Smiley began March with a diaper rash, so he played outside without pants. He was able to use his scooter on the lawn successfully for the first time, and lacking pants worked on his crab crawl to protect his knees. Later, with pants, he enjoyed his little sandbox and perhaps said the word "sand" although that could have been saying "in" (as in "I'm putting the sand in world outside of the sandbox"). The sandbox continued to be a favorite toy (it still is).
He enjoyed a visit from my wife's office-mate (who will be visiting with Smiley again tomorrow to babysit while my wife and I go see Spamalot).
He was not fond of towing his telephone. We did record a long stretch of typical early March platime.
On March 10th we got a new sofa and loveseat. On March 11th he tried my skateboard, which worked okay inside and outside but was not as fun as his scooter; after a few more days he lost all interest in it, to my wife's delight.
March 12th was a big day: he went to Parker playground for the first time. I blogged about that here. We returned the next day but he was too tired to play much.
On March 16th he began waving good-bye regularly. He had done some waving earlier in March but only occasionally. He also enjoyed pushing things down the stairs, not for the very first time, but this was the first time of playing that game for quite a while. He also did assisted walking with only one hand, a feat he sadly decided is less comforting and since that day has refused to repeat.
Stories were a well-established part of bedtime by March. His favorites are Goodnight, Gorilla, The Going to Bed Book, The Very Busy Spider, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Pat the Bunny.
On March 17th he learned to scoot down the back deck's ramp. (He was not able to scoot up it until April 19th.) He spent a lot of time on his scooter and with that ramp the next day (1 2 3 4 5). He also visited Parker playground again.
In February he began to enjoy music more. In March he noticed birdsong, and grew more interested in the recorders.
Towards the end of March he was sick, but still played well. Eventually the aspirator was no big deal. I gave him his first Duplos to play with on a rainy day when the border between carpet and tile was fascinating.
During March he still spent most of his time playing like a baby rather than a toddler. He did more with his scooter and bead maze, and first began to use his shape sorter correctly, but just as much enjoyed putting items in and out of a container, moving things back and forth, giving sloppy nose kisses, and being held up high. He also invented a game of lying on the floor with a parent above him, either restfully or as part of chasing.
(We did not get a video of his first time playing tag, back in December. My wife, watching us, made the timeless comment, "So the chasing and yelling come automatically, then?")
At the end of March my wife got new garden beds. Smiley helped move rocks. The plum blossoms were falling.
Smiley also enjoyed making new noises: the ts sound, roaring, and motor boat noises.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query scooter. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query scooter. Sort by date Show all posts
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Gallant at Eleven Months
Gallant is almost eleven months old. Besides being sick for a month, what has he been up to since his nine-month checkup?
He has learned how to do many new things.
Briefly amusing was his new game of sticking out tongues at each other. What a funny way to be social together! Thankfully, he was amenable to being trained not to do this in the high chair, and although he still enjoys it no longer initiates it so frequently.
He also learned to use his toys of the "pull on a string and it wiggles" variety. Two of these hang from parts of his baby corral. The tricky one is a little toy hamster whose "tail" is a bead that pulls out: like his brother, he learned to pull this with his teeth months before developing the finger coordination to pull hard on a bead.
He became more fond and skilled at standing up. Eventually he did so much standing that merely standing up was no longer entertaining and he is again content to play with a toy while sitting if this is easier (which makes baths more relaxing). He takes up to three steps but only in a shuffling-charge aimed at leaning on furniture or a parent.
He loves to practice walking. In the back yard he has a plastic wagon to push around the lawn. Inside he has a wooden scooter but its steering handle still confuses him; the wagon is more predictable in its movement. Gallant is slowly discovering how to grasp the wagon or scooter with hands spread out symmetrically. He very quickly learned to deal with getting stuck by cruising around to the opposite end and pushing the other way: often when pushing more symmetrically would suffice he instead moves to the opposite end.
He also likes to practice walking while holding hands. Smiley enjoys helping with this, and also helps by slowly pulling the scooter in circles in the sitting room so Gallant need not steer while "pushing" from behind.
Gallant became much better at eating solid food without gagging. He learned to take very small bites of harder foods. One piece of Rice Chex might be a dozen tiny nibbles. It is nice to have peeled apple and bananas added to the list of usable finger foods.
He adores talking to Grandma on Skype. We often do this at his second breakfast. He squeals and chatters when he sees the Skype program starting, and interacts with the video call much more than his brother did at the same age. He babbles, holds out his finger food for Grandma to see, and demonstrates how well he pounds his hand or spoon on the high chair tray.
Currently Gallant's favorite toys (aside from the wagon and scooter) are his shape sorter (just the peg board, not the shapes) and empty coffee cans. The shape sorter is really fun to wave around and chew on, but occasionally while he holds one end the peg on the other end will bop him in the forehead. The coffee cans are drums as well as things he knocks down when we stack them.
He eats a lot of solid food and poops five or six times each day. At that age his brother wore mainly cloth diapers: we only used disposable diapers two or perhaps three times per day before bedtime (when the extra absorbency was needed) or when we really expected a poop. Gallant rarely needs a diaper change because of being too wet. Maybe twice per week. So our cloth diapers are currently out of rotation. The good news is that his bottom, although often slightly pink, seems very resistant to diaper rash. He has only ever had two so far, and both went away quickly.
He has learned how to do many new things.
Briefly amusing was his new game of sticking out tongues at each other. What a funny way to be social together! Thankfully, he was amenable to being trained not to do this in the high chair, and although he still enjoys it no longer initiates it so frequently.
He also learned to use his toys of the "pull on a string and it wiggles" variety. Two of these hang from parts of his baby corral. The tricky one is a little toy hamster whose "tail" is a bead that pulls out: like his brother, he learned to pull this with his teeth months before developing the finger coordination to pull hard on a bead.
He became more fond and skilled at standing up. Eventually he did so much standing that merely standing up was no longer entertaining and he is again content to play with a toy while sitting if this is easier (which makes baths more relaxing). He takes up to three steps but only in a shuffling-charge aimed at leaning on furniture or a parent.
He loves to practice walking. In the back yard he has a plastic wagon to push around the lawn. Inside he has a wooden scooter but its steering handle still confuses him; the wagon is more predictable in its movement. Gallant is slowly discovering how to grasp the wagon or scooter with hands spread out symmetrically. He very quickly learned to deal with getting stuck by cruising around to the opposite end and pushing the other way: often when pushing more symmetrically would suffice he instead moves to the opposite end.
He also likes to practice walking while holding hands. Smiley enjoys helping with this, and also helps by slowly pulling the scooter in circles in the sitting room so Gallant need not steer while "pushing" from behind.
Gallant became much better at eating solid food without gagging. He learned to take very small bites of harder foods. One piece of Rice Chex might be a dozen tiny nibbles. It is nice to have peeled apple and bananas added to the list of usable finger foods.
He adores talking to Grandma on Skype. We often do this at his second breakfast. He squeals and chatters when he sees the Skype program starting, and interacts with the video call much more than his brother did at the same age. He babbles, holds out his finger food for Grandma to see, and demonstrates how well he pounds his hand or spoon on the high chair tray.
Currently Gallant's favorite toys (aside from the wagon and scooter) are his shape sorter (just the peg board, not the shapes) and empty coffee cans. The shape sorter is really fun to wave around and chew on, but occasionally while he holds one end the peg on the other end will bop him in the forehead. The coffee cans are drums as well as things he knocks down when we stack them.
He eats a lot of solid food and poops five or six times each day. At that age his brother wore mainly cloth diapers: we only used disposable diapers two or perhaps three times per day before bedtime (when the extra absorbency was needed) or when we really expected a poop. Gallant rarely needs a diaper change because of being too wet. Maybe twice per week. So our cloth diapers are currently out of rotation. The good news is that his bottom, although often slightly pink, seems very resistant to diaper rash. He has only ever had two so far, and both went away quickly.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
February Videos
In March, Smiley transitioned from baby to toddler. By April it was touching when he did very baby-like play. So it is cute to review these February videos, when he is still very much a baby, but not for much longer.
On the first day of February we gave Smiley a no-spill sippy cup at breakfast, to practice drinking on his own when not in his high chair. He never became very fond of it.
Also on February 1st we helped some friends move. Smiley played nicely with boxes and with his two- and four-year-old friends, but eventually it was too much.
In February he became even more fond of dancing.
For over a month his mylar wrapping paper squares had been among his favorite toys, but in early February we had to take them away because he became able to bite through them.
Back in December his increased gnawing had also meant he had to take away all of the boxes he previously had to climb on. We tried to use his Boppy arches as a jungle gym but that failed since he could not get up on top of them: he wanted to be on top of things, not just clambering over them. On January 10th we had finally let him try the stairs, which he could do well the first time after so much practice on boxes. In early February he was proficient on the stairs; by the end of February he was notably faster.
A big developmental change during February was becoming much more interested in how objects interact with each other than their individual properties. When playing with a new item his first questions switched to "what happens when I clap it against other objects?", "does it push well?", and "what does it go with?" (instead of the infant "what does it taste and feel like?").
The most obvious example of this change was his becoming so very fond of putting items in containers, which actually started the last week of January. Oddly, first associations would stick. Certain toys went into bowls, and bowls went into other bowls. Wooden beads went in my slippers. Food packages lived in the cracker cupboard. He learned his first word, "in" (aside from the "mamamama..." to refer to either parent, which does not really count).
He also developed a game, when I lay on the floor, of moving objects back and forth from one side of my legs to the other.
