Thursday, May 30, 2013

Turning the Corner

I don't want to jinx myself.  But in the last 2 weeks, Ian has changed from a tantrumming, screaming, hard-to-manage child to a well-behaved child who shares with his sister (mostly) and entertains himself with his Thomas Trains or Batman toys.  I don't know whether he just figured out the "correct" behavior or just reached a magic age (4 years, 2 months) where the tantrums stopped.  Or maybe it's because we implemented the 1-2-3 Magic parenting program by Dr. Thomas Phelan (which our pediatrician recommended after my cry out for parenting help).

I love the 1-2-3 program.  According to the book I read, we had been doing everything wrong with Ian.  We were over-explaining and over-lecturing and trying to use logic to get him to behave correctly.  But he is not a little adult (despite his smart and mature conversational ability).  He is a 4 year old child.  So instead of yelling and screaming at (and sometimes, spanking) Ian, we now just calmly give him a 1 count when he is doing something that we've asked him to stop doing.  If he continues with the bad behavior, he gets a 2 count.  Upon reaching a 3 count, he ends up locked in his room (because he refuses to stay in time-out willingly).  After 3 days of having to lock him in his room, we haven't had to reach "3" at all.  He gets it.  He does NOT want to be locked in his room.  It has been an amazing transformation for us.  I have always loved my son but now I actually enjoy spending time with him.

Of course, just as Ian is getting a bit easier to handle, Sammy is starting to exhibit her terrible twos.  It's manageable (and kind of funny actually), but hopefully it won't be a long-lasting phase.  Luckily, she doesn't tantrum.  But she is pretty whiny and demanding.  She's still using a binkie, but as of now, she only uses it when she's in her crib for a nap or at nighttime.  That's progress, since we used to give it to her when she asked for it as she got tired at night.

As my high school biology teacher used to say, "We're getting there, folks!"

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Spring Photos

Here are the formal spring photos the kids took at school.  They're not super awesome, but they're decent shots, especially of Ian.  Sammy was apparently crying hysterically before Ian came in to take photos with her and so she's looking a little weepy/out-of-it in the photos.  But this is definitely better than the fall, when we got no pictures of her at all because she didn't want to take them.

I can't believe how big they are getting.  I was looking at Ian last night (as he ran around naked after his quick shower to wash the pollen off his head and body) and he was looking lanky, like a little boy instead of a toddler.