Connor Speak:
"Caaar!"
"Queen!" (Lightning McQueen of Cars movie)
"Mommy?"
"Ice Pop!" (a new favorite, which follows every meal-video to come soon!)
"Cookie!"
"Drink!"
"Where Go?"
"There is!"
"Bubble"
Single words most of the time, but more and more are emerging with sunny disposition and inflection. He has been quiet at daycare much of the day, but happy at home with some tears and disappointment of the toddler garden variety.
Ian, on the other hand, has welcomed in Age 4 contentiously. Last night, he lost book-reading privileges with Mommy and Daddy, then his K'nex building toys for today after hitting and kicking. He announces that "I'm not staying in Time Out" and walks away. Followed by a series of Tom and/or I walking him back to time out. We did this about 20 times going to bed last night, not even time out.
He has been dawdling and purposely avoiding directions. Last night, he chose not to eat his dinner, so we made it clear that he was not getting any snacks or juice for the rest of the night. If he was hungry, he could finish his dinner. (all stuff he eats anyway) And surprise! At 7:30pm, "I'm hungry!" followed by Tom heating up his dinner. That did for Ian. "I just want a treat!"
I am somewhat happy to report that he was marginally better today than yesterday. My mother-in-law calls it the tough love approach and the "love no's". And when we find ourselves actually debating and negotiating with him, just stop talking. Actions speak louder than words.
6 comments:
That's fantastic! He's coming along. What a cute photo.
Sorry you have to deal with the I'm Nots at the same time though!! I remember those days...too big for their britches.
My only advice - stay tough and don't let up!! It will pass.
Go Connor! Wonderful news.
As for Ian, it's probably just one of those rites of passage that are what make parenting such a difficult art. I hope the "I'm 4 now and you can't make me..." phase passes quickly. Sounds like you are handling it well.
Yes Connor is doing really well. He did call Linda "Ian!" this morning. It was pretty funny since he calls everbody else "Mommy!"
Connor woke up at 5:30 this morning! I wanted Linda to get some more sleep so I picked him up and we slept on the couch until 6:45. He then decided it was time for breakfast. "Eat!"
Ian is definately testing his limits. It is amazing how through sheer persistence he can drag us both into an argument. Sunday was a marathon of him getting out of bed and general freaking out. As Linda said we put him back into his bed at least 20 times. We then just went out into the backyard and ignored him. Monday night he was an absolute angel for bedtime. Hmmmm....
Wonderful news about Connor! :)
Ian is pushing the boundaries - remember you're in charge! ;)
I can speak from experience of the dangers of being dragged into debates and negotiations. My son was the world's youngest shyster lawyer.
Had an answer for everything and his snarkiness was even more shocking coming out of that sweet face.
I continue to be so impressed at how consistent and calm and wonderful you both are.
And Yay to Connor. Every new word makes me happy. Looking forward to the 'Ice-Pop' video.
And, just think - child psychologists (or someone of that ilk) labeled two-year-old behaviors as "terrible twos" but I think four-year-old behavior should be called "Frenetic Fours." Maya has frequently been testing her -and our -limits of late. Sassing, occasional tantrums (not meltdowns but more of the "normal" four-year-old type), rebelling about meals, cleaning up -you name it! The only action she has right now that I would label part of the autism is that every evening now she still tells us she isn't going to go back to school the next day and so far, we have been unable to figure out a way to get her to explain "why" she doesn't want to go. She's always happy when she comes home in the afternoon but in the evening -and often in the morning when getting ready for school -we hear this and often a lot of tears too. But, sure is good news that Connor is starting to pick up so many words now! Still waiting, dare I say patiently (I'm not very patient at times) on Kurtis and his vocabulary to start to come through. I know -all things come to them who wait, right?
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