Another example of enjoying making objects interact was pushing things, especially his cooler, which is just the right size and slides well on any surface. He also finally learned to pull his wind-up hamster's cord by himself, with his teeth since his pincer grip is too weak.
As a last example, the question "What happens when I sit on it?" became important. One of the best things to sit on is the foot rests of the elliptical strider.
Here is a long play time on his ten month birthday. Here is a shorter play time a few days later. As a birthday present we put together an mp3 player for him, which I blogged about.
In early February he picked his stuffed animal rabbit as his favorite toy. Before this he did not have a clearly favorite toy.
He invented a trick of sucking food off his tray when he could not pick it up, and tried to practice what Terry Pratchett calls retrophrenology.
On February 11th he got his scooter. Combined with his interest in objects interacting, this led to a great change to his play routines compared to a few weeks prior. Now he was mobile! I blogged about the scooter here and here. His earliest scooter videos are here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7.
In mid-Feburary he tried macaroni and cheese, but was not fond of it. He tried playing with a bike light, which was somewhat entertaining but also something he was not quite ready to fully enjoy.
When visited by a slightly younger friend he shared nicely.
The weather was nicer for a few days. He tried eating oak leaves, but learned that they made him throw up. In this video he looks cute, but a moment after I stopped recording he threw up all over the sweater his grandmother knit for him and his scooter.
Towards the end of February he became briefly obsessed with the back door key, and with chuckling and cackling. He continues to be entertained by all three, but no longer obsessively.
He became trainable, which I recorded and blogged about.
He learned to carry toys while crawling, and to pivot while sitting.
His aunt visited, and he played hard to get.
He also tried taking a bath alone in the big bath tub for the first time, which worked great.
On the first day of February we gave Smiley a no-spill sippy cup at breakfast, to practice drinking on his own when not in his high chair. He never became very fond of it.
Also on February 1st we helped some friends move. Smiley played nicely with boxes and with his two- and four-year-old friends, but eventually it was too much.
In February he became even more fond of dancing.
For over a month his mylar wrapping paper squares had been among his favorite toys, but in early February we had to take them away because he became able to bite through them.
Back in December his increased gnawing had also meant he had to take away all of the boxes he previously had to climb on. We tried to use his Boppy arches as a jungle gym but that failed since he could not get up on top of them: he wanted to be on top of things, not just clambering over them. On January 10th we had finally let him try the stairs, which he could do well the first time after so much practice on boxes. In early February he was proficient on the stairs; by the end of February he was notably faster.
A big developmental change during February was becoming much more interested in how objects interact with each other than their individual properties. When playing with a new item his first questions switched to "what happens when I clap it against other objects?", "does it push well?", and "what does it go with?" (instead of the infant "what does it taste and feel like?").
The most obvious example of this change was his becoming so very fond of putting items in containers, which actually started the last week of January. Oddly, first associations would stick. Certain toys went into bowls, and bowls went into other bowls. Wooden beads went in my slippers. Food packages lived in the cracker cupboard. He learned his first word, "in" (aside from the "mamamama..." to refer to either parent, which does not really count).
He also developed a game, when I lay on the floor, of moving objects back and forth from one side of my legs to the other.
Another example of enjoying making objects interact was pushing things, especially his cooler, which is just the right size and slides well on any surface. He also finally learned to pull his wind-up hamster's cord by himself, with his teeth since his pincer grip is too weak.
As a last example, the question "What happens when I sit on it?" became important. One of the best things to sit on is the foot rests of the elliptical strider.
Here is a long play time on his ten month birthday. Here is a shorter play time a few days later. As a birthday present we put together an mp3 player for him, which I blogged about.
In early February he picked his stuffed animal rabbit as his favorite toy. Before this he did not have a clearly favorite toy.
He invented a trick of sucking food off his tray when he could not pick it up, and tried to practice what Terry Pratchett calls retrophrenology.
On February 11th he got his scooter. Combined with his interest in objects interacting, this led to a great change to his play routines compared to a few weeks prior. Now he was mobile! I blogged about the scooter here and here. His earliest scooter videos are here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7.
In mid-Feburary he tried macaroni and cheese, but was not fond of it. He tried playing with a bike light, which was somewhat entertaining but also something he was not quite ready to fully enjoy.
When visited by a slightly younger friend he shared nicely.
The weather was nicer for a few days. He tried eating oak leaves, but learned that they made him throw up. In this video he looks cute, but a moment after I stopped recording he threw up all over the sweater his grandmother knit for him and his scooter.
Towards the end of February he became briefly obsessed with the back door key, and with chuckling and cackling. He continues to be entertained by all three, but no longer obsessively.
He became trainable, which I recorded and blogged about.
He learned to carry toys while crawling, and to pivot while sitting.
His aunt visited, and he played hard to get.
He also tried taking a bath alone in the big bath tub for the first time, which worked great.
Friday, May 08, 2009
The Kitchen Floor Rule
Smiley is now obedient to a fairly abstract rule: he is not allowed to crawl in the kitchen.
For many months this was simply too abstract for him to understand and we used a baby gate to keep him out of the kitchen when we were in it more than momentarily. But since mid-April the rule has "clicked".
The main issue is the dirt and bits of dropped food that accumulate at the edge of the kitchen floor under the counters. We don't want him trying to eat that. Since his first birthday it is less important because he is now allowed to eat nuts, but still...that gunk can get quite gross in less than a day.
We also don't want him underfoot while we're baking or carrying a full pot between the sink and stove.
So if Smiley is on his scooter or cruising while leaning on the cabinets then he is okay. It is only while crawling that he puts floor gunk into his mouth or sneaks underfoot.
I'm not sure how he learned the rule, except through repeated kind and patient moving him out of the kitchen when crawling. As a rule it was certainly too abstract for the type of "training" I wrote about earlier.
He was especially cute on Wednesday morning, when a toy rolled a short ways into the kitchen. He sat at the border between the dining room and kitchen and reached and strained to grab the toy without violating the rule.
Sometimes he cruises to keep us company in the kitchen. More often he sits on the border and watches from there. (His scooter has not been upstairs for a couple weeks.)
When the rule first "clicked" in mid-April he began to experiment. He tried sitting at the border and then came into the kitchen scooting on his bottom rather than crawling: nope, that was not allowed. He tried cruising to a certain cabinet and then sitting: nope, that was not allowed. He tried riding his scooter to a certain place and then getting off and sitting: nope, that was not allowed. He tried walking into the kitchen by pushing his little wagon: that was okay.
What prompted a blog post today? The baby gate has been leaning, unused, against a dining room wall for about a month -- until today. It was a sunny day and we were playing in the back yard. I needed a way to keep a muddy boy pushing a wagon full of collected grass, moss, and dirty leaves from following me from the deck into the kitchen when I darted in to get more tea.
For many months this was simply too abstract for him to understand and we used a baby gate to keep him out of the kitchen when we were in it more than momentarily. But since mid-April the rule has "clicked".
The main issue is the dirt and bits of dropped food that accumulate at the edge of the kitchen floor under the counters. We don't want him trying to eat that. Since his first birthday it is less important because he is now allowed to eat nuts, but still...that gunk can get quite gross in less than a day.
We also don't want him underfoot while we're baking or carrying a full pot between the sink and stove.
So if Smiley is on his scooter or cruising while leaning on the cabinets then he is okay. It is only while crawling that he puts floor gunk into his mouth or sneaks underfoot.
I'm not sure how he learned the rule, except through repeated kind and patient moving him out of the kitchen when crawling. As a rule it was certainly too abstract for the type of "training" I wrote about earlier.
He was especially cute on Wednesday morning, when a toy rolled a short ways into the kitchen. He sat at the border between the dining room and kitchen and reached and strained to grab the toy without violating the rule.
Sometimes he cruises to keep us company in the kitchen. More often he sits on the border and watches from there. (His scooter has not been upstairs for a couple weeks.)
When the rule first "clicked" in mid-April he began to experiment. He tried sitting at the border and then came into the kitchen scooting on his bottom rather than crawling: nope, that was not allowed. He tried cruising to a certain cabinet and then sitting: nope, that was not allowed. He tried riding his scooter to a certain place and then getting off and sitting: nope, that was not allowed. He tried walking into the kitchen by pushing his little wagon: that was okay.
What prompted a blog post today? The baby gate has been leaning, unused, against a dining room wall for about a month -- until today. It was a sunny day and we were playing in the back yard. I needed a way to keep a muddy boy pushing a wagon full of collected grass, moss, and dirty leaves from following me from the deck into the kitchen when I darted in to get more tea.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Local Wood
Last Friday ago I shared a video of Smiley on his new scooter. That was also a day when we had another cord of firewood delivered.
For anyone interested, here is the contact information...
Wood 'N Things (Wooden Toys)
Norm Webb
Springfield, OR
(541) 744-0299
Norm makes many children's toys besides the scooter. Smiley also has one of Norm's small dump trucks, a toy which satisfies both a desire to push and a desire to put things in and out of a container. Norm sells his toys at local crafters' markets and out of his home.
Hardwood Firewood
Gilbert Yearous
(541) 942-5873
Gilbert sells mixed hardwood for less than $200 per cord or fir for less than $150 per cord. His "cord" is larger than a true cord. The hardwood is exceptionally well-seasoned and burns well when our stove is set to the lowest air flow -- with his wood I only light the fire about once per week and just keep it simmering with a trickle of wood, and this produces enough heat. This is the wood we normally burn.
