1. For the past 5 nights in a row, Jack's sleep has improved immensely. He is pretty much back to sleeping through the night. Knock on wood. There have been a couple nights where I have momentarily heard him fuss, but he was able to console himself without intervention. We have made some changes that may have contributed to his new found sleep pattern. One of the main reasons why he was frequently waking up at night was because either he couldn't find his blankie or "gaga," causing us to have to intervene and help him find his missing objects, so he could return back to sleep. A solution that I came up with was to tie a cup with short ribbon to his crib and store a few extras inside, so if he loses his, he knows where to find a new one. The first couple nights, he would just throw them all out at the beginning of the night, but now he actually realizes that leaving them in there is actually beneficial to him. I have also started putting a duplicate blankie in his crib for the same reason as the "gagas." I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence that he is sleeping through the night again, or that these changes are what fixed the problem. Whatever it is, I hope it's here to stay. Also, since daylight savings began yesterday, he has slept in a lot later. Today he woke up at 8:38. I felt like a million bucks. I am not expecting this to stick around. I'm anticipating him to be up bright and early with the birds again, if not tomorrow, for sure the next day. Jack has never been one for sleeping in. Then again, what toddler is?
2. I have decided to take a break from the potty for the time being. Jack that is, not me. ;) It was becoming more of a toy to him than anything and he never wanted to actually "go" in it anymore. So I got to thinking that maybe I did jump the gun on the whole potty training thing. However, he is still showing me signs that he is ready. He continues to tell me when he is going in his diaper by holding his crotch and saying "pa pa." When he is pooping he will wave his hand in front of his nose for stinky. For this reason, I think we will give it another go in a few weeks. The next time around I think we will be more consistent with it, as well as, spending more time without a diaper on, which is supposed is work wonders after just a few days. Right now we have the Baby Bjorn Potty Chair, but I think I might look into buying a seat to go on the normal toilet instead. That way he can use the potty in the same place as mommy and daddy, which might motivate him to want to be more successful at it.
3. I have started implementing 20 minutes of independent playtime into our daily routine. I did this because Jack really has no concept what it's like to not have someone give him constant attention all day, everyday and I think he's at the age now where it's important for his development to learn this skill and will also be beneficial to him when we take him places like the Child-watch program at the Y. Just in the past two days that we have started doing this I have noticed that he is actually taking time to play and learn from his toys, rather than just throwing them everywhere. For instance, when the 20 minutes was up today, I walked into the playroom and notice a tower made from mega blocks on the floor. Had I been in room, I highly doubt that is something he would have chosen to do. These first couple days are actually going better than I anticipated they would. What I do is set a timer for twenty minutes and simply tell him, when the timer beeps it will be time for us to play together again. I also set up a baby gate in the doorway of his playroom. This way he is contained in one space, yet he is still able to see me and feel a sense of security when he knows I am still near him. Throughout the process, he has shed a few tears, but they are very short lived and once I remind him that we will get to play together when the timer goes off, he usually will go off and find something else to do. Obviously, his new found independence has it's perks for me too. One being that I can actually get something accomplished without having hang and pull on my pant leg. Today I swept the kitchen floor, unloaded the dish drain, wiped off the counters and still had time to pee in peace. IT WAS GREAT!
4. The last time we took Jack to the Child-watch program at the Y, which was on Friday, he
responded to it a lot better than the previous times. He still cried immediately when we walked in the door, but the teachers said he calmed down within a couple minutes after we left. She said they finger painted together and he really seemed to enjoy it. When we came to pick him up, she was holding him, but he wasn't crying and he actually appeared to be enjoying himself. He had an Elmo phone in his hand and he was showing her all the features. So even though he still needed a lot of input from the staff, he is heading in the right direction, which makes me so happy. I truly have nothing bad to say about the program itself, the staff are extremely patient and caring with him and I love that they take the time to try to console him, rather than just letting him be miserable the entire time he is there. Every time I have picked him up, one of the staff members is sitting and interacting with him, which is so relieving to see.
I didn't have my camera out much today. I guess that's because Jack and I were too busy playing. Which isn't such a bad thing, is it? I was able to capture one special moment from our day. FORT BUILDING!
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| While he was out of his room, I decided to surprise him with this. I hid inside of it and called for him to come look for me. When he finally found me, he was absolutely thrilled with the idea and wasted no time joining me inside. |
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| Shaking the |
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| How sweet is he?! |
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