Teeth

My little squish ball has acquired his bottom two teeth in the past two weeks. It's amazing how different children react to teething. Coen was a hot mess, cranky and feverish. With Coop, you would have never known about the teeth if he didn't take your finger and chomp down. Such a relaxed calm baby, thank goodness for that! His smile lights up a room and he smiles at EVERYONE. He is ticklish in the same places as his older brothers, on the inside of his thigh and his collar bone. He is also ticklish in his feet and he laughs like crazy if you get hold of them.

Cooper is becoming very mobile but hasn't quite yet mastered "the crawl". He's more about "the worm" at this point but he will get from A to B if he is determined to. He is sitting up unassisted but still loses balance after awhile and falls over, gracefully mind you. He loves his jumper and it's time to get rid of the swing and bouncer. He is feeding himself his bottles but still prefers for Mommy to hold it for him. That is the cuddle muffin part of him. We have been feeding him solids for a little over a month now and I haven't found anything that he doesn't like to eat, even green beans! This past weekend at the river we were on a boat ride and decided to stop at a local marina for lunch. His formula had fallen out of the diaper bag at the house so I was left with nothing to feed him. The restaurant didn't have applesauce (crazy right) so I was forced to feed him real people food. I gave him bread off of my sandwich and some unsalted french fries which he LOVED. It's not a habit I am ready to form but it is good to know that when in a bind, he can eat regular food.

We go through spurts of sleeping through the night. About a month ago he slept from 8-6:45 without interruption for 4 nights in a row. I thought we had a winner, but just as soon as I thought we were in the clear, he started waking up again. Dagger. Now it's anyone's guess how the night will go. He will either sleep all night (as he did last night) or he will wake up around 2 or 3 to eat and go back to sleep most of the time. Sometimes he thinks it is playtime and he is ready to party.

Regardless, this child is the EASIEST of my boys to get to sleep. I will put him in his crib awake and he will roll over immediately and usually be asleep before I get to my room to turn on the monitor. If he cries, it's less than 3 minutes. If he cries for longer than that I go get him because it simply means he isn't ready to go to sleep yet. We play some more and try again 30 minutes later and it's lights out. He could really teach Coen a thing or two about sleep!

On to Coen... hah... my wild child. This kid is going to keep me on my toes for his entire life, I know it. He is SO smart and talks up a storm. We are currently potty training and it's going so-so. As long as you ask him if he has to use the potty he will go but he hasn't mastered the fine technique of actually telling us when he has to go.... especially when it comes to number 2:( I've always been a firm believer in the fact that kids have to show true interest about using the potty if we expect them to do it. Cameron never showed interest and I never pushed it. When he was 3 1/2 he finally wanted to start doing it. It took less than a week and he was fully potty trained, and he has NEVER had an accident or wet the bed. I'm going to follow the same path with Coen, when he is ready he will be ready. Of course it would be nice to only have to buy diapers for one family member but that time will come soon enough. He is growing up so fast as it is.

He is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear (so you know what his Halloween costume will be) and runs around screaming "To Infinity and Beyond!". He will also shoot you with his laser beam arm and jumps from anything that he can climb on to "fly". He reminds me of Cameron when he was younger. Cam loved Spiderman and we were at a friends apartment on the 3rd floor balcony. Cameron looks over the balcony and said, "Yeah I could use my spidey web and get to the ground." It was at that point that we had a lonnnnnng talk with Cameron and made him aware of the fact that he is indeed not Spiderman and that he doesn't have special webs that come out of his arm that help him fly. Talk about crushing a kids dream... but better a dream than crushing his actual body!

Coen is a Daddy's boy and wants Daddy to do everything with him; give him a bath, put him to bed, make him dinner. He even hates when we are in the car and I'm driving because he wants Kyle to drive. He will tell you that Daddy (and Uncle Chris) are his best friends. I love that he and Kyle have the bond that they do, but it would be kind of nice for Coen to appreciate the shots, dr. appointments and procedures I had to go through just to get pregnant with the lil guy. I mean damn, can I get a little love??? Just kidding...sort of:)

Cameron's 3rd football game is this weekend. The Hawks are currently 1-1 and Cameron is playing QB and safety. He has a very big responsibility on defense to read the offensive plays and call out the defensive play his team should execute. He has done a wonderful job so far and I'm very proud of him as always, with the exception of his practices where he sometimes doesn't give it 100%. Nelson and I are working on a plan to get that straightened out real quick. A little tough love never hurt anyone:)

He started 4th grade last week and really enjoys his teacher. She is about to have a baby in a few weeks and will be on maternity leave for 12 weeks. I don't know how I feel about this. I just pray for an easy transition from teacher to substitute, and that Cameron responds as well to the sub as he does his regular teacher. I'm sure he will, but as a parent you get concerned about things like this.

Cameron started wearing contacts this summer, of course after I spent over $300 on a pair of sports goggles, but he enjoys wearing them and takes care of them very well. It's very hard to believe that in a few short months he will be 10, but he is maturing and growing into a wonderful little man.

As for Kyle and I, we are just trying to stay afloat in this sea of craziness we call life. It's an adventure to say the least, one with high mountains, blistering heat, avalanches, shark infested oceans and poopy diapers. Would I trade it for anything, nope. Would I like a spa vacation... sure, why not!

Til next time:)