Cooper and Penny and the Rushings welcome in 2012

Happy New Year, everyone!

OK, I know, I'm a wee tad late, but better two weeks late than never, am I right?

2012 opened with our family now complete: Daddy, Mommy, Boy, Girl. Done. From here on out we all grow together as a happy family! Until we add a dog, I mean. And fish, turtles, or whatever Cooper puts in his pockets while playing outside in the years to come.  

So I thought I would give an update of how we ended the last year and start the new.

Our mini Cooper had such a good time this Christmas; we can't wait for what to expect in the years to come. He figured out the joy of getting and opening presents - including those not his own!

He runs around all day and doesn't know what to play with at any given moment: "Choo-Choo! Trucks! Buh-ball! (That's his basketball goal.) Race cars!"

Here's his schedule nowadays:

7-7:30 p.m. - Wakes up, snuggles with Mommy if Val isn't feeding Penny at the time, watches a show while drinking some strawberry-flavored milk.

We don't give him chocolate milk anymore because the poor kid seems to be allergic to chocolate. When he eats M&Ms or a Hershey bar he ends up with a rash around his mouth that doesn't seem serious but takes a day or two to go away.

8:30 a.m. - He eats breakfast, usually Eggo Waffles or Cheerios and an apple. Hopefully he'll eat a few bites before quitting to get down and play, then eating a snack or two at 10.

Noon - Daddy gets home. I hope I don't ever stop enjoying seeing Cooper watching from the window and start joyfully bouncing around, happy to see me, or Val opening the door for him to come greet me on the patio.

I will then feed Cooper lunch (rice and beans with BBQ Fritos or mac and cheese, usually), while Val takes a nap and Penny rocks in her swing, or is fed and lays in her crib, or whatever keeps her happy while we play.

1:45 p.m. - Cooper and I head back to the bedroom to take a nap. He runs toward the bed saying "Bear!" And if it's 1:30, then yes, we watch "Little Bear" first while playing with trucks in bed, then at 2 I hand him his lovies and he tosses and turns until giving out.

3:30 p.m. - Up from naptime, Cooper is usually in a very bad mood and doesn't want me more than 1 foot away until he gets a snack and some tea, and we watch the fire truck or ice cream truck episodes of "Dora." (Could also be "Roary the Racing Car" or the "Ni Hao Kai-Lan" choo-choo episode.)

6 p.m. - Two or three times a week this is bath time! I say, "Let's take a bath!" Cooper grabs a few monster trucks and runs to the bathroom so I can take of his clothes and diaper, run the "wa-wa" and he can splash in the tub for a long time.

7ish p.m. - Time to unwind before bedtime. We put him in his footie pajamas and overnight diaper, give him his Zyrtec, then put some Cingulair powder in a sippy cup of strawberry milk, he grabs a monster truck or race car to hold and we all sit on the couch watching a show. When he knows it's getting close to bedtime he'll leave my side and go over to Val to snuggle.

When it's time for bed, I'll pause his show, he'll grab his lovies and roll over on me so I can pick him up. As I carry him out of the living room and to his bedroom, one of my favorite adorable things he does is say "bye-bye" to his favorite things, such as Mommy, Penny, choo-choo, trucks, race cars, etc.

Meanwhile, here's Penny's schedule:

6:30 a.m. - Penny wakes up, drinks a bottle, hopefully goes back to sleep before Cooper gets up.

We are blessed that she is sleeping through the night, even if she spends the entire time squirming and grunting. Sometimes she'll wake up a little earlier, sometimes later.

10 a.m. - Penny's awake for a bottle. Maybe. She might just eat an ounce or two. She'll stay awake, either in the swing or on her play mat or in the crib under the mobile. We got a mobile before Christmas that has a remote and lasts 20 minutes. With Cooper we had one that we had to wind up and only lasted 3 minutes, which wasn't enough time to get anything done.

Noonish - I'm home and she's still up and hopefully doing whatever it takes to keep her happy.

2 p.m. - She's ready for a nap, either on Val while Cooper and I nap, or in her crib, sleeping soundly on her tummy.

6 p.m. - We wake her up to take a 6 oz. bottle. She rocks in her swing or plays in her crib.

8 p.m. - She drinks a 4 oz. bottle, starts getting ready to sleep. She'll go in and out for a couple of hours.

10 p.m. - Finally conked out for the night.

She may have to start sleeping in her own room, though, because she's very, very squirmy, grunty, and pretty much thrashing around all night. We have alternated our theories, that it's her acid reflux, or congestion, or she doesn't want a swaddler, or she DOES want a swaddler. We tried without and she woke up by midnight. With it she manages to sleep all night, at least, even if she's noisy. We'll have to try it again soon, though we're not looking forward to waking up during the night to soothe her back to sleep.