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Kids/Parenting

Sometimes it really is just by example

We’ve been working for months on getting Hayden to say “please” and “thank you.” (“Please” was just a sign until a couple weeks ago, when he started saying “p’eece”!) He’s picked up the words and signs pretty well, but almost always has to be prompted to say “Please”—and by ‘prompted,’ I don’t mean asking “What do you say?” I mean telling him, “Say please.”

The few times he does spontaneously use please have usually been when I’ve said no to something he wants (or he thinks I’m saying no). Then it seems like he thinks “please” (which is done in perfect desperation) is a guarantee that he’ll get what he wants.

“Thank you” has (thankfully) met a bit more success. He’s come to understand that when someone gives him something, he should say “thank you” (or, for him “dootoo”). He also likes to thank me when he gives me something, but I’ll take it.

This morning, however, I discovered that he has one courtesy that I don’t remember teaching him. I may have told him this once or twice, but from what I recall, this is something he must have learned from example:

I sneezed. He said “b’eh doo.” For those of you not fluent in pretoddler (or Hayden), that’s “Bless you.” And this wasn’t just once; it was at least three times today.

I certainly feel blessed! 😉

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Kids/Parenting

What works for you?

While I stand by my statement that Hayden has been all kinds of cute lately, he’s also been all kinds of trouble. Well, not all kinds, really—the big problems right now are hitting, biting, throwing things and tantrums.

Hitting, biting and throwing I class together. He generally does them just for a reaction, it seems, or maybe because it amuses him to do it. Sometimes, though, he does it out of frustration (gee, I wonder where he gets that from . . . ?).

Tantrums aren’t new, of course, and we’ve been working on them for a long time. I tell ya, though, the kid’s tenacious. Distraction has to be mighty good for it to get him off that subject.

So, any good advice in these areas? (As a reminder, and for first timers, Hayden is not quite two years old.)

Part of Works-for-me Wednesday, Backwards Edition

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Kids/Parenting

My favorite topic, of course: Hayden

Can I just say that Hayden has been just all kinds of cute lately?

We spent over two weeks visiting my family—and Hayden was really good on the plane both ways! On the very last leg of our trip, he fell asleep on the plane. They’d arranged for him to have his own seat (not a very full flight), and by the time we reached cruising altitude, he was out. A few minutes later, he slumped over. I caught him in time to make Marty his pillow—and he slept for virtually all of the flight.

He’s also getting to be quite the talker. He repeats lots of words (my sisters started teaching him colors), but he’s also started repeating lots of words. However, most of his speech is still gibberish (emphatic, emotive gibberish, though).

What’s going on in your children’s lives right now? What accomplishments are you proud of?

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Kids/Parenting

My top Hayden milestone this month

Hayden is reaching new firsts all the time. His vocabulary, or at least the syllables that he repeats, is growing all the time. Among the more useful words: “Ditty” (kitty), “deetee” (TV), and “boopoos” (poopoo).

He’s also getting better with his motor skills. He’s fitting shaped blocks into the right holes, helping put on his clothes (or even putting them on himself) and all kinds of fun things. Here he is wearing my hat. My shoes are another favorite of his.

Hayden in my hat

But my favorite milestone of Hayden’s this month came when we were looking at an alphabet book. On the endpapers, they have the full alphabet printed. I was pointing to the ‘H,’ telling Hayden that “H is for Hayden.”

He looked at me and said, “Hay-dee.”

But now I’m wondering—is he trying to tell me that he prefers his nickname?

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Kids/Parenting

The naked truth

I was hanging out with two of my sisters a few weeks ago and we walked into Borders books. One of the greeting card displays near the front had the classic (cliché) card with a picture of a nakey baby’s bottom (oh, I can’t wait to see the Google traffic for typing that one).

One of my sisters said something about how cute that was.

I muttered, “I see enough of that already.”

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Kids/Parenting

The Hayden World News

My little boy is twenty-two months old now! As we approach the two-year mark, I often find myself surprised by my little boy, how much I’m finally beginning to accommodate to being a mother—and how much further I have to go in that regard. I sure did think I’d have a lot more figured out about motherhood at this point—I supposed that just goes to show you how much we all “know” about raising children until they come along.

Hayden has had some fun firsts lately, so let’s share!

Hayden at the Pacific

First “catch”
No idea how this one happened, but the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Hayden caught a ball that was thrown to him! Don’t worry; he’s not an athletic prodigy. He just got lucky. I don’t think, however, that he was nearly as impressed with himself as I was.

First trampoline ride
Every once in a while, Hayden got up the courage to attempt to jump while holding my hands (or Daddy’s). But mostly he was content to sit on the trampoline at my sister-in-law’s house and be bounced, giggling all the while.

First “jump”
A few days after we arrived home from our trip, Hayden was ready to attempt to jump on his own. Now, it’s notoriously difficult to learn to coordinate your feet to leave the ground simultaneously. Again, Hayden’s not an athletic prodigy (yet, I guess I should say), but he did get both feet off the ground, if just barely. Even better was his landing. Almost-two-year-old + first jump + footie jammies + tile kitchen floor < happy ending (but he was fine!).

Hayden loving up one of his Christmas presents

First canines
Hayden has gotten his first (and second, third and fourth) canines in the last month or so. As always, we’re hoping that this means an end of grumpiness.

First day without naps
Hayden went an entire day without a nap at my sister-in-law’s house. Too much excitement with all of my husband’s family there, I guess. As long as we kept him eating, he was pretty happy. Though his stomach was tight as a drum when we finally put him to bed (at about eight, which is later than his usual bedtime. He cried a high-pitch cry for about 90 seconds). This has not set a precedent, however.

First time blowing bubbles in the tub
But he seemed to enjoy watching me lean into the tub and blow bubbles just as much.

Hayden likes to play with bubbles!

First time opening a doorknob
This one I didn’t discover at first. Hayden had been out of the room for an awfully long time, so I went looking for him. I got about ten feet and I could hear running water. (You can bet the water wasn’t the only thing running at that point!) Hayden had opened the door to my bedroom—and turned on my bath. The tub was half full of water! We were just happy he didn’t try to climb in (although we weren’t very happy that he apparently stuck Ryan’s phone under the faucet).

That’s my boy!