Fir Firewood
James Van Wormer
(541) 914-1072
James has an interesting setup. He buys kiln-dried, clean fir logs intended for companies that build log cabins. Another middle-man trucks these logs to him. He cuts them into firewood and sells them. The result is expensive fir ($200 per cord, for a true cord) but it burns like most hardwood. If I turn up the stove after dinner I can go to bed after switching to the lowest air flow confident that there will be hot coals in the morning. To heat the house requries medium air flow during the day, so I use up this wood faster. The wood is also completely clean: no bark, no bits, nothing on the carpets. If Gilbert is out of hardwood, I'll call James.
UPDATE: Norm and James have not responded to phone calls since 2010. I hope they are simply retired, and still happy and healthy. Gilbert still sells firewood but has slowed down his operation so much that he usually has a waiting list. My new source of firewood is Steve Wright, who sells madrone as blogged here.
For anyone interested, here is the contact information...
Wood 'N Things (Wooden Toys)
Norm Webb
Springfield, OR
(541) 744-0299
Norm makes many children's toys besides the scooter. Smiley also has one of Norm's small dump trucks, a toy which satisfies both a desire to push and a desire to put things in and out of a container. Norm sells his toys at local crafters' markets and out of his home.
Hardwood Firewood
Gilbert Yearous
(541) 942-5873
Gilbert sells mixed hardwood for less than $200 per cord or fir for less than $150 per cord. His "cord" is larger than a true cord. The hardwood is exceptionally well-seasoned and burns well when our stove is set to the lowest air flow -- with his wood I only light the fire about once per week and just keep it simmering with a trickle of wood, and this produces enough heat. This is the wood we normally burn.
Fir Firewood
James Van Wormer
(541) 914-1072
James has an interesting setup. He buys kiln-dried, clean fir logs intended for companies that build log cabins. Another middle-man trucks these logs to him. He cuts them into firewood and sells them. The result is expensive fir ($200 per cord, for a true cord) but it burns like most hardwood. If I turn up the stove after dinner I can go to bed after switching to the lowest air flow confident that there will be hot coals in the morning. To heat the house requries medium air flow during the day, so I use up this wood faster. The wood is also completely clean: no bark, no bits, nothing on the carpets. If Gilbert is out of hardwood, I'll call James.
UPDATE: Norm and James have not responded to phone calls since 2010. I hope they are simply retired, and still happy and healthy. Gilbert still sells firewood but has slowed down his operation so much that he usually has a waiting list. My new source of firewood is Steve Wright, who sells madrone as blogged here.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Scooting Then and Now
After a few busy and/or exhausting days I am trying to catch up on video editing.
I just edited and uploaded another video of Smiley's first day on his scooter (Feb. 11th). To document the scooting expertise he has gained, I recorded him playing with it today.
The second video is unusually long. He had not been on the scooter in four days (it had been downstairs) and was having such fun I recorded for 15 minutes. Hopefully this will in part make up for my lack of recent video posting!
UPDATE: Two days later he learned a new trick. Now he can scoot up the ramp at our back deck.
I just edited and uploaded another video of Smiley's first day on his scooter (Feb. 11th). To document the scooting expertise he has gained, I recorded him playing with it today.
The second video is unusually long. He had not been on the scooter in four days (it had been downstairs) and was having such fun I recorded for 15 minutes. Hopefully this will in part make up for my lack of recent video posting!
UPDATE: Two days later he learned a new trick. Now he can scoot up the ramp at our back deck.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Gallant's Nine Month Checkup
Today was a big day for Gallant.
During the night he got his third tooth: his upper right front central incisor.
This morning he had his nine month checkup. No shots this time. He has grown a lot since his six month checkup. Gallant is 27.5 inches tall (20th percentile) and weighs 19 pounds, 12 ounces (25th percentile). His head size is 46.4 cm (70th percentile).
(At nine months his big brother was 28 inches tall (45th percentile) and he weighed 17 pounds, 13 ounces (10th percentile), with a head size of 46.5 cm (65th percentile). Again we see that nurses do not read percentile charts consistently.)
This afternoon he rode the little wooden scooter on our wood floor for the first time. During the past week he only was allowed to have it on the carpeted floor, where it is a bit harder to make roll. He enjoyed pushing it, and tipping it over to spin its wheels. Until yesterday he would climb down off it if we put him sitting upon it. Since he might stay on it sitting, today I wanted to experiment with him riding it forward. He enjoyed this very much, even though he of course cannot yet steer it. He would ride down the hall towards Smiley, who was sitting on the floor drumming on empty coffee cans. When Gallant "caught" his big brother then Smiley would move to the other end of the hallway and I would turn Gallant and the scooter around.
Today he also fell asleep unswaddled for both his naps. He normally sleeps swaddled, so this is a big deal. He will sleep through the night better once he learns to self-comfort when he partially wakes up.
How else is Gallant different than at the end of Februrary? He is crawling much faster. When "cruising" holding onto furniture he can cross his legs to move sideways much faster. He can balance for up to five seconds when standing. He claps objects together as well as banging one object on a surface. He can climb up stairs, but not down. He enjoys drumming on coffee cans and sometimes sings when he drums.
During the night he got his third tooth: his upper right front central incisor.
This morning he had his nine month checkup. No shots this time. He has grown a lot since his six month checkup. Gallant is 27.5 inches tall (20th percentile) and weighs 19 pounds, 12 ounces (25th percentile). His head size is 46.4 cm (70th percentile).
(At nine months his big brother was 28 inches tall (45th percentile) and he weighed 17 pounds, 13 ounces (10th percentile), with a head size of 46.5 cm (65th percentile). Again we see that nurses do not read percentile charts consistently.)
This afternoon he rode the little wooden scooter on our wood floor for the first time. During the past week he only was allowed to have it on the carpeted floor, where it is a bit harder to make roll. He enjoyed pushing it, and tipping it over to spin its wheels. Until yesterday he would climb down off it if we put him sitting upon it. Since he might stay on it sitting, today I wanted to experiment with him riding it forward. He enjoyed this very much, even though he of course cannot yet steer it. He would ride down the hall towards Smiley, who was sitting on the floor drumming on empty coffee cans. When Gallant "caught" his big brother then Smiley would move to the other end of the hallway and I would turn Gallant and the scooter around.
Today he also fell asleep unswaddled for both his naps. He normally sleeps swaddled, so this is a big deal. He will sleep through the night better once he learns to self-comfort when he partially wakes up.
How else is Gallant different than at the end of Februrary? He is crawling much faster. When "cruising" holding onto furniture he can cross his legs to move sideways much faster. He can balance for up to five seconds when standing. He claps objects together as well as banging one object on a surface. He can climb up stairs, but not down. He enjoys drumming on coffee cans and sometimes sings when he drums.
Monday, April 20, 2009
For a Walk
Today Smiley went not just on a walk with me but for a walk. He rode his scooter and I skateboarded.
He had ridden his scooter a lot in the house, in the back yard, at my my and my wife's workplaces, and in the nearby Safeway. This was the first time he went along the sidewalk. He did very well, scooting along a from the corner at the bottom of our hill all the way to the corner one long block west, and back.
Since today is sunny many neighbors were outside. We got to meet them, which was nice. Two had a dog with them, which was even more exciting. Smiley likes dogs a lot.
I did not take a camera or the Flip, but I'm sure we'll do this again soon.
He had ridden his scooter a lot in the house, in the back yard, at my my and my wife's workplaces, and in the nearby Safeway. This was the first time he went along the sidewalk. He did very well, scooting along a from the corner at the bottom of our hill all the way to the corner one long block west, and back.
Since today is sunny many neighbors were outside. We got to meet them, which was nice. Two had a dog with them, which was even more exciting. Smiley likes dogs a lot.
I did not take a camera or the Flip, but I'm sure we'll do this again soon.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Today's Four Videos
I'm still way behind on editing photographs and videos of Smiley to put online.
Today I took four videos. I made time to edit and post them tonight so family and friends can see how much he has grown.
Today I took four videos. I made time to edit and post them tonight so family and friends can see how much he has grown.
- In the late afternoon he was visited by Katrina and Blake's son, Liam. They had not seen each other in many months. Smiley does not often get to play with someone near his own age. He was not quite sure what to do. But he was very polite about sharing his toys.
- Just as the sun set, waiting for mommy to get home from work, he played with a flashlight.
- After dinner he wanted to go down and up the stairs. He has gotten quite skilled at this.
- Later in the evening he rode his new scooter a bit and then did one more trip on the stairs. He still does not walk unassisted (hooray!) but really likes the scooter.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
April Videos
(It has been a very long time since I faithfully blogged about most of Smiley's videos for a certain month, to provide commentary about why the video was taken. Was he doing something for the first time? Was he doing something a relative would care about? Was he simply cute? Here are the older links for videos from July, August, September of 2008. I also wrote about four during February 2009. I'm starting now to write posts for missing months, going backwards chronologically.)
So far I have only blogged about a few of Smiley's April videos. I mentioned when he identified a nose and eyes on a stuffed animal and rehearsed getting ready for bed, wrote about a playground slide mishap, and posted a comparison of scooter prowess.
At the beginning of April my wife's parents visited for two weeks, to be with us for Smiley's first birthday. I did not get a good video of grandpa, but here is one of grandma.
Smiley fell asleep swaddled for more than a year; we weaned him of that part of his bedtime routine on April 11th. Swaddling kept him warm during the cold months and helped him fall asleep more easily, but did limit his experience drinking from a bottle or cup by himself. So it was not until April 2nd that he used a cup regularly and easily.
