May 6, 2012

Oliver 18 Months

Oliver will turn 18 months in 6 days. I've been watching him lately and remembering how tiny he used to be all snuggled up in my arms. What a fun, active, cuddly toddler he is becoming!

He is picking up on new signs without much work on our part, and even has signed some words we had to look up on his Baby Signing Time video. He signs; hat, more, please, eat, drink, bird, hurt, cracker, all done, and baby. He uses his signs often and it's so nice that he can communicate with us in this way since his speech is developing slowly.

Oliver is a very friendly and affectionate toddler. He enjoys running into people's arms for hugs and often does so with people he's meeting for the first time or hasn't seen in a long while (and likely doesn't remember). He really likes to hug other children and tries to hold their hands. Other children usually don't know what to do with him and run away giggling or stand really still while he executes his hug :) The last couple of days he's followed up his hugs with a little shove. He's obviously confused about signs of affection vs. signs of aggression. ha!

He's a typical boy and a typical toddler. He loves to be outside throwing rocks, swinging sticks, or chasing the dogs. He is always "jumping" off of things and even tried to jump off a ledge into the lake the other day. He's also starting to run a lot faster than I'm comfortable with as a non-running pregnant woman. I have to keep my eye on him! Pappy is teaching him to pick up grasshoppers. We have these insanely large grasshoppers here at the lake and one pinched his hand yesterday. Mommy loves when Pappy spends time alone with Oliver...

We'll be here at the lake until May 22. Stephen is working every day while we are gone to hopefully get ahead some on his project at work. He'll be joining us on May 18th for a weekend of fun and to help me get the tot back to Canada.

Below are the best comparison photos I could find of Oliver and I. I'm somewhere between 18 and 24 months in my picture. I don't have my photos of Stephen here at the lake, so I'll have to add his later.

April 29, 2012

Recently Oliver went through stage where he was "hitting" other kids or just not being very gentle with them. He would get an angry look on his face, and push or wack at them. I was completely mortified, embarrassed, and clueless as to what to do. I thought I'd post about how we're working through this for others who might also deal with it. Although you may not choose to parent the same way I do, I hope this post will at least encourage you in knowing you aren't alone!

First of all, I talked to everyone I knew, and even people I didn't know on playgrounds. I'm really new to this whole mothering thing. I needed help!

I started teaching Oliver about "gentle hands" at home. We'd practice, I'd pat his hands gently, and get him to gently rub my cheeks. Sometimes he'd laugh, and sometimes he thought it was weird and would pull away. But I kept at it.

At first, when I'd scold Oliver and tell him to "use gentle hands" after pushing another kid, it would really upset him. He'd usually strike again with more anger after I said something. This was very frustrating. I felt like I'd never get through to the kid. It was certainly something that would last throughout his adult life.

{edited to add} I watched him like a hawk. Still do. I love to socialize, and am very much a people person, but my primary job right now is to raise my kiddo, right? So, I made sure I was ready to remind him of how to be gentle if the occassion arose.

Then one day after walking up to a much smaller child and reaching out for them, I said, "Oliver, use gentle hands." He stopped, looked at me, and gently patted the baby's head. There was much rejoicing, "good job"ing, and cheering. He was very proud of himself. After that, it must have clicked, because he started responding well to "gentle hands" reminders.

I'd say all in all he was hitting for a week before I figured out what response I wanted to use consistently. Then it was maybe 3 days until he was really responding to my "gentle hands" reminders.

Of course, we'll have to continue to work on it. After two weeks of peacefullness he decided today it would be a good idea to grab this friend's face roughly over and over again. He was just off in general today and very fussy. I'll just stay consistent with my "plan" and hope he'll continue to respond well.

I've learned through this experience that although it may seem fruitless at first, consistency, patience, and hope are awesome tools for parenting. And, in retrospect, what seems like years of fighting a bad behavior, is really only a few days :)

February 25, 2012

Oliver Update

I wanted to write down a few of the things Oliver is doing these days:

Barking and saying "Dah Dah" when he hears/sees/thinks of a dog

Taking my hand and moving it where he needs it to do something for him like turn a door knob/fetch a ball, etc.

Cocking his head to the side when he's trying to understand something or just be cute.

Helping me buckle his car seat then clapping when he does.

Dancing any time there is music or something that makes a beat. He thought the arcade was a discotec today.

Making his toys talk to him and each other.

Hugging cuddly toys

Smacking his lips when he wants a kiss.

Stopping and giving squinty eyed smiles at total strangers in public places for as long as I'll let him.

Throws fits

Walking most places we go while holding my hand (no more carrying my baby).

He recently mimicked me saying "good job," but hasn't again since.

Runs to the stairs when we say, "let's go upstairs, Oliver."

Barks when he sees Mimmy on facetime until she shows him the dogs :)

Insists that I let him walk down the stairs to the garage.

Today we were at a friend's house and he was ready to go home so he brought me my shoes, then the diaper bag, then walked to the door and signed "all done."

Oliver holds his hand up to his ear and "talks" whenever a phone rings nearby or on the radio.

Pants when we brush our teeth and also when we give him "his" little travel toothbrush mimicking the sound of the toothbrush brushing our teeth.

Likes to throw his rolled up used diapers in the diaper genie.

I'm forgetting things. I need to post these more frequently so I can remember them all!