Cooper's First Trip to the Dentist

If you haven’t picked up on this already, “firsts” and “new experiences” and “changes” are all panic situations for Cooper. Even something as mundane as a new pair of shoes can instill such fear and anger into that little heart you would think someone stole his bike, ripped his lovey and ate his cupcake.

You can imagine my anxiety about our first dentist visit. My pediatrician has been on me for a year to take him in and I finally caved this morning. I figured that since he was almost 1 year by the time his first tooth broke through that I had a little pass.

Let me tell you, my stalling wasn’t without merit. It’s 8pm and I finally have the courage to document it.

We got there and things seemed pleasant enough. They were playing Monster’s Inc. in the waiting room which was also filled with video games and fish aquariums. First impressions were good.

They called us back and asked me to come with him since it was his first visit. On subsequent visits parents stay outside. I don’t think I will mind that next time.

We started off talking to the hygienist about Cooper’s brushing habits which included a discussion on his “dragon breath” and how we have to brush the dragons out every night. Not sure where we picked this up but it works for now!

Then, she started cleaning and Cooper started shaking, crying and flailing. He employed every tactic he knows of to get out of that chair. He tried to physically escape. He tried being polite yelling “No thank you! No thank you!” to the hygienist. He tried getting angry yelling “Stop it!” and “You’re hurting me!”. He tried holding his breath and successfully got a rise out of all of us when his lips turned blue. He almost threw-up when they put the thing in his mouth to hold it open. Ugh.

When it was all said and done, the dentist tried to give Cooper a new stuffed animal and toothbrush as a treat for getting his teeth clean. In the most defiant move that a three year old could muster, he took that stuffed animal and threw it right back at her. Point Cooper.

As you can see, he is very good at his craft. I’m not sure who is more traumatized, him or me!

The good news is that his teeth are in great shape with no cavities. At three years old he is still working on getting one of his molars in. Maybe I can attribute this all to teething?! Anyway, we will all live to fight off the dragons another day. Until next year, pediatric dentist!

Post-visit dentist approved treat. 

What in the world is in that BAG?

What you got in that bag?!

Have you ever noticed that the bigger the purse you carry the more you put into it? Today when I sat down to pay for lunch I realized that I have a spare pair of underwear for every family member in my purse. Insanity. 

BUT, to be fair, I am returning some boxers for Kyle and I threw a spare pair of my own in there last summer before I had Carrington. Since I dragged my feet in packing my hospital bag, I at least wanted the peace of mind that I wouldn’t be stranded at the hospital sans clean undies! Pay no attention to the fact that Carrington is already 6 months old!

I seem to remember my mom winning some PTA contest because she was able to pull out a pair of my socks and some crayons during an impromptu game. I guess there are worse ways to turn into your mother!

I would love to know…What is the strangest thing you’ve ever found in your purse? 

AND, can anyone pick out the song that the title of this post refers to? (Ahem, college roomies!!!)

Dior, Two Analysts and a Cube

DISCLAIMER: I'M NOT CLAIMING FASHION / BEAUTY BLOGGER STATUS, NOR WAS THIS POST SPONSORED. ALTHOUGH, FOR DIOR, I'D SELL OUT!

Y'all. I just found the most awesome lip product EVER. It's Dior's Addict Lip Glow and it makes me happy. It's somewhere between a lip balm and a sheer lipstick and it's a moisturizer, too. AND, it changes color depending on the "chemistry of your lips". Not quite sure what that means but, after a little science experiment, I can attest that it's true.

I recruited my friend Abigail to model with me because what else are two financial analysts going to do over lunch in their cubes?! Rest assured, we got some pretty awesome looks trying to get these pictures!

On Abigail…pretty pink pout!

On me…definitely more berry and definitely more Blue Steel!

Let me know if you try it or have it and love it!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Cooper!

I can't believe I have a three year old. So much has changed in the last year. Cooper went from a squishy little baby to a huge, opinionated kid in what feels like overnight. Well, he has always been opinionated but now he has way more ways to express it!

A year ago today, this tiny guy was scooting around in my kitchen…

…and now this kid is riding his big boy bike in the street!

So happy birthday to my Cooper boy: Lover of all things boy; wrestling with Daddy; riding bikes, trikes and scooters; still loving lima beans; Little Einsteins; the beach; jump houses; singing "Hey Jude", the "Aggie War Hymn" and the balloon song; reading books; riding Kona and throwing the ball for her; getting chased; hiding (not so well); making Mommy and Daddy laugh ("We're laughing!"); vacuuming and putting soap in the dishwasher; saying "I'm gonna do it all by myself"; fishing; flashlights; bunny snacks; giving "munch" kisses; and, hanging out with his family. Even his sister. Sometimes.

Cooper, you are such a joy to be around. Every night your Dad and I ask each other "What's the funniest thing Cooper did/said today?" and end up rolling with laughter. We can't wait to see what you come up with next!

Check out Cooper at two here!

The Callback

Cooper is always looking for ways to stall bedtime. Lately it's been something we affectionately call "the callback". He waits about 5 minutes after we leave his room he starts up with "Mom! Dad!I need you! Come heeeeeeeere!" Well, as it turns out, I'm a sucker and always take the bait. At first it was out of concern and then it was because I couldn't wait to hear what he would come up with next. 

Here are some of the best from his lineup:

Me: What do you need, Cooper?

"I see sumptin. ... It's my pillow!"

