The Cox Family Arsenal

Happy Monday blog world! Sorry it has been a few days since our last post. I truly appreciate all of the emails, comments and texts I have received in reference to Caden's birth story... they have been a sincere encouragement. I will continue to keep you posted on the letters, etc.

Whether you are a parent or not, there are no doubt situations and circumstances in your life that require you to pull out a full arsenal of defense in order to combat certain challenges. Motherhood is certainly the hardest thing I have ever done, but of course the most rewarding, fun, exciting, etc. etc. The first week at home you think things are easy cheesy. This kid is SO good... he eats, he sleeps, and he looks so darn cute ALL the time. Oh and I have help... 

Then everyone leaves, your hubbie goes back to work and suddenly your child decides to wake up... now he cries, sleeps, eats, poops and looks so darn cute ALL the time! What do you do? You cry, you eat, you sleep, you TRY to poop and looking cute is just not an option... BUT what is an option is getting smart... building your arsenal of tricks to sooth, settle and sustain a happy, healthy baby.

Of course my arsenal grows by the day, but I thought I would share what I have collected so far...READY...AIM...FIRE

#1: A walk around the block in the BOB is never a bad idea... the other day we made it almost 45 minutes before getting fussy when we were walking with our friends Gina and Ava. Note: yesterday I learned the hard way that you NEVER wake a sleeping baby, load him up in the stroller and take a walk... this will lead to a VERY short walk and a screaming baby. I just wanted some Vitamin D! 

A drive to Sonic is also a good fix for the fussies... Caden and I ventured out on our own last week after a long walk... it was super fun!

#2: Every baby loves their tummy time, especially little Caden. I think he is on his tummy at least 22 hours of the day. KK bought Caden this tummy time activity center for Christmas this year and while we haven't exactly figured out how to make it work by ourselves, he never fusses while he is on it!

#3: Bath time stinks, but being cuddled in my towels and sucking on my hand is the perfect fix! Mom and dad still give me a little help finding my hand, but each day I am getting closer and closer to doing it by myself!

#4: My KK is always a great fix for the fussies... she creates the perfect bed for me to rest my tired little head!

#5: The KK Dance... I don't have a picture of the actual dance, but this has been a life-saver for me over the past few days. I am so glad KK showed me her trick... 

All you do is take your screaming child in a cross cradle position like they are about to latch-on to eat and then you put the passy in their mouth and hold it in by pressing their head to your chest, then you sway back and forth and bob up and down until the sucking begins... only minutes later the eyes begin to close and you are in business! Babies will suck on anything you put in their mouths I've learned, and sometime they just need a little sucking to sooth themselves back to sleep... I have even used the KK dance while sitting... it works beautifully! Thanks KK!

This was the first time that Caden fell victim to the powers of the KK dance.

#6: Dad... he is always a good fix for the fussies... he has the magic touch! Of course it never hurts to glean a little entertainment by spitting up on dad either! :)

#7: Snoozing with dad... when Caden sleep on Justin's chest they sleep forever! We always are able to prolong time between feedings when they start this up... I love it! 

It is becoming increasingly hilarious how alike my two boys are!

#8: A newbie but a goodie, the Baby Bjorn. KK and Albi bought this for the Cox Family Arsenal and so far so good. Justin took it for a test run yesterday and thought it was HILARIOUS to say "...look mom no hands, no hands..." over and over again! He was crackin' himself up!

#9: A clean outfit and the pack n play... this only works for a max of 30 minutes, but we'll take it! I think eventually the soft vibrations and the classical music that the pack n play provides will take Caden much farther than 30 minutes...we're still adjusting!

#10: The swing! We are finally enjoying the swing a little more. Again, we are at about a 10 minute max, but 10 minutes that mom doesn't have to hold me is 10 minutes that mom doesn't have to hold me.
#11: It's a bird, it's a plane... it's Caden!! We discovered that Caden has a passion for flight... up, up and away!

#12: This website! Caden and I have had the most fun singing TV theme songs... our favorites are, The Flinstones, Growing Pains, Full House, and Cheers! Caden loves to sing and even tolerates when his mommy sings to him!

#13: The Ellen Degeneres Show... we love Ellen. Caden always sits in his bouncer and lets mommy eat her Special K with Red Berries and watch the first half of Ellen and then it's time for tummy time with mom for the second half! 

#14: Nicknames... Caden is starting to recognize my voice so I've been trying out different nicknames on him to see which ones make him laugh, smile, cry, stop crying, etc. Here's the list so far:

Caden Bear

Caden Marie

Caden Pearl

Bubba

Sweet Pea

Baby Boy

Little Man

Little Piggy

Little Buddha

So in the middle of this post we lost power and missed the first 45 minutes of The Bachelor... NOT COOL... so now we are all catching up! Caden was the most upset! He wants to know who his buddy Ty is going to end up with as a mom. NOT Megan we hope! 

Much love to you all!