We celebrated his birthday a day early, on Sunday, since friends could be with him more easily on the weekend. He was in a good mood in the morning and spent time outside. When his friends arrived we went to his favorite playground and he went on the slide and swing.
We saved his presents from family for the next day. He had forgotten about wrapping paper since Chanukah and Christmas, but enjoyed the toys. He became quite attached to his hammer, which was as fun to rub on the cobblestones as to use with the pegboard. He also was given a wagon with MegaBlocks.
During the next few days he decided it was much easier and more fun to simply push on the pegboard pegs, but we did not get a video of this until a few days later.
Three days later we found, lost in the Styrofoam peanuts of the box in which the wagon was shipped, a second toy: a xylophone. That day was also the first time Smiley wanted to be read a story simply as part of playing, rather than as part of his bedtime routine. A week later he found the xylophone's keys.
In early April he also caught a mild cold. The main problem was post-nasal drip: since Smiley could not blow his nose he got a lot of mucus in his stomach and would often throw up. Not until a few days after his cold was gone did he decide to practice blowing his nose.
On April 14th he began to use his two counting boards. He does not care about sorting the beads by color or shape, but now has the small motor coordination to put them on the pegs and enjoys this. The next day had another minor milestone: at the playground he used a large wood chip as a tool for quite a while; he had previously dug in his sandbox with an ice cream scoop or plastic shovel, and dug in the dirt with a handy stick, but had never categorized a stick as a tool enough to carry it with him to multiple digging places.
Smiley spends a lot of time climbing on me. Here is a video, not because it was a special event, but just because we realized that climbing on me was so normal that we never filmed it.
All during the second half of April he was teething, working on the four molars adjacent to where his eye teeth will some day come through. (So far three of these molars have broken through.) When he is teething he sometimes gets Tylenol. He occasionally finds comfort in chewing on cold food or a cold toy, but not typically. This video of him chewing on a cold toy frog was taken not because of his teething but because he now plays so much as a toddler that it was touching to see that he still sometimes plays on his back like an infant.
On April 17th he visited friends, and ate his first frozen dessert and stayed up very late playing in their tubes. On the 19th he got a bigger sandbox and first enjoyed kicking things. (Previously he thought running into a playground ball during assisted walking was funny, but did no kicking on his own.)
By April 19th he was adept at pushing his wagon, and the next day invented pushing it with his scooter.
During the final week of April he became a maniac for pressing buttons. He had enjoyed this before, but now really wanted to press every button and light switch in sight. We brought out an old Basis 108 keyboard for him to play with and gave him the bicycle light again.
April 25th was rainy, so I brought inside a plastic slide that we had purchased using Craigslist a few days prior. He also played with Duplos, the elliptical strider, and on his own learned to click his tongue. I also gave him his first successful horsey ride, but we did not get a video of this until a few days later when my wife was home.
On April 27th Smiley invented a way to crawl and take his stuffed animal rabbit with him. He also invented two-handed xylophone playing. Both happened when he was tired, but got a second wind.
The next day he ate peanut butter for the first time.
The next day we went to the playground again and he decided it was fun to beep noses while on the highest platform (which is tricky to simultaneously film).
On the last day of April we moved his plastic slide upstairs and he learned to climb up the slide. He also got a new toy: a toddler swing for our big oak tree. That evening he invented a new game of putting toys (especially his stuffed animal rabbit) up and down in the back of the plastic slide.
So far I have only blogged about a few of Smiley's April videos. I mentioned when he identified a nose and eyes on a stuffed animal and rehearsed getting ready for bed, wrote about a playground slide mishap, and posted a comparison of scooter prowess.
At the beginning of April my wife's parents visited for two weeks, to be with us for Smiley's first birthday. I did not get a good video of grandpa, but here is one of grandma.
Smiley fell asleep swaddled for more than a year; we weaned him of that part of his bedtime routine on April 11th. Swaddling kept him warm during the cold months and helped him fall asleep more easily, but did limit his experience drinking from a bottle or cup by himself. So it was not until April 2nd that he used a cup regularly and easily.
We celebrated his birthday a day early, on Sunday, since friends could be with him more easily on the weekend. He was in a good mood in the morning and spent time outside. When his friends arrived we went to his favorite playground and he went on the slide and swing.
We saved his presents from family for the next day. He had forgotten about wrapping paper since Chanukah and Christmas, but enjoyed the toys. He became quite attached to his hammer, which was as fun to rub on the cobblestones as to use with the pegboard. He also was given a wagon with MegaBlocks.
During the next few days he decided it was much easier and more fun to simply push on the pegboard pegs, but we did not get a video of this until a few days later.
Three days later we found, lost in the Styrofoam peanuts of the box in which the wagon was shipped, a second toy: a xylophone. That day was also the first time Smiley wanted to be read a story simply as part of playing, rather than as part of his bedtime routine. A week later he found the xylophone's keys.
In early April he also caught a mild cold. The main problem was post-nasal drip: since Smiley could not blow his nose he got a lot of mucus in his stomach and would often throw up. Not until a few days after his cold was gone did he decide to practice blowing his nose.
On April 14th he began to use his two counting boards. He does not care about sorting the beads by color or shape, but now has the small motor coordination to put them on the pegs and enjoys this. The next day had another minor milestone: at the playground he used a large wood chip as a tool for quite a while; he had previously dug in his sandbox with an ice cream scoop or plastic shovel, and dug in the dirt with a handy stick, but had never categorized a stick as a tool enough to carry it with him to multiple digging places.
Smiley spends a lot of time climbing on me. Here is a video, not because it was a special event, but just because we realized that climbing on me was so normal that we never filmed it.
All during the second half of April he was teething, working on the four molars adjacent to where his eye teeth will some day come through. (So far three of these molars have broken through.) When he is teething he sometimes gets Tylenol. He occasionally finds comfort in chewing on cold food or a cold toy, but not typically. This video of him chewing on a cold toy frog was taken not because of his teething but because he now plays so much as a toddler that it was touching to see that he still sometimes plays on his back like an infant.
On April 17th he visited friends, and ate his first frozen dessert and stayed up very late playing in their tubes. On the 19th he got a bigger sandbox and first enjoyed kicking things. (Previously he thought running into a playground ball during assisted walking was funny, but did no kicking on his own.)
By April 19th he was adept at pushing his wagon, and the next day invented pushing it with his scooter.
During the final week of April he became a maniac for pressing buttons. He had enjoyed this before, but now really wanted to press every button and light switch in sight. We brought out an old Basis 108 keyboard for him to play with and gave him the bicycle light again.
April 25th was rainy, so I brought inside a plastic slide that we had purchased using Craigslist a few days prior. He also played with Duplos, the elliptical strider, and on his own learned to click his tongue. I also gave him his first successful horsey ride, but we did not get a video of this until a few days later when my wife was home.
On April 27th Smiley invented a way to crawl and take his stuffed animal rabbit with him. He also invented two-handed xylophone playing. Both happened when he was tired, but got a second wind.
The next day he ate peanut butter for the first time.
The next day we went to the playground again and he decided it was fun to beep noses while on the highest platform (which is tricky to simultaneously film).
On the last day of April we moved his plastic slide upstairs and he learned to climb up the slide. He also got a new toy: a toddler swing for our big oak tree. That evening he invented a new game of putting toys (especially his stuffed animal rabbit) up and down in the back of the plastic slide.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Discipline and Mentoring, Part One: Discipline
Smiley is now old enough to enjoy being trained. I should write an essay that shares what I know about training and correcting young children.
This topic has no "correct" or "best" answers. Other parents will surely disagree with some of my philosophy. My main hope in sharing is to put forth a careful set of ideas and vocabulary. This blog is, after all, primarily to help me process my own thoughts.
What did I mean when I said that Smiley is "old enough to enjoy being trained"?
I managed to catch the key behavior on video this morning. During the first few moments of this video he reaches for my computer cord shakes his head. (I only caught two repetitions on video, but he had been doing this more times.)
I recently switched from keeping my computer and its cord (oh, the cord!) out of his reach to training him not to touch it. When he reaches out to it, I shake my head "no" as part of the training.
Now Smiley knows that he is not allowed to touch these. He enjoys knowing this rule. So he rides his scooter up to these forbidden objects, reaches partway out to the cord, and stops himself with his own head shake. When he tires of this game he moves on to something else, happy and conversational.
At ten months he probably does not want many rules. But now he is old enough to learn about the stove, the camera, and the indoor plants. Training is appropriate when stubbornness and danger (danger to Smiley or to something very breakable) might mix.
What is training?
Training is not correction. I'll discuss correction later.
Training begins by putting Smiley into a constructed situation. I set him by my keys. Previously they have always been out of reach. Smiley does not know he is not allowed to touch them. I expect he will reach out for them. This is an unfair test; I expect him to fail.
Training is arranged. The area is free of distractions. I wait until Smiley is at his best: not tired or fussy.
Training includes a gesture, a word or phrase, and small discomfort. When he reaches for the keys I shake my head "no", say "hold", and either block his hand or very lightly swat it. Smiley is stubborn and tries again. After all, perhaps the prohibition is only momentary?
Training starts calm. If I block his hand I do so with the minimal needed effort. If I swat his hand I do so with a very soft touch, less than a tap. Either is meaningful only in its significance, not in force; I initially move slowly, almost lazily. Neither reaction would be immediately effective.
