The Heavy

In childhood disciplining, it normally works out that at any given time, one parent is generally "the heavy." You know, the one who is going to be strictest on the punishments, etc.

Well, it seems that in our household, the "heavy" turns out to be the vacuum cleaner.

Michael cannot stand the vacuum cleaner. He hates, hates, hates it. He can't even have it out of the closet without being wide-eyed and weary about it.

So we have turned this to our advantage to help encourage good mealtime behavior.

It started out one time when Michael just dumped his plate on the floor. He wasn't even having a temper tantrum, he just did it because, I don't know, he was bored or something. It was a bunch of eggs that I just couldn't imagine cleaning up by hand (cold eggs feel gross) and they were small enough pieces that it was out of the question. I needed to vacuum, and I couldn't wait until he went to bed, which is what I usually do, because, well, they were eggs--it was breakfast!

So I got out the vacuum cleaner and cleaned it up, and he was terrified. He clung on to my leg and just kept saying "bye-bye vacuum!" over and over again. And when I turned it off, he screamed out his pent-up terror.

Ever since then, if he looks like he is about to have a tantrum and toss his food, all we have to say is "If you do that, we'll have to clean it up with the vacuum!" and he snaps right back into shape and keeps his food on his tray...usually saying "bye vacuum" or "no vacuum. Ok."

Michael likes to rock violently back and forth in his booster chair and he is SO close to falling all the way forward. It drives me crazy. I don't think it would actually hurt him, but it still doesn't look all that safe. So the other day, we came up with the genius plan:

"If you rock in your chair, it will spill your plate and we'll have to clean it up with the vacuum!"

He kept rocking.

"Ok Daddy, I guess you should get the vacuum out of the closet and have it ready just in case, because it looks like Michael is going to spill his food."

Michael gets up and heads toward the broom closet and baby Michael sits up straight, panic-striken and says to Michael:

"Chair Daddy!!" violently pointing to his chair, indicating he wants his dad to sit back down.

"Back!! Back!!" he stammers on, on the verge of a sob. He hasn't been rocking in his chair since then.

I know it is sick and twisted of me, but I secretly get a kick out of his fear of the vacuum. It's so funny!

Anyways, it seems like all we have to do is convincingly threaten the vacuum and he'll get into shape. Of course, if he merits the vacuum, the threats aren't empty...he'll get the vacuum right under his feet...but with only one exception, the threat has been enough.

Sometimes, if I speak with him sternly, if it has nothing to do with the vacuum he'll ask "Vacuum?" and I'll say "No vacuum, we don't need the vacuum" and he'll say, relived, "bye vacuum."

Other times, he'll randomly ask about it throughout the day, like he's sort of got it on the mind all the time. He says "bye vacuum" un-provoked just to remind himself and get my reassurance that the vacuum indeed is nowhere in sight.


So now, I'm trying to think of ways to involve the vacuum into other disciplinary issues: "If you hit Matthew, I'm going to get the vacuum!" or "Anymore whining, and the vacuum will have to come out!"

I know, that is going a little too far. At least with the food, it's not just threatening the most terrible thing in existence just for the sake of scaring him...but it sure is tempting to have the vacuum be the official all-around Heavy and we will get the most well-behaved boy on the block!

Just a Quick One Tonight...

...I'm on a cleaning/reading frenzy this week (well, hopefully it will last the whole week)...but I wanted to share a quick story about tonight at bedtime.

This photo was actually taken a few days ago. I didn't have my camera at the time, but even if I did, some moments you just don't want to do anything to disturb.

I was getting Michael ready for bed and had both him and Matthew lying side by side. Matthew turned his head and looked at Michael and just started laughing hysterically. It is the most I have ever heard Matthew laugh in his young life...and he was laughing, I think, because he was happy to be next to his brother.

This set Michael off into a giggling fit too. And for several minutes, they lay there looking at each other laughing. Then Michael, always having to up the ante on the situation, proceded to try to brush Matthew's teeth (gums) and shove his own toes up Matthew's nose.

While I am a fan of brotherly antics, I think Matthew is a bit young to process a toddler foot coming at him, so I had to cool it down. And while I have no doubt it will be nearly impossible in the future to keep them from sharing a fair amount of germs, sharing toothbrushes is gross no matter what the age.

But it was fun to see them continuing to enjoy each other's company and grow in their brotherly bond. I look forward to many more of these interactions in the future!

20 month Update

20 months?! Wow. That's getting up there! :)

Little Michael is such a special little boy.

Many of his little emotional quirks are starting to get ironed out...granted, he still gets upset, and sometimes even still hits or tries to bite...but he has made huge strides composing himself in the last several weeks and even when he gets upset, he seems to be able to get a hold of things pretty quickly and revert back to his kind little nature.

That doesn't mean he doesn't have his idea of how things should be, but he seems to be dealing well with boundaries.

In fact, he even has a little coping technique: he'll ask for something he wants, and then he'll say "Ok, ok." Example: "Beatles? Beatles?...ok, ok." Now, I don't know if he is saying "Ok" because he is hoping that by him saying it, it is like a hint on how my end of the dialogue should go...or if he is almost saying to himself "Ok" if I don't get what I want.

It's hard to tell, but boy, he says it in the sweetest little voice and it really helps him.