"I can't find my foot! It's hiding under the covers!"

"I turned my flashlight on.  It's brighting my eyes!"

"I got a booger."

"I'm stuck!" (Most of the time he wasn't but one time he did get stuck trying to slide past the bed rail!)

"I want some ice cream. Please?"

"I'm crying wike sister. You make me happy?"

Daddy has since put the kibosh on our prolonged bedtime routine. Fun sponge. But not before I could capture these little gems!

Sleep Update! Sister is consistently making it to almost 6am now. We paid our dues with 3 crappy cry-it-out nights and the payback has been more sleep for all! More. Glorious. Sleep. Thanks for talking me through it!

Pulling the Plug: The Lazy Mom’s Method to Ditching the Pacifier

Pacifier. Binky. Paci. Mom’s Guaranteed Night of Sleep. Whatever you want to call it, to a lot of kids this is the accessory of choice and Cooper’s beloved binky definitely fit the bill.

Cooper has always loved his binky and I have really never been in a rush to make him ditch it. Kyle, on the other hand, was pushing project bye bye binky starting around Cooper’s 2^nd birthday. I casually convinced him that, while I was on board, we should probably wait until Cooper turned 3 siting some random dental literature that stated the pacifier didn’t really affect kids’ teeth until they were 4.  Plus, we had already gotten him down to only naps and bedtime.

Either Kyle gave me way too much credit or he saw the panic in my eyes (or were those tears?), but he let me win this one. At the time, Cooper’s birthday felt like light years away. Now it’s right around the corner!

I have heard of so many cute and creative ways to give up the pacifier. There is the ever popular Paci Fairy that comes and takes your pacifiers in the middle of the night in exchange for a new toy. Some kids give theirs to Santa. When our sweet friend Addie turned 4, she gave Carrington all of her binkies because she needed them more. (Awww!)

All of these things sound awesome in theory but just thinking about them stirred up a feeling in me that I would classify on the scale somewhere between dread and extreme nausea. The kid does not like change. (And that is an understatement!)

From the title of this post, you’ve probably clued into the fact that we are now binky free. The method I used and am about to describe was neither cute nor creative. In fact, I would classify it as “The Lazy Mom’s Method to Ditching the Pacifier”. But, y’all, it worked! Read on…

Sometime in the fall, Cooper started chewing holes in the ends of his binkies. For those of you not as familiar to binky culture as we are, binkies lose all of their sucking power with the tiniest hole.

One by one the soldiers fell.

Every time a binky “stopped working”, as he put it, we would have him throw it away himself. Gradually, the crew of eight binkies began to dwindle. I kid you not; there were eight in his bed at one point plus reserves in the kitchen cabinet. Ridiculous.

I told Cooper that we couldn’t buy any more binkies, once they were gone they were gone. Kyle totally called my bluff on this, by the way, thinking I’d totally cave on this but that only added fuel to my fire. Maybe that was his intent, that sneaky guy.

Just this past weekend, Cooper was down to two binkies, one of which was hanging on by its BPA-free thread. I asked Cooper if he thought he was done with binkies and, to my surprise, he answered “Yes. I think binkies are for sister.” So, I put him to sleep without them and settled in for what I thought was going to be a long night. Hey, we were already sleep training Carrington so why not?!

I was so wrong. He slept that night with no problem and has only asked about his binkies once since Friday. Even then it was just to ask: “All of the binkies have holes in them, right?” I assured him this was the case and he moved on with life.

Now I can officially say we are DONE! It was just like pulling off a band-aide. Like really, really slowly, while angsting about it, pulling off a band-aide!

Sleep Training: Part 3 and 4

The sleep training continues…

Always posing, even asleep. I think she pulls off the Miley Cyrus hairdo pretty well!

We had a great New Year's Eve! Two of our favorite couple friends came over for dinner, great wine and, of course, a late night round of Taboo. The boys are cheaters, by the way! 

Since we had some friends spending the night, I decided not to torture them with a late night cry it out session. So I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best!  

Night 3: New Years Eve

7:20pm - Nighty night time. She was tired and I didn't hear a peep from her after I walked out of her room

10:45pm - Dreamfeed. Sister happily took down a bottle of milk since Mommy was partaking in some particularly good wine!

3:45am - She cried, I caved. She was only 15 minutes shy of her "deadline" and so I fudged and let everyone sleep.

7:45am - Awake and ready for the day. A little too early for her Daddy I think!

Night 4: New Years Day

7:15pm - Off to sleep went the happy girl.

11:00pm - Dreamfeed. I meant to do this earlier but both Kyle and I fell asleep on the couch watching football.

3:40am - She cried. HARD. I've got to give it to her, it worked the night before so why not try again?! I went in to replace her pacifier but took one look at her and knew she wasn't going back down anytime soon. Kyle was fussing at me to feed her and not wake up Cooper so I reached deep into the bag of tricks and busted out the ol' butt pat. This has worked on her since Day 1 and after about 3 minutes of patting, she was fast asleep.

4:15am - Awake and apparently starving. You would have thought by the sound of things that she hadn't eaten in weeks. It was past 4am so I fed her.

7:30am - Fresh faced and ready to take on the day!

I feel like we are making some progress here. Although it is not her preference, she's been OK with eating once a night and is trending towards a later wake up time. I little more pushing in the right direction and I think we'll be there. Until I jinx myself with posts like these...

Thanks to all for your kind words and for following along!