Training remains serene. When Smiley reaches out a second time he is confused, and my reaction repeats as before. By the third time he realizes the keys are prohibited and has become stubborn. Now my reaction must match his mood. If he becomes frustrated I must not block his hand (which would keep his focus on his frustration rather than the rule) and switch to a swat. If he is not frustrated I block his hand since I don't like to swat him. My gesture and voice retain their initial calm, but if he moves more forcefully I do too; more significantly my reaction time quickens. After a few repeats I am reacting almost instantly and with force he notices. His stubbornness gives up. This is not a game, it is too uncomfortable.
Training is patient. He has learned the rule. But was reaching with his left hand. Perhaps he will be allowed to reach take the keys with his right hand instead? Or lean forward to lick them? With each new try we start over from the beginning. Eventually he runs out of alternatives and goes to do something fun.
Training is anti-social. Smiley and I were merely two roles in an artificial situation moving towards an inevitable destiny. The training techniques are the same methods I once used to use to train mice or horses; in some small way Smiley feels that I was not treating him as himself, not as a person. So after the training I give him lots of loving attention. He is not in need of comfort or soothing since none of his discomfort or frustration during training was at all lasting. But he needs me to be the daddy and him to be the baby, socially in those roles.
In training have not crushed his will. He makes every choice, even when to move along to some other activity. All he learns is a new rule, with a refresher that I am more patient and stubborn than he. He remembers the rule but the training experience is soon forgotten.
At an early age I trained Smiley to do two things. He stays on his back when on his pink towel on the bathroom counter. He stays on his back when on his changing table. (Well, only most of the time for the latter.)
That very early training was done for the sake of his safety. He did not notice my gesture. He barely noticed my phrase ("don't roll, stay on your back, please"). He only knew that when he tried to roll I would hold him in place by his hips a little bit longer than necessary to prevent the roll. That "little bit longer" was the emotional discomfort portion. He did not like it, and soon was trained.
Training is only appropriate with your own children. Currently laws prohibit adults from causing almost any kind of physical discomfort to someone else's child, no matter what agreement the adults believe they have made. Although it is possible to train using only emotional discomfort this is so much less efficient it can become cruel to the child.
Must training be limited to negative reinforcement? Hopefully it is limited in this way because the young child has no favorite thing withheld from his or her normal routines. If we were training an animal we would use as positive reinforcement some favorite food or treat. But, to me, it seems wrong to withhold from a child a favorite toy, food, or type of parental attention and reserve it for use as positive reinforcement during a training session. The necessary negative reinforcement is so minor and temporary that overall the child will have a more enjoyable day with otherwise unrestricted access to his or her favorite things.
For most children, only train one rule at a time. Until that rule has been well learned, for everything else continue keeping items out of reach and using redirection.
Training, as I have defined it, is completely different from teaching. It is in many ways the opposite. Here is an example to highlight the distinctions.
When I taught preschool on the first day the students were taught how to form a nice, straight line by the classroom door. This took a long time. Many of them had never before heard of the concept and had no idea what I was asking of them.
The other adult and I modeled standing still, facing the door, behind someone else, etc. Other students were gradually invited in to the model line. When we finally had all the students in a straight line I took a photograph.
Then, one by one, we invited each student to show one way to not be in a nice, straight line and hold that pose. Then I took another photograph.
Both photographs were quickly printed and passed around during circle time. We reviewed how to form a nice, straight line. All the students got to laugh at their antics in the second photograph. Both photographs were then taped to the inside door frame.
From then on, when it was time to line up, usually all I had to do was point at the second photograph. Most students would straighten up. Distracted neighbors would get reminded. Soon the line was nice and straight. Then I would point to the first photograph, smile, and either clap, do an ASL clap, or give a thumbs up.
Teaching is social. All involved maintain their personalities. It involves many words, not a single gesture and phrase. It uses positive reinforcement, not negative. The teacher answers the learner's questions or difficulties, not the learner's stubbornness and frustration. It often happens spontaneously with a "teachable moment", not in a previously arranged setting.
The end result of teaching should be a new skill and a happy memory, not a new rule and a forgotten experience.
Smiley is still too young for successful teaching. I try anyway because we both enjoy it.
This week he is starting to learn to use a spoon. For months he has had his own spoon to hold when we fed him. Now I often hold a bowl of food within his reach and guide his spoon-wielding hand to scoop some food. On rare occasions he will put the spoon in his mouth (upside down). Slightly more often he will grab the food off the spoon with his other hand. Usually he ignores the food on his spoon and wants to either scoop more or grab the bowl with his free hand.
It will probably be weeks before he can use a spoon by himself, and weeks after that before I do not need to hold the bowl. Meanwhile, the teaching is still fun even without success.
How about correction? This is also, in many ways, the opposite of training.
I use the word "correction" to refer to what happens between stopping misbehavior and redirecting the young child. Often nothing is in the between area, especially if the environment is well prepared.
(Imagine Smiley reaches for something at a store. I say, "Smiley, that's not for you, see those lights?" Imagine he stops reaching and focuses on something else--maybe even the lights I was pointing out. According to my vocabulary, that sentence was enough to both stop and redirect, so there was no need for correction.)
Correction usually happens when the child is tired or cranky or otherwise not at his or her best. Happy and rested young children are typically easy to stop and redirect.
Correction begins at an unprepared time and setting. If possible, quickly move the child to another quiet place. The change of location is itself a bit of a wake up call. Also, having the object or person previously focused on out of sight helps the child shift focus to you.
Correction usually begins with a question. This question prompts the child to focus on himself or herself, rather than the other person or object. "Why are you upset?" "Why do you want that?" "Did you know you are acting like a baby?"
Too often adults begin with a counterproductive question or statement. It wastes time to keep the child focused on the other person or object. ("Why did you hit her?" "It's not your turn to play with that.")
It is also counterproductive to give warnings. What adults call "warnings" children think of as "freebies". A few situations really can be resolved with a repeated request, as when a normally obedient child is momentarily distracted. But almost always it is better in the long run to do an unnecessary session of correction than to risk a child getting used to freebies.
One last benefit of having moved the child is that he or she is then more like to answer the question. The likelihood of sullen defiance is much lower in the hallway then at the scene of contention.
The child's answer to the initial question is usually irrelevant because children are not mature enough for sufficient self-reflection. The child claims to be upset because someone else was mean, but actually the child has been edgy and fragile all day because of lack of sleep or a pet's recent death. The child claims she wants a certain book because of the story, but what she really wants is to interrupt a friend to demonstrate a higher pecking order rank. And so on.
But whatever the answer, now the child is focusing on himself or herself, and ready to listen. Shift the focus to previously established standards. Walking feet indoors. Hands are for helping. Hitting means a time-out. Keep a dialogue going, focused on the child and the standards, until the child recognizes his or her wrongdoing.
Next, process the guilt. An apology is ideal. With children younger than second grade a vicarious apology also works. ("Are you ready to tell her you are sorry? No? Then I will. [Go back to the room.] Kandice, I'm sorry Steven hit you. I'm saying sorry for him. Now you two are friends again.") It's almost magic. Immediately the children switch from being too upset to talk to each other to playing happily.
If an apology is not appropriate something else should happen to process the guilt. "You used running feet indoors, so we need to leave this store for a while." It may be useful to ask the child what he or she thinks should be done to make things right.
Once the child has seen the guilt arrive and depart he or she is almost always ready for redirection. The correction session is complete. But it should be reviewed in a positive way at the end of the day. "Remember when you hit Kandice, and there was an apology, and you played happily after? That was well done. I'm glad you can be a friend after a problem."
Sometimes a correction session dead-ends. Most often this happens when a child is too weighted down by something to recognize or care about the guilt coming and going. The weight could be any hurt: a headache, a lost favorite toy, overhearing parents argue, a grandparent has died. Then the child needs one-on-one time with an adult. Postpone the correction session.
Smiley is clearly not yet verbal enough for correction as I have defined it. He just gets redirection. For example, he is allowed in the kitchen when on his scooter but not when crawling (when crawling he tries to play with our kitchen mats, which may be hiding a piece of dropped food that could be a choking hazard). When he does try to crawl into the kitchen he is told this "rule" as we pick him up and either move him to another room or put him on his scooter, but he does not understand, so we make no attempt to put anything between the stopping him and the redirecting him.
UPDATE: This post is now part one of a three-part series. Part two is here. Part three is here.
This topic has no "correct" or "best" answers. Other parents will surely disagree with some of my philosophy. My main hope in sharing is to put forth a careful set of ideas and vocabulary. This blog is, after all, primarily to help me process my own thoughts.
What did I mean when I said that Smiley is "old enough to enjoy being trained"?
I managed to catch the key behavior on video this morning. During the first few moments of this video he reaches for my computer cord shakes his head. (I only caught two repetitions on video, but he had been doing this more times.)
I recently switched from keeping my computer and its cord (oh, the cord!) out of his reach to training him not to touch it. When he reaches out to it, I shake my head "no" as part of the training.
Now Smiley knows that he is not allowed to touch these. He enjoys knowing this rule. So he rides his scooter up to these forbidden objects, reaches partway out to the cord, and stops himself with his own head shake. When he tires of this game he moves on to something else, happy and conversational.
At ten months he probably does not want many rules. But now he is old enough to learn about the stove, the camera, and the indoor plants. Training is appropriate when stubbornness and danger (danger to Smiley or to something very breakable) might mix.
What is training?
Training is not correction. I'll discuss correction later.
Training begins by putting Smiley into a constructed situation. I set him by my keys. Previously they have always been out of reach. Smiley does not know he is not allowed to touch them. I expect he will reach out for them. This is an unfair test; I expect him to fail.
