Dinner conversation

Cole: Mom, whatcha got cookin?
Mommy: Pork chops.
Cole: Uhhhh, I think those are called FORK chops.

How silly of me....

Haircut

Chase and Mommy took Cole for a haircut today. (He always looks so handsome afterward!) As usual, he was a perfect angel for the barber, Leo. Always so sweet and polite...its almost sickening. Anyway, sitting there watching Cole get his haircut reminded me of two haircut stories.....


1. Haircuts prior to Leo: Cole wasn't always so sweet and nice during haircuts. In fact, his very first haircut was a complete nightmare! I took him to a place that specialized in kids' cuts, thinking that the kid-friendly atmosphere would soothe him into submission. Boy was I wrong! In fact, words can't describe just how wrong I was. You just have to see for yourself.

So, that's how haircuts continued to go for Cole. The screaming, kicking, and fit throwing was to the point that it nearly took 2 people to hold him down and then a trained professional to snip what hair he/she could. It was truly awful. I took him back to the kids' place one or two more times after that. Pat tried to cut this hair. (Pat has cut MY hair since my first haircut!) And, I tried several of those Great Clips type places around town...never going back to the same place twice for fear they would remember us and tell us to leave!! It was awful for everyone, but we did find one humerous chuckle in it all when Nonnie found this cartoon in the newspaper one day:


One day, Big Grandad was telling Leo, his barber, about the trouble we were having with Cole's haircuts. Without batting an eye, Leo said he could cut his hair with no problem. Yeah, RIGHT, I thought! But, we had nothing to lose and decided to let Leo give it a shot. (All the while, I just knew that we'd prove him wrong and he'd have to admit that no one could possibly cut his hair without a 3-ring circus!) Well...guess what? Leo was right. Cole and Leo bonded with a few minutes of chatting and getting to know one another. And, BAM...Cole hopped right up in the chair and let Leo cut his hair like a perfect gentelman. Daddy and Mommy could not believe their eyes!!!! And...so it goes....Leo is now Cole's barber for life! And, the cool part about Leo being his barber is that is truly a family affair. Cole is the 3rd generation of men on Mommy's side to have Leo as a barber!

2. The price of haircuts: A couple of weekends ago while visiting Great-Grandma and Lewis in Nevada, the topic of barbers came up. The men were talking about the price of haircuts. Papa pays around $15 for a cut, Lewis pays $5 (and was assounded that Tom paid so much for his cuts!), and Uncle Stan has Aunt Sheryl cut his hair for free! During this conversation, I sat back and kept my mouth shut about the fact that we pay Leo $22 for Cole's cuts!! (All of the other places we had tried prior to Leo were betwen $10-$12 for a kid's haircut.) $22!!! I don't even pay anywhere near that for my own cuts!!! It sounds outrageous, and really, it IS for 10-15 minutes of work. However, because we love Leo and Cole thinks he is the best thing since sliced bread, we'd pay the man any price!!! So, thanks, Leo, for the great haircuts you've given Cole and for saving my sanity on haircut day!

Sleep Update

Although the doctor suggested the Benedryl for Cole's sleeping, I just haven't been able to bring myself to give it to him. Thankfully, he has been sleeping much better, so that's probably the reason I haven't felt compelled. (Perhaps if I were still up 3-5 times a night with him, I'd have a different story to tell!) For the past few nights, he has only been waking once, usually between 1-2am. I can deal with that!

Chase slept from 10pm to 4:30am last night! WOO HOO! This is our longest stretch yet and I hope it wasn't a fluke! He had a big day yesterday, since Mommy took him into her office to meet everyone. He missed out on quite a few of his little catnaps and was pretty worn out by bedtime! So, I'm not surprised he slept so well and I was grateful that he did! :)

All in all, things are looking up for Mommy on the sleep front! I hope I didn't just jinx myself by saying that...

Resorting to bribery...

Here are a couple of pics of my two boys taken just this morning. Aren't they handsome? :) Ok...so I had to bribe Cole with a Tootsie Roll to get him to hold Chase for the picture. But, hey, whatever it takes, right?

You would almost think Cole liked Chase by the looks of this picture. (Wrong!) Again...he'll do anything for candy.


Chase in his PJs. Such a happy baby!

Cole's Quotes of the Day

Eating lunch with Nonnie and Mommy:
Cole: Are you all grown up?
Nonnie: Yes, I'm an adult.
Cole: Am I an addict too?

Getting out of his carseat, Cole was walking with his legs spread as far apart as humanly possible.
Mommy: Cole, what's wrong? Why are you walking like that?
Cole: Because my pee bug is stuck to my leg!
(Yikes!)

Doctor visit

The boys had their checkups with Dr. Trites today (Cole's 3 year old visit and Chase's 2 month visit).

