careful not to say to him that he is now a big boy and take the fact that he is still very much a baby away. If I’m nursing Sully then Cooper will either sit next to me or pull my legs down and flop down on them and go for a ride. Great workout for my legs!
We’ve now taken to a morning walk. GiGi and Poppy gave us this awesome Chariot that allows the boys to ride side by side. The first couple of trips they both fussed a lot but now they even seem to look forward to it and Cooper yells “yaaaaaaaa” whenever we run across the street. This week the big ordeal has been Sullivan’s wayward arm. It flops over and whacks Cooper upside the head at every little bump. Cooper gets mad and screams which causes Sully’s to startle and whack Cooper again! So when the screaming didn’t work Cooper tried kicking the bottom of the sling causing Sullivan to get yet another whack! So now he just takes his forehead and pushes Sully’s arm away from him. Is it mean to laugh as it’s happening?
The wonderful rebounder!! Sullivan and Cooper couldn’t be more different. Cooper took the pacifier right away- Sully spit it out and looked at me almost as if I was insulting him. Cooper loved to be swaddled; Sully will fight until he can get his arms out to have his little fists on his chin. Stick Cooper in the sling and he was happy as a bug in a rug. Sully will scream during his fussy time (typically when Cooper is getting his bath) unless he’s really tired. You could put Cooper in the swing and within minutes he was knocked out for hours! Put Sully in the swing and you may get 30 minutes tops before he wants out of there. But the best thing ever is this little rebounder. We are so tight on space as it is, but I wanted one to start working out. I promised to keep it tucked away, but it has become the staple of our living room! I get my workouts, Cooper will use it to put all his toys on or play on, but best of all when the swaddling or nursing don’t calm Sullivan down we jump on the rebounder and within a few minutes he is gone! The best is when you are bouncing Sully and Cooper climbs on and sits between your legs as you bounce.
One of our favorite things to eat is homemade sauerkraut. This time Cooper decided to help out with the mashing part.
Favorite toy of the month a $1.50 ball from CVS. Cooper will chase this ball all over the house. Even funnier he loves for you to bounce it so it will bounce off his belly or his forehead! Cackles galore with that fun game.
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