Training is arranged. The area is free of distractions. I wait until Smiley is at his best: not tired or fussy.
Training includes a gesture, a word or phrase, and small discomfort. When he reaches for the keys I shake my head "no", say "hold", and either block his hand or very lightly swat it. Smiley is stubborn and tries again. After all, perhaps the prohibition is only momentary?
Training starts calm. If I block his hand I do so with the minimal needed effort. If I swat his hand I do so with a very soft touch, less than a tap. Either is meaningful only in its significance, not in force; I initially move slowly, almost lazily. Neither reaction would be immediately effective.
Training remains serene. When Smiley reaches out a second time he is confused, and my reaction repeats as before. By the third time he realizes the keys are prohibited and has become stubborn. Now my reaction must match his mood. If he becomes frustrated I must not block his hand (which would keep his focus on his frustration rather than the rule) and switch to a swat. If he is not frustrated I block his hand since I don't like to swat him. My gesture and voice retain their initial calm, but if he moves more forcefully I do too; more significantly my reaction time quickens. After a few repeats I am reacting almost instantly and with force he notices. His stubbornness gives up. This is not a game, it is too uncomfortable.
Training is patient. He has learned the rule. But was reaching with his left hand. Perhaps he will be allowed to reach take the keys with his right hand instead? Or lean forward to lick them? With each new try we start over from the beginning. Eventually he runs out of alternatives and goes to do something fun.
Training is anti-social. Smiley and I were merely two roles in an artificial situation moving towards an inevitable destiny. The training techniques are the same methods I once used to use to train mice or horses; in some small way Smiley feels that I was not treating him as himself, not as a person. So after the training I give him lots of loving attention. He is not in need of comfort or soothing since none of his discomfort or frustration during training was at all lasting. But he needs me to be the daddy and him to be the baby, socially in those roles.
In training have not crushed his will. He makes every choice, even when to move along to some other activity. All he learns is a new rule, with a refresher that I am more patient and stubborn than he. He remembers the rule but the training experience is soon forgotten.
At an early age I trained Smiley to do two things. He stays on his back when on his pink towel on the bathroom counter. He stays on his back when on his changing table. (Well, only most of the time for the latter.)
That very early training was done for the sake of his safety. He did not notice my gesture. He barely noticed my phrase ("don't roll, stay on your back, please"). He only knew that when he tried to roll I would hold him in place by his hips a little bit longer than necessary to prevent the roll. That "little bit longer" was the emotional discomfort portion. He did not like it, and soon was trained.
Training is only appropriate with your own children. Currently laws prohibit adults from causing almost any kind of physical discomfort to someone else's child, no matter what agreement the adults believe they have made. Although it is possible to train using only emotional discomfort this is so much less efficient it can become cruel to the child.
Must training be limited to negative reinforcement? Hopefully it is limited in this way because the young child has no favorite thing withheld from his or her normal routines. If we were training an animal we would use as positive reinforcement some favorite food or treat. But, to me, it seems wrong to withhold from a child a favorite toy, food, or type of parental attention and reserve it for use as positive reinforcement during a training session. The necessary negative reinforcement is so minor and temporary that overall the child will have a more enjoyable day with otherwise unrestricted access to his or her favorite things.
For most children, only train one rule at a time. Until that rule has been well learned, for everything else continue keeping items out of reach and using redirection.
Training, as I have defined it, is completely different from teaching. It is in many ways the opposite. Here is an example to highlight the distinctions.
When I taught preschool on the first day the students were taught how to form a nice, straight line by the classroom door. This took a long time. Many of them had never before heard of the concept and had no idea what I was asking of them.
The other adult and I modeled standing still, facing the door, behind someone else, etc. Other students were gradually invited in to the model line. When we finally had all the students in a straight line I took a photograph.
Then, one by one, we invited each student to show one way to not be in a nice, straight line and hold that pose. Then I took another photograph.
Both photographs were quickly printed and passed around during circle time. We reviewed how to form a nice, straight line. All the students got to laugh at their antics in the second photograph. Both photographs were then taped to the inside door frame.
From then on, when it was time to line up, usually all I had to do was point at the second photograph. Most students would straighten up. Distracted neighbors would get reminded. Soon the line was nice and straight. Then I would point to the first photograph, smile, and either clap, do an ASL clap, or give a thumbs up.
Teaching is social. All involved maintain their personalities. It involves many words, not a single gesture and phrase. It uses positive reinforcement, not negative. The teacher answers the learner's questions or difficulties, not the learner's stubbornness and frustration. It often happens spontaneously with a "teachable moment", not in a previously arranged setting.
The end result of teaching should be a new skill and a happy memory, not a new rule and a forgotten experience.
Smiley is still too young for successful teaching. I try anyway because we both enjoy it.
This week he is starting to learn to use a spoon. For months he has had his own spoon to hold when we fed him. Now I often hold a bowl of food within his reach and guide his spoon-wielding hand to scoop some food. On rare occasions he will put the spoon in his mouth (upside down). Slightly more often he will grab the food off the spoon with his other hand. Usually he ignores the food on his spoon and wants to either scoop more or grab the bowl with his free hand.
It will probably be weeks before he can use a spoon by himself, and weeks after that before I do not need to hold the bowl. Meanwhile, the teaching is still fun even without success.
How about correction? This is also, in many ways, the opposite of training.
I use the word "correction" to refer to what happens between stopping misbehavior and redirecting the young child. Often nothing is in the between area, especially if the environment is well prepared.
(Imagine Smiley reaches for something at a store. I say, "Smiley, that's not for you, see those lights?" Imagine he stops reaching and focuses on something else--maybe even the lights I was pointing out. According to my vocabulary, that sentence was enough to both stop and redirect, so there was no need for correction.)
Correction usually happens when the child is tired or cranky or otherwise not at his or her best. Happy and rested young children are typically easy to stop and redirect.
Correction begins at an unprepared time and setting. If possible, quickly move the child to another quiet place. The change of location is itself a bit of a wake up call. Also, having the object or person previously focused on out of sight helps the child shift focus to you.
Correction usually begins with a question. This question prompts the child to focus on himself or herself, rather than the other person or object. "Why are you upset?" "Why do you want that?" "Did you know you are acting like a baby?"
Too often adults begin with a counterproductive question or statement. It wastes time to keep the child focused on the other person or object. ("Why did you hit her?" "It's not your turn to play with that.")
It is also counterproductive to give warnings. What adults call "warnings" children think of as "freebies". A few situations really can be resolved with a repeated request, as when a normally obedient child is momentarily distracted. But almost always it is better in the long run to do an unnecessary session of correction than to risk a child getting used to freebies.
One last benefit of having moved the child is that he or she is then more like to answer the question. The likelihood of sullen defiance is much lower in the hallway then at the scene of contention.
The child's answer to the initial question is usually irrelevant because children are not mature enough for sufficient self-reflection. The child claims to be upset because someone else was mean, but actually the child has been edgy and fragile all day because of lack of sleep or a pet's recent death. The child claims she wants a certain book because of the story, but what she really wants is to interrupt a friend to demonstrate a higher pecking order rank. And so on.
But whatever the answer, now the child is focusing on himself or herself, and ready to listen. Shift the focus to previously established standards. Walking feet indoors. Hands are for helping. Hitting means a time-out. Keep a dialogue going, focused on the child and the standards, until the child recognizes his or her wrongdoing.
Next, process the guilt. An apology is ideal. With children younger than second grade a vicarious apology also works. ("Are you ready to tell her you are sorry? No? Then I will. [Go back to the room.] Kandice, I'm sorry Steven hit you. I'm saying sorry for him. Now you two are friends again.") It's almost magic. Immediately the children switch from being too upset to talk to each other to playing happily.
If an apology is not appropriate something else should happen to process the guilt. "You used running feet indoors, so we need to leave this store for a while." It may be useful to ask the child what he or she thinks should be done to make things right.
Once the child has seen the guilt arrive and depart he or she is almost always ready for redirection. The correction session is complete. But it should be reviewed in a positive way at the end of the day. "Remember when you hit Kandice, and there was an apology, and you played happily after? That was well done. I'm glad you can be a friend after a problem."
Sometimes a correction session dead-ends. Most often this happens when a child is too weighted down by something to recognize or care about the guilt coming and going. The weight could be any hurt: a headache, a lost favorite toy, overhearing parents argue, a grandparent has died. Then the child needs one-on-one time with an adult. Postpone the correction session.
Smiley is clearly not yet verbal enough for correction as I have defined it. He just gets redirection. For example, he is allowed in the kitchen when on his scooter but not when crawling (when crawling he tries to play with our kitchen mats, which may be hiding a piece of dropped food that could be a choking hazard). When he does try to crawl into the kitchen he is told this "rule" as we pick him up and either move him to another room or put him on his scooter, but he does not understand, so we make no attempt to put anything between the stopping him and the redirecting him.
UPDATE: This post is now part one of a three-part series. Part two is here. Part three is here.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Outdoor Scooter and Slide
Five weeks ago Smiley discovered the big play structure at the local elementary school. For comparison's sake, here are two videos taken yesterday at that playground.
In the first, he is so eager after several rainy days with no playground visits that he goes too fast and gets frightened (but not hurt). In the second he has regained his caution and goes more slowly.
In the first, he is so eager after several rainy days with no playground visits that he goes too fast and gets frightened (but not hurt). In the second he has regained his caution and goes more slowly.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Smiley's Top 10 Toys of 2009
For 2008 I blogged about Smiley's ten favorite toys.
