X-mas 08' and more...
First part of this post is only a few weeks late but I figure better late than never ;)
Christmas was such a nice day. We spend the day at J's Dads w/ J's side of the family. J's Dad made the boys name plaques for the wall. I'm always touched by gifts that are hand crafted. On top of that the boys received a zillion gifts. We need a four thousand square foot house just for their stuff alone. I put many of the toys away for a later date. I like the idea of bringing out a new toy every few weeks so they have something new and exciting to play with.
I created a 36 page photo-book of the boys through Shutterfly as a gift to both J's and my parents for X-mas along with my Grandmother. I think it turned out pretty good. It documents some highlights from birth up until right before X-mas. I hope to continue this trend and create new ones as the boys grow older.
December was a rough month for us illness wise. We seemed to catch non-stop colds and the entire family was seriously ill w/ the flu. Not fun!!! I'm hoping 2009 brings about a healthier household. I was starting to get depressed being stuck inside all day w/ cranky babies. Right now we're pretty much all better. Although Andrew has had a lingering cough that won't go away. The doctor said to give it 8 weeks which seems like forever. So now I'm thrilled to be able to go out and do my exercise class and infant play-dates again. Of course this just mean I'm upping our chances of catching another bug since we're around so many children. It's kind of a no win situation. But I cannot stay cooped up all day or I go mad... I honestly start to lose all my energy. I get lethargic and moody. Not good for anyone...especially the husband =)
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Now on to current stuff. We took Matthew to his GI reflux Doctor yesterday and she thinks he's ready to be off Prevacid. I'm so happy. They say if a child still has reflux issues at 2 years of age that they'll more than likely have it for life. So I was getting nervous as Matthew passed a year and still have symptoms. Luckily they've steadily decreased over the last few months. Now we just need both boys to be completely cleared from their "kidney reflux" so they can be off that medication and done w/ these constant appts w/ specialists. We also have another eye appt for Andrew at the end of the month and I'm not looking forward to that. Really hoping that one goes well so we can cross that place off of our list too.
What else... Twilight Series was completely addicting. Made me feel like a school girl w/ a crush all over again. I read all four book in less than two weeks. Fun... I recommend them.
I need shopping rehab. I can't seem to resist all of these unbelievable post holiday sales. Bought my first 100% cashmere sweater/jacket plus some other nice pieces. I've stocked up on tons of Christmas decorations, children's toys for upcoming birthdays, etc.
Boys are doing great. We have their 15 month check-up next week. Our doctor has been out of town so this was the soonest we could get them in. Andrew took his first independent steps a few weeks ago. He is still basically crawling with a few steps here and there. He's so fast at crawling that I think he gets impatient w/ the wobbly walking. I'm ready for him to be up on two feet. Matthew's been walking since before 9 months so it would be good for Andrew to be up along with him. Matthew is always running over him plus w/ this wet winter weather I'd prefer Andrew wasn't on his hands and knees at the park and so forth. I am grateful I didn't have two 9 month olds running every which direction at the same time though! I can't imagine how hard that would have been. It's hard enough keeping up w/ these two and how they are. Which is into everything and up on top of everything. They are such climbers. Both climb all over the furniture and they move their big toys in front of the entertainment center and side table so they can get to items above their reach. Having them in the kitchen is a nightmare since they both climb on the kitchen chairs to get up and onto the kitchen table. A fall from that high could be serious so I've had to eliminate their time in there a much as possible. Of course this means less cooking gets done. And can I say they both laugh and smile non-stop while doing these naughty things! They know they shouldn't be doing them!
So a few questions... how do you or did you discipline a 15 month old? A short timeout? Or a firm No and redirection? And how do you handle full on tantrums from a 15 month old? Should you ignore them or distract them or????? Mathew can have long full on screaming tantrums that go on and on and on.. He'll even hit his head on the wall. I tend to want to ignore him so we don't feed his behavior but when it gets too bad we usually distract him by taking him outside. I worry that this just teaching him to hold out b/c we'll eventually give him what he wants. Not that I usually know what he wants. He seems to have one of these everyday right at the start of dinner. We try to feed him and he starts the minute he is placed in his highchair. Ugh.
