Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Attack of the Green Smoothie!
It's hard to read with the schmear of green smoothie, but his shirt reads, "The Leprechauns made me do it." How apropos.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
"I Juju"
It has been far too long since we have updated our blog. Such is life. I am starting to realize that for the first 32 years of my life, I really took for granted that I could basically do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. This is no longer the case. Anyone who has tried to check their e-mail or scrub some dishes as a toddler screams bloody murder while beating you senseless with a foam baseball bat knows exactly what I mean.
Occasional beatings aside, Julian is about 17.5 months and is SUCH a blast these days. We are really loving this age. We seem to have gone through the “terrible two’s” at about 14 months and are hoping that the days of knock-down-drag-out tantrums are over. We have been implementing a discipline strategy called Conscious Discipline and have more recently added aspects of Love and Logic. We started working with him at about 12 months out of necessity and it has really begun to pay off. While lots of toddlers are getting more and more difficult to deal with, Julian is getting easier. It may be no coincidence that his behavior started to change for the better once all his teeth finally came through for good. How am I finally able to update the blog you must be wondering? Julian is taking an unusually long nap (i.e., longer than 30 minutes) after a super crummy night of "sleep".
It is also no coincidence, in my opinion, that the positive changes are very positively correlated with Julian’s ability to express himself verbally. He is a veritable jabberbox and uttered his first full sentence (“I did it!") at about 14.5 months. At about 16 months, trying to see how far I could stretch the whole talking thing, I said, “Hey Julian, I’m mama, that’s dada. Who are you?” To which he replied, “I Juju.” Hence the nickname that Brian and I affectionately call him.
As for recent obsessions, they include but are not limited to: wheels, anything with wheels (especially tractors and dump trucks), animals, tools and his tool bench, his "boom" and sweeping, puzzles, books, dinosaurs, jumping off of everything in sight (including the beds and the couches) and somehow miraculously landing on his feet, helicopters, airplanes, dancing, soccer, basketballs (his FAVORITE word), tennis balls, baseballs, Bora Bars, his instruments, wind chimes, blowing raspberries.....and the list could really go on forever now that I am putting it all into words.
Julian has always been a busy baby. For the last 4 or so months, they best way to avoid a tantrum has been to let him help. I tell people he’s like a Border Collie; he always needs a “job”. So he helps – with everything – and thoroughly enjoys it. Thanks to my mom, "nama", he now has his own kitchen, and a learning tower (HUGE help) so he can help me when I chop, cook, and make bread. Thanks to his Grandma Linda, he has a broom, mop, and dust pan set so he can help me sweep. He helps in the garden, putting clothes away, doing laundry – you name the task and he wants to help. Also, being so eager to please, he has been peeing on the potty for us when it suits him. SO without further ado, here are some videos of Julian doing what he is best at: helping, and goofing off.
Occasional beatings aside, Julian is about 17.5 months and is SUCH a blast these days. We are really loving this age. We seem to have gone through the “terrible two’s” at about 14 months and are hoping that the days of knock-down-drag-out tantrums are over. We have been implementing a discipline strategy called Conscious Discipline and have more recently added aspects of Love and Logic. We started working with him at about 12 months out of necessity and it has really begun to pay off. While lots of toddlers are getting more and more difficult to deal with, Julian is getting easier. It may be no coincidence that his behavior started to change for the better once all his teeth finally came through for good. How am I finally able to update the blog you must be wondering? Julian is taking an unusually long nap (i.e., longer than 30 minutes) after a super crummy night of "sleep".
It is also no coincidence, in my opinion, that the positive changes are very positively correlated with Julian’s ability to express himself verbally. He is a veritable jabberbox and uttered his first full sentence (“I did it!") at about 14.5 months. At about 16 months, trying to see how far I could stretch the whole talking thing, I said, “Hey Julian, I’m mama, that’s dada. Who are you?” To which he replied, “I Juju.” Hence the nickname that Brian and I affectionately call him.
As for recent obsessions, they include but are not limited to: wheels, anything with wheels (especially tractors and dump trucks), animals, tools and his tool bench, his "boom" and sweeping, puzzles, books, dinosaurs, jumping off of everything in sight (including the beds and the couches) and somehow miraculously landing on his feet, helicopters, airplanes, dancing, soccer, basketballs (his FAVORITE word), tennis balls, baseballs, Bora Bars, his instruments, wind chimes, blowing raspberries.....and the list could really go on forever now that I am putting it all into words.
Julian has always been a busy baby. For the last 4 or so months, they best way to avoid a tantrum has been to let him help. I tell people he’s like a Border Collie; he always needs a “job”. So he helps – with everything – and thoroughly enjoys it. Thanks to my mom, "nama", he now has his own kitchen, and a learning tower (HUGE help) so he can help me when I chop, cook, and make bread. Thanks to his Grandma Linda, he has a broom, mop, and dust pan set so he can help me sweep. He helps in the garden, putting clothes away, doing laundry – you name the task and he wants to help. Also, being so eager to please, he has been peeing on the potty for us when it suits him. SO without further ado, here are some videos of Julian doing what he is best at: helping, and goofing off.
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