For 2009 I've done two lists. I just blogged about his ten favorite books this past year. Now it's time for the top ten toys.
In retrospect it's odd how I don't have Picasa photos for many of these. (The missing ones, except for his most recently acquired toy phone, are in the Flip videos.)
1. Bunny and Baby Doll
"Bunny" is a Peter Rabbit stuffed animal that he received as a new baby gift. It quickly became Smiley's favorite stuffed animal. He normally sleeps curled over it, with his knees tucked in.
It came in a set with a book. We looked for a duplicate that could be available when the first was in the washing machine, but the only ones we could find by that manufacturer were noticeably different. Fortunately, our washing machine is a front loader with a clear door and Smiley is not too traumatized when Bunny needs to take a bath. ("Bubbles!")
"Baby Doll" is a cabbage patch doll that my mother gave me when I taught Head Start in Rochester, NY. Since it was a classroom doll and only has a tuft of hair, it never received a name or gender. My wife and I enjoy the challenge of keeping Baby Doll nameless and genderless until Smiley picks what he wants.
2. Trains and Trucks of All Sorts
Train cars he can hook together are the best. But any truck with turning wheels that he can push is a great toy.
3. His Scooter
Sadly, it does not grow larger with him. I've blogged about it often.
4. A Piece of Broom Handle
I cut for him a piece of broom handle to use as a walking stick. He plays with it almost every time he is outside. He also wants it when he starts on a walk, although I often wind up carrying it for him after a few minutes.
Besides being a walking stick, it also serves as a hanging bar: he hangs and I do curls. I also cut a second piece of broom handle and hung it on both ends from the big oak tree in the back yard: a trapeze is better than a swing because he needs no help to start and stop using it.
5. His Wire
My wife and I have laptops in the sitting room, with power cords that Smiley is not supposed to touch. To be fair, I gave him a wire that connects a computer to a pair of computer speakers (male microphone-size jacks on both ends). That is "his wire" so he has his own and does not need to touch our wires.
Surprisingly, he loves that wire. He tries to plug it in to all sorts of small holes. Many of his toys have indented screw-holes on their underside into which it fits. The best fit is with his Duplo train cars, which have a hollow vertical peg as the male side of the train connector: turn the train car over and it's a perfect match for his wire.
6. MegaBlock Wagon
Anything to push or pull is great. We did not get him a doll stroller until December, or it would be on this list. He has two plastic wagons; this one is his favorite.
The MegaBlock wagon is large enough to comfortably push or pull. It holds lots of sticks, rocks, leaves, or pine cones for back yard collecting. When the dump-back is opened, he can sit straddling the wagon's bottom like riding a toy car. (He never used it with the blocks as the manufacturer intended after the first day.)
When we returned home from spending half of December with family in California, this wagon was the first toy he went to play with.
7. His Dice
I have briefly mentioned his dice. He has a bunch of eight-sided dice in different colors. They were a new toy when he outgrew putting things in his mouth, and needed something to go inside containers or be cargo for his trucks.
He loves them. I have no idea why. When someone new visits our house, he often goes to his dice and shares them as his first attempt to make friends.
8. Various Phones
My grandmother wants Smiley to talk to her on the phone. So she has sent him a few toy phones with which to practice.
His first phone was a rattle that he never used as an infant, which spent most of 2009 in the car as a mostly unpopular car seat toy. I already mentioned his second toy phone, which he plays with much more, and for which the pull-string doubles in his mind as a ear piece wire. His newest phone makes the best noises and is clearly his favorite phone.
Much to my grandmother's frustration, Smiley loves holding the phones to his ear and pretending to listen to them, but both in play and reality says very little.
9. Bubbles and Bath Crayons
Baths are always fun, and the only sure way to calm Smiley on those nights when he was sick or teething and woke up after throwing up.
Bath crayons and bubble bath make baths even more fun.
10. His Big Paper
I've blogged about Smiley's Wee Ride LTD bicycle seat. But I have not yet blogged about its packaging...
The box was a great size for sitting in: just tall enough to be challenging to climb in and out. Even better was the single, long piece of tough brown paper that was used as package padding.
We have quite a few Flip videos of him playing with it. But they do not do justice to the fun he had and physical development he displayed learning to put it into and out of the box, using it as a blanket for hiding, and eventually using it as a blanket for pretending that he or his stuffed animals or Baby Doll were sleepy.
Honorable Mentions
In December, at a used bookstore, he became really fond of a doll stroller. So I told him that that one had to stay in the bookstore, but we could look for another one at the toy store. One was surprisingly inexpensive: $6.99 at Toys 'R Us. He loves it, both because he can push his stuffed animals and Baby Doll in it and because inside the house it is more maneuverable than his wagons.
He enjoys containers and stacking cups, but without his dice as his favorite "filling" they only receive an honorable mention.
We limit his computer use, but he would spend more time staring at a glowing rectangle if we allowed it. He watches Flip videos of himself, he dances to a recording of his cousin singing the alphabet song, he directs me as I play the Linux game Potato Guy, and he "plays" a course of Extreme Tux Racer named "Who Says Penguins Can't Fly?" that is a very steep downhill toboggan run that works well enough no matter what keys he presses or does not press.
As with last year, I am not counting "places" as toys. His Ergo, jogging stroller, sandbox, inflatable pool, skateboard, and of course the playgrounds near our home and the local library have all been used more hours than some items on this list.
For 2009 I've done two lists. I just blogged about his ten favorite books this past year. Now it's time for the top ten toys.
In retrospect it's odd how I don't have Picasa photos for many of these. (The missing ones, except for his most recently acquired toy phone, are in the Flip videos.)
1. Bunny and Baby Doll
"Bunny" is a Peter Rabbit stuffed animal that he received as a new baby gift. It quickly became Smiley's favorite stuffed animal. He normally sleeps curled over it, with his knees tucked in.
It came in a set with a book. We looked for a duplicate that could be available when the first was in the washing machine, but the only ones we could find by that manufacturer were noticeably different. Fortunately, our washing machine is a front loader with a clear door and Smiley is not too traumatized when Bunny needs to take a bath. ("Bubbles!")
"Baby Doll" is a cabbage patch doll that my mother gave me when I taught Head Start in Rochester, NY. Since it was a classroom doll and only has a tuft of hair, it never received a name or gender. My wife and I enjoy the challenge of keeping Baby Doll nameless and genderless until Smiley picks what he wants.
2. Trains and Trucks of All Sorts
Train cars he can hook together are the best. But any truck with turning wheels that he can push is a great toy.
3. His Scooter
Sadly, it does not grow larger with him. I've blogged about it often.
4. A Piece of Broom Handle
I cut for him a piece of broom handle to use as a walking stick. He plays with it almost every time he is outside. He also wants it when he starts on a walk, although I often wind up carrying it for him after a few minutes.
Besides being a walking stick, it also serves as a hanging bar: he hangs and I do curls. I also cut a second piece of broom handle and hung it on both ends from the big oak tree in the back yard: a trapeze is better than a swing because he needs no help to start and stop using it.
5. His Wire
My wife and I have laptops in the sitting room, with power cords that Smiley is not supposed to touch. To be fair, I gave him a wire that connects a computer to a pair of computer speakers (male microphone-size jacks on both ends). That is "his wire" so he has his own and does not need to touch our wires.
Surprisingly, he loves that wire. He tries to plug it in to all sorts of small holes. Many of his toys have indented screw-holes on their underside into which it fits. The best fit is with his Duplo train cars, which have a hollow vertical peg as the male side of the train connector: turn the train car over and it's a perfect match for his wire.
6. MegaBlock Wagon
Anything to push or pull is great. We did not get him a doll stroller until December, or it would be on this list. He has two plastic wagons; this one is his favorite.
The MegaBlock wagon is large enough to comfortably push or pull. It holds lots of sticks, rocks, leaves, or pine cones for back yard collecting. When the dump-back is opened, he can sit straddling the wagon's bottom like riding a toy car. (He never used it with the blocks as the manufacturer intended after the first day.)
When we returned home from spending half of December with family in California, this wagon was the first toy he went to play with.
7. His Dice
I have briefly mentioned his dice. He has a bunch of eight-sided dice in different colors. They were a new toy when he outgrew putting things in his mouth, and needed something to go inside containers or be cargo for his trucks.
He loves them. I have no idea why. When someone new visits our house, he often goes to his dice and shares them as his first attempt to make friends.
8. Various Phones
My grandmother wants Smiley to talk to her on the phone. So she has sent him a few toy phones with which to practice.
His first phone was a rattle that he never used as an infant, which spent most of 2009 in the car as a mostly unpopular car seat toy. I already mentioned his second toy phone, which he plays with much more, and for which the pull-string doubles in his mind as a ear piece wire. His newest phone makes the best noises and is clearly his favorite phone.
Much to my grandmother's frustration, Smiley loves holding the phones to his ear and pretending to listen to them, but both in play and reality says very little.
9. Bubbles and Bath Crayons
Baths are always fun, and the only sure way to calm Smiley on those nights when he was sick or teething and woke up after throwing up.
Bath crayons and bubble bath make baths even more fun.
10. His Big Paper
I've blogged about Smiley's Wee Ride LTD bicycle seat. But I have not yet blogged about its packaging...
The box was a great size for sitting in: just tall enough to be challenging to climb in and out. Even better was the single, long piece of tough brown paper that was used as package padding.
We have quite a few Flip videos of him playing with it. But they do not do justice to the fun he had and physical development he displayed learning to put it into and out of the box, using it as a blanket for hiding, and eventually using it as a blanket for pretending that he or his stuffed animals or Baby Doll were sleepy.
