Thursday, August 27, 2009

Highway Robbery

This is a distant relative of Memo's beloved 'Puppy' that his godmother Julie gave him. It was made by Carter's 'Just One Year' brand in 2006 and is (was) a musical toy. Evan's lovey 'Pato' is a duck made at the same time. Now Holden has taken a liking to Puppy too. And I have come to discover this is a very popular toy. Upon searching for something similar I have discovered there are lots of moms searching for replacement 'puppies' and the going price is $35 to $40 (originally around $10). It is super floppy, a bit under stuffed so it makes for a good cuddle toy. The tie on the top of the head is fun to hold, and the tail has a handle which makes it fun to spin and bop siblings. Alas, Pato is now tail-less, and Puppy will be before long.

I was kinda hoping to find a Carter's musical puppy in a different 'model' aka another color or different enough so that it doesn't upset Memo, but still a puppy. If you come across one please let me know.

I like this one, but not for $50. Puh-lez. They are obviously trying to gouge someone in need to replace a dear lovey.

This one is a bargain at a mere $45 with shipping. And Pato for $50, pre-owned.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Brocoli Lovers


Our gang has this uncanny love for broccoli and will horde it or given the opportunity steal florets from their sibling's plates. And yet they turn their nose up to creamy mashed potatoes with butter. Nuts.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

My Boys


Cow-bee Holden?

'Take my picture with my bear, mommy.' - Evan

Monkey Memo

Photos from tonight right before bedtime. We had triplet boys -same age - over for a playdate this afternoon. I wish I had captured some photos of that too. At one point all the boys were jumping in the toddler beds.

I wasn't so pleased with them yesterday, there was no nap and they were little terrors in the afternoon. As triplet mom Audrey told me today, sometimes she looks at her boys and thinks, 'someone is about to get voted off the island'. Although her boys are completely charming, social and fun but are not climbers, they are still in their cribs and haven't tried to climb out yet. Oh, the injustice! Ours were climbing out by 18 months.

I re-read my parenting discipline books before bedtime and realized it was me who had fallen a bit off track.

Today I focused on these three things:

1) Being very 'attentive' - giving almost a play by play of each thing they do like 'you are building a tower, wow, it is so tall.' The Spirited Child book says that we ask too many questions and give too many directions like, 'do you want to build a tower?' and 'which is the red block?' so try simply narrating to let them know you are engaged and paying them attention. That way when you need to give directions they will be more apt to listen and respond. It sounds a bit awkward to state everything they are doing but I have been trying it off and on for the past few months and it is kind of surprising how well they respond and how pleased they are to have my undivided attention.

2) Lavishing them with praise whenever they were showing good behavior. I tried to praise each child at least 20 times today, probably much more. It feel like I normally praise them often but I had to stay on top of it to step it up and after a smattering of praises they were quick to cooperate.

Just during dinner I worked on praising each child 4 or 5 times, normally it is more like once or twice. 'Thanks for helping me today with xxx', 'You are eating your dinner, that's great!', 'You ate your veggies, you will be strong!', they would help me along too, 'Mom, I am eating with out spilling!' and I would repeat whatever they were sharing with me and proud of.

3) I stopped nagging and pleading for bad behavior, instead I focused on giving simple clear directions without all the reasoning added in, then a warning that they would have to go in time out if I got to '3' (counting 1-2-3). 1-2-3 Magic says too much talk goes over their head, they get negative attention from 'you guys are driving me crazy' speeches which only reinforces the bad behavior. The spirited child book adds that if you need to give a reason, give it first then the directive vs the other way around so they don't get distracted and forget what you want them to do. For example instead of 'Clean up your toys now because grandma is coming over soon' try 'Grandma is coming over soon, so clean up your toys now.'

We did have a couple of timeouts but they were a TON more cooperative and not seeking out bad behavior to push my buttons. Not that all our problems are solved but things went much smoother today. I'm sure naps helped too. It seems so simple but it does take some discipline of my own to keep it up and stay consistent. I want to get good reports from school!

PS Lily sometimes joins in the mayhem but generally she is like, 'Wheh! those boys are being naughty'. Later I am going to have to encourage her not to tattle tail but right now it is helping me stem disaster.

Pancakes and First Phrases (aka Random pre-bedtime thoughts)


David's been traveling since Sunday, we miss him and his pancake breakfasts. Holden keeps asking, "Where'd Daddy go?"

Speaking of talking, Holden has been amazing me with his language these days. He is barely 19 months and has been saying lots of short phrases for a month or two now, like 'Where did Memo, Lily, Evan go?', 'Come on Mommy', 'I want it', 'I did it', 'I get it' and will answer Dora's or Mickey Mouses questions during those shows. His Spanish is pretty good and he has a great accent. He says 'Si, Carmen', when she asks him questions, he also says things like 'Espera' or 'Wait' in Spanish. He has no problem saying 'Gracias' but is still saying 'Tank You'. It is terribly cute how he is very polite always saying thank you when I give him his milk. I love his 'Yesh, momma' for 'Yes' too. What a doll. Another funny, random thing he will do is when I bag the garbage in the kitchen, he will drag it to the back door for me.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Jack living large in Summit County

Tia, Chris, and Jack are spending time with Grammy and Papa in Dillon. Fortunately Jack seems to be enjoying the altitude, attitude, and Fatty's Pizza.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Retrospect


Do you ever look back at old photos that looked so mundane at the time, but later are really remarkable? I now love this photo of the trips at their six month checkup with Dr. Mani. It really captured the moment. I'm going to bring her this photo at their three year checkup, coming up next month. I can hardly believe it.

L to R Evan, Will and Lily
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Monday, August 03, 2009

Dart Bowl

Zade, Will, and Lily rocking the lanes.

Giving Will instructions on how to pick up a 7-10 split.