Daddy: What are you thankful for, Caleb?
Caleb: My cornucopia.
Daddy: And what are you thankful for, Sadie?
Sadie: (after some discussion) My bear.
Hope you all have had a blessed Thanksgiving Day!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Caleb Potty Update!
I think we've finally had a break through! for the first time today, Caleb told me that he had to go potty and we're on day 3 with no accidents. the key is motivation. Caleb can be a challenge. in true stubborn fashion, basically from the day he was born, the child will not respond if you tell him he "has" to do anything. we've always had to find a way to outsmart him and convince him that he "wanted" to do whatever was asked. for some reason, i always forget this part of his personality and there can be lots of yelling and butting heads when we're both frustrated. this has been especially true of the potty. people have been telling me for months and months that things will just click, that he'll just get it one day. well, i've been working with him on this since March (?) and recently i've been wondering if he's ever going to get it. (i may even be jinxing myself by recording this update)
well, this week, i did 2 things. the first- i found this great little chore chart dry-erase board at Target with the days of the week and little magnet stars. very cute! a while ago Caleb really enjoyed earning stickers for going potty but we ran out of charts and it got forgotten (although both monkeys every now and then ask for a truck sticker). i thought this board might work- and save paper :-)
the second thing i did was offer Caleb the reward of computer time. i don't know what made me think of it or why i hadn't thought of it before but i offered that if he went all day with no accidents, he could have some time on the computer. he really liked that but i quickly discovered that waiting all day for the reward was a little too abstract for him. so adapting as always, i changed it up to if he puts something in the potty, he right away (or almost right away) will get 5 minutes on the computer.
i can't express how easy this has made things. this boy for a while has been refusing to even try to go and for some bizarre reason, if he knows that he has to actually go, he'll hide and refuse to sit. this usually happens in the morning and this morning, all i said was time to go potty and he happily went up, sat down, did his business and we were able to have a happy day in preschool with no accidents. yeah, and that's another relief. it's not good when the director expresses her disappointment in having potty problems when he was supposed to be completely trained before starting school.
well, i'm keeping my fingers crossed that we have turned a corner and that i won't have to fear the preschool director :-)
and of course, now i can think about getting sadie trained and we will return to a diaper free land once again :-)
well, this week, i did 2 things. the first- i found this great little chore chart dry-erase board at Target with the days of the week and little magnet stars. very cute! a while ago Caleb really enjoyed earning stickers for going potty but we ran out of charts and it got forgotten (although both monkeys every now and then ask for a truck sticker). i thought this board might work- and save paper :-)
the second thing i did was offer Caleb the reward of computer time. i don't know what made me think of it or why i hadn't thought of it before but i offered that if he went all day with no accidents, he could have some time on the computer. he really liked that but i quickly discovered that waiting all day for the reward was a little too abstract for him. so adapting as always, i changed it up to if he puts something in the potty, he right away (or almost right away) will get 5 minutes on the computer.
i can't express how easy this has made things. this boy for a while has been refusing to even try to go and for some bizarre reason, if he knows that he has to actually go, he'll hide and refuse to sit. this usually happens in the morning and this morning, all i said was time to go potty and he happily went up, sat down, did his business and we were able to have a happy day in preschool with no accidents. yeah, and that's another relief. it's not good when the director expresses her disappointment in having potty problems when he was supposed to be completely trained before starting school.
well, i'm keeping my fingers crossed that we have turned a corner and that i won't have to fear the preschool director :-)
and of course, now i can think about getting sadie trained and we will return to a diaper free land once again :-)
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sadie's New Smile
yep, our little daredevil chipped her tooth at the grocery store on Saturday. we're still waiting to hear from dentist. just glad it's a baby tooth and not needing a trip to the ER :-)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
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