Runny nose season

Ah... the return of Runny Nose Season. If you have toddlers, you know the routine: they know how to use a kleenex, but it's a heck of a lot easier to use a sleeve or (gotta love this one)... the neck of their shirt. Over and over I hear myself saying, "Don't use your shirt, go get a kleenex!" And then they have to stop what they're playing to go find a kleenex, locate a stool to reach the kleenex if necessary, followed by the extra effort of putting the used tissue into a waste basket. Such a bothersome routine!

SO... here'a an idea that's been working around the Cooper household lately: "Private Kleenex" The child with the runny nose gets her own private box of kleenex for the day. Lord knows, thanks to Costco, there are plenty of extra kleenex boxes waiting in the wings at any given time! Then, to solve the "have to find a trash can" problem, I tape a small sandwich baggie to the side of the kleenex box, so upon using a tissue, the runny-nose child can place it into her own personal trash bag. Now, the "private kleenex" and attached trash baggie go with the child to wherever she is playing throughout the day. If I see an attempt at the shirt sleeve, I just remind, "where's your private kleenex?" And she usually stops everything to recall where she was last playing that she may have left her prized possession of the day - - the personal, private kleenex box.

Here's a Dr. Sears article about dosing Benadryl for kids by weight, which is helpful since the bottle itself says "ask a doctor" for kids under age 6...
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T088800.asp

Still here!

Things are still rolling in the Cooper household. Specifically, Carson is rolling pretty much wherever he wants to go. And thus begins the "put whatever I can grab into my mouth" stage. (Since our mothers read this, I don't think I'll mention the magnet, cheeto, and ornament that all came close). Yikes. I know, you don't need to tell me that those would all be BAD ideas. I know! Carson has figured out how to scoot wherever he wants to on the hardwoods in his exersaucer - - including to the front entry to dig in the diaper bag (to pull out whatever's on top), and to the fridge to grab what he can (you can imagine). Last night Craig declared him a crawler, but it was really a one-legged knee-push. His tummy never left the floor, but it was quite effective. I'm sure crawling is just around the corner. He's also quite a talented jumper in his Johnny-jump-up. I'll try to get a little video up soon.


Emily and Abby acted as photographer's assistants for me a couple of weeks ago (until they started melting down and tumbling on the furniture)...

Here are a couple of good shots we got:

(one of my assistants)