We've also learned that "bye-bye" is a good coping technique for him. Removing something that he wants frequently leads to tears...but by saying "bye-bye book" or 'bye-bye pacifier' or "bye-bye Daddy" or really, bye-bye anything gives the cue that it's time for this to be put away now and it really does help him keep his composure.

Michael is continuing to amaze us with his vocabulary and his ability to retain words and sounds.

Saying something once to him often leads to his committing it to memory, and things that he hears a lot? He has down! Songs, phrases, words in books...and even parts of the Mass! He just absorbs it all, and if you give him a good lead him.."for our good and the good of all his..." "Church!" he'll exclaim. It's neat. He really is receptive.

It's no surprise, given his good ear, that he likes music, both to listen to and play. He loves his guitar, and the keyboard we got for him. He sits and hits the notes and sings along to whatever he is trying to play.

He is also getting good at singing songs in the right key. When we sing the words and he fills in the blank, he's not only getting the word right, but actually singing it correctly! It's fun!

Snoopy is his favorite animal bar none. He has a Snoopy doll that plays the Charlie Brown theme song, and he asks for it all the time. When we leave the house, he wants to carry it with him, and he loves to hug and cuddle with his Snoopy.

He also likes me to draw Snoopy as often as possible (I'm not that great at it...but I try for him!) and I even scuplted a Snoopy head out of play-dough. Of course, silly me, left the container on the ground and while I was cooking dinner, I peeked in to find him smacking his lips, saying "MMMMM!" and my Snoopy sculpture missing an ear. :)

Michael still LOVES his brother. He says "Morning Mamoo!" when we get Matthew up from naps..he loves to cuddle with him, and he even has a little chant: "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-MAMOO!!" he says whenever I come out of the room with Matthew getting him up from a nap. It's cute.

Michael is starting to get much better in his motor skills too. He is becoming more daring at the park and willing to try more things on his own, which is nice to see. He is climbing up on the couch and chairs around the house, which, while posing a slight inconvenience at times, is nice to see him developing in that way.

His reach is getting pretty long! My dining room table has a small diameter in the middle which is "safe" and everything else is in the danger zone. I have to be particularly mindful of handles to my pans on the stove, and what I keep in my kitchen drawers since he can open them and take stuff out now. He also likes to reach my water container and pull the spigot and make water run down his arm. If I am not in the room, I always know what he is doing because he laughs hysterically at himself when he does it.

Michael seems to really have an affinity for religious items. We try to teach him respect for religious items like the Bible, the crucifix and prayer books, and he seems to do very well knowing the difference between those and toys or his own books.

It's neat to watch.

He loves the Breviary (a book of Psalms and other Scriptures that are prayed throughout the day).

He likes to flip through the pages..I think because the pages a thin and feel much different than other books. He reminds me to pray it at meal times, which we've started trying to do since Lent began, and when he is done with the meal, he wants to hold the Breviary and flip through the pages some more. I let him because he is so respectful of it and hasn't had any problems...I want him to feel like it is something he is encouraged to do.

I really am looking forward to seeing more of his "religious potential."

Michael is just a very sweet little boy. More and more, he is becoming my little buddy and companion. Of course, not like Matthew isn't, but Michael is really starting to understand language well. I can tell him something or give him instructions and he really does understand a lot. Narrating my day to a baby who doesn't understand is important, but it still feels like I am talking to myself. As he grows in understanding, I feel less like I am talking to myself and more to someone who is listening and absorbing.

We are just in a really neat phase right now where there is so much development, so much growth, and so much of him becoming his own person. It seems like the days of his being a baby are so long behind him and he really is a little boy. He is a joy, and we look forward to all that this adventure entails!

4 Months

Matthew turned four months this month....



..and we've definitely turned major corners!



(by the way, I always regret posting these things because as soon as I do things always regress!)

...But Matthew is doing so well with his sleeping!

We put him on a good routine (thanks again Baby Whisperer!) and Matthew has been eating well, sleeping well, and can even be put in his bed awake and drift off to sleep on his own...it's great!

It's also nice to finally know what he'll be doing when...you know, like "Oh, it's 10am, he'll be sleeping then." "3 o'clock you say? He'll be eating then!" I remember when we got Michael that organized, things started to go much better, and already it has been great with Matthew. He's such a sweet boy.



Matthew is starting to roll on his side a lot, but has on a couple of occassions rolled from his tummy to his back. He did it about 3 times in a row but has it doesn't much lately...I think he forgot how to coordinate his legs, arms, and shifting his weight. Anyways, he'll get it!



He is such a wonderful part of our family. Michael loves him to pieces, and he is such a little bundle of joy. He just wants to smile at anyone who will look his way. What a gift to our family!

Back up Plan

It's nice having a back-up plan when you blog. Some days I really have time to sit and write and others, like tonight, I just have a minute for a quick post.



But I think you'll still like it:

Chair?

This is a game we play everyday called "Chair."

We play it in the morning.

We play it in the afternoon after nap.

It involves picking up stuffed animals from his toy basket...


"Doggie?"

and pointing to his crib railing and saying "Chair?"

We line them up the rail and balancing them carefully.

"Ele-fountain....Chair?"

"Eee-oo" (Pinocchio)..."Chair?"

Once they are lined up....

It's time to knock them all down!

Spots and Stripes