Here are Cole's stats: 37 1/4" tall (50th percentile) and 31 lbs. (50th percentile). He checked out A-Ok, however he refused to stand on the scale, be measured, pee in the cup, and basically anything the doctor asked him to do. Thank goodness Nonnie went with us as she ended up holding Cole on her lap during his exam while he was kicking and crying the entire time. *sigh* I asked the doctor about Cole's sleeping issues (i.e., waking up many times throughout the night and taking 2+ hours to fall asleep each night). After ruling out nightmares and night terrors, she felt that his waking had to do with him being "out of sync" in his sleep cycles. Apparently, how kids fall asleep has an effect on how they STAY asleep. Therefore, him taking 2+ hours to fall asleep each night is clearly affecting his ability to stay asleep throughout the night. Her solution? Benedryl. Giving it to him at night for about a week 30-60 min. before bedtime should allow him to go to sleep more quickly and, in turn, should allow him to stay asleep all night. (Fingers crossed.) After a week or so, she thought he'd be back in sync with his sleep rythm and he shouldn't need the Benadryl any longer. I never thought I'd be one of THOSE moms who give their kid meds to make them sleepy. But, at this point, I'm willing to try anything. I'm going on 2+ months without a full night of sleep and a 3 year old who is up at night more than a newborn! *yawn*

Chase is my little chunky monkey!! His stats: 23" tall (55th percentile), 12lbs., 12oz. (75th percentile), 39 1/2" head circumference (50th percentile). He was diagnosed with two minor conditions today: Torticollis and Seborrhea. First, torticollis is the reason Chase will only turn his head to the right. He has a very tight muscle on the left side of neck and it is painful for him to turn his head to the left. He needs muscle massage and daily exercises to loosen up that muscle and get him turning his head. She thought it might also explain the features on the left side of his face (ear, eye, cheek) being smaller than those on the right. With time his features should "equal out", and with exercise and a sleep positioner, his torticollis should improve. As far as the seborreah, what started out as baby acne has turned into a skin infection that has spread all over his head, behind his ears, and onto his trunk. He was given a prescription to clear that up and we were told that it would take 6-12 months for it to go away completely and that it may return in later years. Aside from those two minor issues, he is perfectly healthy and growing like a weed! Poor baby was given 3 shots today and cried his first real tears. Ouch!

Mommy's lesson for the day: Never schedule back-to-back doctor's appointments for the boys. We were there for almost 2 hours! Poor Cole nearly had a meltdown.

Swimming like Cailliou

Calliou is Cole's favorite TV show. We now have to record the show daily so Cole can get his Calliou "fix" in the evenings and on weekends. In one episode, Calliou's dad teaches him how to swim by having him walk along the shallow end of the pool and move his arms in a swimming motion. Apparently TV can be educational. Caillou has taught Cole how to swim. Who knew?

Water Park Adventure

Mommy and Aunt Mary took Cole to Oceans of Fun today! This was the first time Mommy and Cole had ever been. He loved it! We visited all the attractions...the wave pool, the Carribean Cooler (a "river" we floated down on an innertube), and Paradise Falls. But, the part of the park Cole liked best was the kiddie pool area! It consisted of 3 pools on 2 seperate levels. The upper and lower pools were connected via small waterslides for kids. Cole made many, many trips down the waterslides and had a great time splashing around in the water all day! We got the biggest kick out of Cole "swimming" where he was walking in water about 1' deep and moving his arms like he was swimming! (A little move he learned from watching Caillou!)

Family Reunion

Daddy, Mommy, Cole and Chase made a short trip to Walker, MO on Sunday for a Simmons family reunion. Chase slept through most of the day. However, Cole had a great time meeting and playing with his 3rd cousins, Kate and Cole. (Yes, there were 2 boys there named Cole!) He also got to see tractors, goats, and horses on the farm. He was so excited to be on a farm that as we were pulling into the driveway, Cole said, "Oh, THANK YOU for taking me to a farm today!!" Everyone had a fun time and Cole didn't want to go home! (Imagine that.) Too bad Mommy and Daddy didn't take a single picture all day....

This weekend was pretty busy with visiting grandparents galore!


Saturday night, we went to dinner at MomMom's and Big Grandad's house. Cole was, of course, thrilled to be there and didn't want to go home! We took his Gator and he rode all over the place, even making a "special delivery" of cake next door to Nonnie and Baby Grandad's house. Somehow the cake actually made it next door without being dumped out of the back of the Gator!

On Sunday, we went to Nevada, MO to visit the boys' great-grandparents, Uncle Stan, Aunt Sheryl, Nana and Papa. Chase was introduced to his great-grandparents for the first time. Great-Grandma got to feed Chase, and she was a little surprised at how big he was! Unfortunately, Cole wasn't on his best behavior that day. I'm sure it was a combination of being tired and being in an unfamiliar house. Whatever it was, I doubt we'll be getting an invitation back anytime TOO soon!!! Between throwing Legos, trying to run away, attempting to bite Mom twice, refusing to eat anything but cake and ice cream, and just being a typical (brat) 3-year old boy, let's just say that Daddy and Mommy were very embarassed. Fortunately, he did have a few good moments here and there. Luckily, one of his good moments was during pictures!

Sweet revenge?

Its no secret that Cole isn't that fond of Chase. In fact, any chance he gets to pick on his brother, Cole will take advantage of it. Usually, Chase is sleeping and oblivious to any torture that Cole is trying to inflict. (At this point, I'm almost looking forward to the day that Chase can stand up to him and fight back!) Last Saturday, Cole hurled 2 plastic orange safety cones at Chase. On Monday, it was a pile of dirt/crumbs from the kitchen floor that I was sweeping up. Cole scooped up the crumbs and sprinkled them on his brother. *sigh* And, earlier today, it was the purple stuffed elephant that came flying across the room and landed in Chase's lap. Tonight, Cole came running across the room at full speed with a decorative throw pillow from the chair he was siting in. His intention was to run by and throw it at Chase. However, along the way, he tripped and fell face first into the pillow. It was quite amusing and, of course, Cole was mad that Daddy and I were snickering about it. Somehow it just felt like Chase got his revenge. And, he was even awake to witness it!