Our Family
Grandpa made the boys name plaques.
Mommy and Matthew.
Grandpa w/ the cousins.
Cousin Trisha w/ Andrew
Cousin pile-up =)
Labels: 12-18 Months
posted by Keeping The Faith @ 10:49 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Looks like you guys had a great time! Your boys are so great.
I've missed your posts lately, but I totally understand... :-) We've been sick too.
The discipline... tricky. It's kind of an in-between age, isn't it? Not quite a baby, not quite a big kid. I hope you work out the answer.
Bea
Not sure if this will help, but I'll offer my assvice. From what you have described, Matthew sounds like he likes to be on the move, and enjoys strong sensory input (such as gross motor/physical movement & even head banging counts). The high chair prevents him from doing much moving. He has to be still, not much opportunity for sensory input there, and this might be frustrating him because his nervous system is telling him he needs to move to be comfortable/calm.
If you are open to trying something different one night, see if he might do better with eating while either at a toddler table (where he has more freedom to move) or eating on the move (putting his plate on a coffee table or something toddler height and allowing him to stand and eat). I realize this may not fit into your regular family dinner routine, and may be more work for you, which is not what I'm trying for here. :) I just see a lot of kids in my work and I find that at 15 months, they don't have much control over their nervous systems, and discipline doesn't always solve the problem at this age because they haven't learned how to control their sensory needs. It is most likely a temporary issue, but if it worries you and the discipline/redirection doesn't do it, maybe try providing him with more opportunity to move during dinner will help.
Also, listen to your instinct. Whatever you feel like he needs is probably right. You know him best. Good luck! Your pictures are great! Thanks for sharing!
Yey, so glad you're off the prevacid! Isn't it a relief? We just stopped both our Prilosec and Reglan, and I can't believe the difference it makes in the day to not have to worry about meds before every meal!
We also have one way-more-mobile boy than the other; it makes for interesting situations since the non-mobile boy doesn't like to be touched, but can't get away from his brother who likes to climb on him!
Great photos! Thanks for sharing!
Discipline is no fun when they are so young. Everyone tells us how good our boys are (that's cause they don't come home with me!). We try to be consistent and let them know when they are being bad, then distract them with something else. We don't usually give in to tantrums, just requires some deep breathing on mom's part to get through them! We have quite a temper tantrum thrower here and he can go on for a long time. I just try to work with him and pray that it passes quickly. If I say NO it always means no, so I think they are sort of starting to realize this.
When our boys were younger they screamed every night a dinner for about 3 or 4 months. They eventually just stopped one day and that was that. Hang in there! I am sure you will find something that works for you and your family! Every child is different it's just a matter of figuring them out!
My now 19 month old would scream every time we put him in his highchair at about the same age your boys are now. Not wanting him to disrupt our only meal together as a family we tried a booster seat. Worked like a charm. He wanted to sit in the same seat as Mama and Daddy. We bought one that straps to our existing dining room chairs and has a strap to hold him in place. It might have been $20 at Target.
Great pictures; I cannot believe how big they are!! Time is flying by.
I'm kind of stuck on discipline, too. Right now, we just say "no, no" and try to redirect them. I try to say "no" at little as possible because I don't want that to be all they hear, but at this age it is really the only thing they seem to understand. They are put into time-out at their school but I haven't tried that at home yet...I am afraid I'm going to be a wuss about discipline, at least until they really know better!!!
Hello and happy new year, cute photos! I can't say for sure how well this is working but I also have two very active and curious 15 month olds who don't take "no" for an answer on much of anything. So we're trying a modified "time-out" where I hold the offender on my lap, not facing me, no toys in hand, etc. for one minute. Then I try to get them engaged in some acceptable play when that's over. I can't say that it always works and they don't go back to what they were doing, but I can say that they don't like even a minute of stillness, and at least it calms me down if not them ;-)
Obviously its even harder when her sister walks over and tries to play with me or her during a timeout, but we're still new at this too...
Good luck with whatever you try! Michele in Atlanta
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