Archive for the “Challenges” Category
Hallelujah!!!!
[HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!]
[HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!]
[HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!]
[HALLE-AAA-AA-LUJAH!]
After 4 years and 3 months, Natalie is sleeping through the night!!!!!!
I repeat, Natalie is sleeeeeeeping throoooooooough the niiiiiiiiiight!!!!!!
[HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!]
Ok, to be fair, she hasn’t been waking up the same way a baby would since she was a little over two years old, but she was waking up every. single. night. and coming into our bed to sleep. And we’d tried various things to curb this behavior, but it never worked for more than a week or so, when we would all revert back into the same bad habits.
Most recently we tried rewarding her with a TV show in the morning if she stayed in her bed all night, and no TV if she came into our room. The third night she came in saying, “I don’t want to watch my show tomorrow.” I was feeling really defeated.
And then one day, in March, she stayed in her bed all night. I think it was a fluke, but we jumped on it. I gave her chocolate as a reward. Rainbow non-perils to be exact. Before breakfast. Hey, after 4+ years of interrupted sleep (more if you count the pregnancy) mom gets a little desperate. We marked the success with a sticker on the calendar and told Natalie that she could choose a toy from the store if she could get seven consecutive stickers.
Natalie's Reward FairiesAfter she picked out the fairies from the toy store, we wanted to offer Natalie an additional incentive to keep the momentum going—because 7 great nights doesn’t break a 4+ year habit! So, we promised her a party if she could fill the rest of month up with stickers on the calendar. Natalie loves parties, so it worked!!! She was so excited, she was telling anyone who would listen about the party she was going to have (with cake!) when it wasn’t even her birthday! Ultimately, whatever the reward, she was just ready.
Party time!!The nice thing about offering a party as an incentive was that it was a reward and a celebration at once. Natalie got to bask in her accomplishment in with her friends–her pride was palpable—and enjoy yummy cake shaped like a bed! And we got to tell Natalie that once she had her party, she wouldn’t need any more rewards to sleep in her bed all night. And, a month after her party, she hasn’t.
Party Girls!
Says Natalie, "this bed cake is daaaamn good!"
Yoshi & Artie love cake!
So proud!![HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!]
[HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!]
[HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!]
[HAAALLEAAA-LUJAH!]
Swimming Lessons
Unlike her Mama, Natalie has never really had a love of water. Baths have always been tricky and hair washing becomes a scream-fest if one bead of water drips in the vicinity of her eyes. So, I was a little nervous about how swimming lessons were going to go over with Ms. Natalie. We signed her up for the same class as Josie, which helped Natalie feel more comfortable.
Natalie was excited for the first class, but she quickly fell apart when it was time to separate from me and join the chaos of getting all the little swimmers to their appropriate classes. It took a lot of work for me to even convince her to just sit on the edge of the pool next to Josie with her class and watch. And she would only do it because I promised to sit right behind her the whole time. But then she totally shocked me by getting in the water when it was her turn! Each class she grew more and more confident—I think by the 4th class, she got through the whole class without crying.
Natalie actually got in the water!! Not the best picture, but just after I took it, the lifeguard blew her whistle at me and informed me that taking photos in the pool is not allowed.
Thursday was her last class of the 8-week session and she’s come such a long way! She is still a little nervous in the water, but Chris and I got to watch her practice reaching and pulling, kicking, and even blowing bubbles. Already bath time is a lot easier because of swim lessons, too. Natalie will repeat being a “pike” again for the next session, but I do believe that she will continue to get more comfortable in the water and eventually learn to swim. We are so, so proud of our Natalie.
Proud swimmers! So Long, Family Dinners
Ever since Natalie was born, we’ve always done “family dinners,” that is, we all ate together as a family. When the girls were infants, family dinners were sometimes accomplished by me nursing a baby at the table, or one of us shoveling food in our faces with one hand while holding a cranky baby in the other. Chris and I learned to eat so fast (so as to finish before baby Natalie needed to go to bed) that even when Natalie started eating solid food, and took forever to finish, we were still done in a flash. When Miranda was a baby, she would often sit in her bouncy seat on top of the table and Chris and I would take her turns bouncing her while we ate.
Now that Miranda is older, we face the challenges of her throwing food, rubbing food in her hair, and screaming because she wants to drink out of our water glasses, which of course results in a giant mess. And even at four, Natalie is a challenge at the table. It is hard for her to sit still for the whole meal, so she often gets up to sing a song or show us a trick in the middle of dinner. What she eats and how much she eats is a constant negotiation. Instead of dinnertime conversation, the words usually coming out of our mouths are:
“Natalie, please sit and eat your food!”
“Miranda, food is for eating, not throwing!”
“Ok, Natalie a few more bites!”
“The peas want to come to the party in your tummy!”
“Miranda, this is your cup!”
“Natalie, can you pretend to be a giant eating these tiny trees?”
“Ooh, look, Daddy is taking a bite—let’s all try taking a bite together!”
“Yes, you have to try at least one bite!”
The other problem with family dinners is the timing. The kids are hungry around 5 or 5:30, but Chris gets home from work at 6:30. So I either give the kids a snack and ruin their appetites, or try to distract the hungry, cranky children while also trying to cook dinner. Miranda turns into a pumpkin between 7 and 7:30, so we absolutely have to eat when Chris walks in the door. This is difficult given how cranky the kids are while I’m cooking. It’s not easy to cook with a toddler clinging to your pant legs or while holding said toddler.
Yesterday, since it was Valentine’s Day, I decided to feed the kids early so that Chris and I could enjoy a quiet dinner after they went to bed. And the whole evening went so much more smoothly. The girls were happier because they got to eat when they were hungry, and I was happier because it meant that more of dinner got eaten because they weren’t full of snacks. Chris was happy because instead of coming home and negotiating with Natalie to eat more while ducking the food Miranda was throwing, he got to come home and play with them before bed. I was happy to be able to cook dinner in relative peace. And it was a treat for Chris and I to be able to talk and linger over dinner instead of shovel food in while wrangling the kids.
So even though we have had some fun family dinners, are saying good-bye for a while. We’ll revisit you on the weekends and more often when the kids are a bit older!
Eat the food, not your foot!
Mid dinner song and dance
Look, I ate it all!
Dinner time antics