Honorable Mentions
In December, at a used bookstore, he became really fond of a doll stroller. So I told him that that one had to stay in the bookstore, but we could look for another one at the toy store. One was surprisingly inexpensive: $6.99 at Toys 'R Us. He loves it, both because he can push his stuffed animals and Baby Doll in it and because inside the house it is more maneuverable than his wagons.
He enjoys containers and stacking cups, but without his dice as his favorite "filling" they only receive an honorable mention.
We limit his computer use, but he would spend more time staring at a glowing rectangle if we allowed it. He watches Flip videos of himself, he dances to a recording of his cousin singing the alphabet song, he directs me as I play the Linux game Potato Guy, and he "plays" a course of Extreme Tux Racer named "Who Says Penguins Can't Fly?" that is a very steep downhill toboggan run that works well enough no matter what keys he presses or does not press.
As with last year, I am not counting "places" as toys. His Ergo, jogging stroller, sandbox, inflatable pool, skateboard, and of course the playgrounds near our home and the local library have all been used more hours than some items on this list.
Saturday, August 04, 2012
Gallant's at One Year
Somehow I have neglected to write about Gallant since late May. What has he been up to for a bit over two months?
One Year Check-up
He had his one-year check-up. That day he was 28.4 inches tall (10th percentile), he weighed 20 pounds, 4 ounces (15th percentile), and his head size was 46.5 cm (55th percentile). Compared to his brother at that age he was an inch shorter, half a pound heavier, and about 1 cm less head circumference.
(For comparison's sake, here is the link to Gallant's nine month measurements.)
Gallant is very comfortable on his feet.
He walks well, and likes to carry things. Both hands full is best! Sometimes he drag things behind him.
Pushing toys can fun, but only now and then. His big brother really adored pushing things, especially toy wagons. Gallant just wants his hands full.
The exception is pushing toys down stairs or down the back deck's ramp. He loves that! I spend a lot of time bringing toys back up onto the deck for him to push down again: bump, bump, bump. His favorite pushing game is pushing the little doll stroller down the ramp.
When we go for a morning walk he likes to leave the stroller for the home stretch and walk down the sidewalk from the middle school to the bottom of our hill. That third of a mile takes him 18 minutes. He has to stop and look at every crow, dog, and cat. The sidewalk has a few deep worn-down cracks, which he often will cross and re-cross to make sure he has mastered walking over them. One neighbor has recently replaced their duplex's water meters: he always takes a little detour to walk on the sand around those and step about upon them.
He also runs a lot, usually in the back yard but also when I am exercising by doing some sprints across the fake-grass field behind the middle school he runs about and shouts.
He only jumps when I hold his hands. He likes that.
He climbs, but is not at all the super-climber his big brother was. He loves our plastic slide.
He can climb up stairs very well. Down stairs is usually okay, but occasionally (almost always on the steps leading down from the gazebo) he tries descend while sitting and might tip over.
He also likes stepping on things. I am not sure how much this is a balance game and how much it is a manipulating objects games. Cloths, small toys, bits of rope or chain. He reaches forward with one foot and wiggles them around.
Smiley likes to use a walking stick when we go on a walk around the neighborhood. (He has two lengths of broom handle.) Gallant has picked up on that. He looks very cute walking around the back yard using one of his big brother's sticks as a walking stick that is slightly taller than he is.
(Ironically, Gallant still refuses to ride that little wood scooter which had been such an important part of Smiley's life at one year of age.)
I wrote about Gallant getting in his sixth tooth. Now he has ten teeth. A top and bottom molar on each side have arrived. (My lack of sleep during that long process is a big reason I have done so little blogging since May. Now he is sleeping through the night again. Yay!)
A year ago I wrote about all sorts of roughhousing games that Smiley invented. Gallant is now old enough to enjoy rough housing, but does not usually care what it involves as long as the movement is fairly gentle and he is receiving lots of attention.
Gallant is allowed to eat just about anything now that he is over one year old.
He enjoys feeding himself. Using a spoon is still very tricky, but banana and full-fat Greek yogurt stay on pretty well even turned upside-down. Applesauce is a favorite but much more messy.
We are no longer keeping track of when we introduce foods, but I should mention that today he had chocolate chips for the first time. (Today has record heat for this summer so far: 97 degrees Fahrenheit. I took some cookies out of the freezer. Cool cookies are nice on a hot day, and he loves dried cranberries even though they go right through him. I bit off the obvious chocolate chips, but he still got some.)
During his molar teething he had some very fussy days when all he really wanted to eat was fruit. A lack of non-milk fats caused his poops to turn soft and white. We solved that problem by mixing olive oil into his applesauce and introducing him to Larabars (which taste like fruit but have nuts with their fats). He still refuses to eat avocado, which once was a favorite--why, oh why that sad change?
We are using our Toddler Nutrition Log to confirm that Gallant eats a balanced diet.
Gallant also gets to use the sandbox now. We move it down from the stand I built to keep it at a good hight for Smiley.
One day he tried crayons with his brother. They were great for putting into and out of the purple cup. That is all he did with them.
On warm days his brother plays in the wading pool. Gallant just watches, and splashes the water (with his hands or a toy) while leaning over the edge. He likes baths, but for some reason does not like being in the wading pool.
Remember the new big swing? Gallant can swing too! We unhook his brother's wooden circle seat and hang up our baby swing seat. It is nice to have a child who enjoys the swing at a young age. (Smiley would only swing for a few moments until we made the big swing. Park swings were too boring for him.)
Gallant's selection of inside toys has not changed much. He still likes stacking toys and putting objects in boxes. He shows more interest now in board books and shape sorters. He has become fond of rolling toy cars down cardboard ramps. He gets to shake the vacuum cord when I vacuum (which is a treat since he is otherwise prohibited from touching electrical cords). He yearns to play with dishes in the dishwasher, but I do not let him help with unloading the dishes (as his brother got to help at that age) because he still drops them on the floor so often.
One Year Check-up
He had his one-year check-up. That day he was 28.4 inches tall (10th percentile), he weighed 20 pounds, 4 ounces (15th percentile), and his head size was 46.5 cm (55th percentile). Compared to his brother at that age he was an inch shorter, half a pound heavier, and about 1 cm less head circumference.
(For comparison's sake, here is the link to Gallant's nine month measurements.)
Walking and Running
Gallant is very comfortable on his feet.
He walks well, and likes to carry things. Both hands full is best! Sometimes he drag things behind him.
Pushing toys can fun, but only now and then. His big brother really adored pushing things, especially toy wagons. Gallant just wants his hands full.
The exception is pushing toys down stairs or down the back deck's ramp. He loves that! I spend a lot of time bringing toys back up onto the deck for him to push down again: bump, bump, bump. His favorite pushing game is pushing the little doll stroller down the ramp.
When we go for a morning walk he likes to leave the stroller for the home stretch and walk down the sidewalk from the middle school to the bottom of our hill. That third of a mile takes him 18 minutes. He has to stop and look at every crow, dog, and cat. The sidewalk has a few deep worn-down cracks, which he often will cross and re-cross to make sure he has mastered walking over them. One neighbor has recently replaced their duplex's water meters: he always takes a little detour to walk on the sand around those and step about upon them.
He also runs a lot, usually in the back yard but also when I am exercising by doing some sprints across the fake-grass field behind the middle school he runs about and shouts.
He only jumps when I hold his hands. He likes that.
He climbs, but is not at all the super-climber his big brother was. He loves our plastic slide.
He can climb up stairs very well. Down stairs is usually okay, but occasionally (almost always on the steps leading down from the gazebo) he tries descend while sitting and might tip over.
He also likes stepping on things. I am not sure how much this is a balance game and how much it is a manipulating objects games. Cloths, small toys, bits of rope or chain. He reaches forward with one foot and wiggles them around.
Smiley likes to use a walking stick when we go on a walk around the neighborhood. (He has two lengths of broom handle.) Gallant has picked up on that. He looks very cute walking around the back yard using one of his big brother's sticks as a walking stick that is slightly taller than he is.
(Ironically, Gallant still refuses to ride that little wood scooter which had been such an important part of Smiley's life at one year of age.)
Teeth
I wrote about Gallant getting in his sixth tooth. Now he has ten teeth. A top and bottom molar on each side have arrived. (My lack of sleep during that long process is a big reason I have done so little blogging since May. Now he is sleeping through the night again. Yay!)
Wrestling
A year ago I wrote about all sorts of roughhousing games that Smiley invented. Gallant is now old enough to enjoy rough housing, but does not usually care what it involves as long as the movement is fairly gentle and he is receiving lots of attention.
Foods
Gallant is allowed to eat just about anything now that he is over one year old.
He enjoys feeding himself. Using a spoon is still very tricky, but banana and full-fat Greek yogurt stay on pretty well even turned upside-down. Applesauce is a favorite but much more messy.
We are no longer keeping track of when we introduce foods, but I should mention that today he had chocolate chips for the first time. (Today has record heat for this summer so far: 97 degrees Fahrenheit. I took some cookies out of the freezer. Cool cookies are nice on a hot day, and he loves dried cranberries even though they go right through him. I bit off the obvious chocolate chips, but he still got some.)
During his molar teething he had some very fussy days when all he really wanted to eat was fruit. A lack of non-milk fats caused his poops to turn soft and white. We solved that problem by mixing olive oil into his applesauce and introducing him to Larabars (which taste like fruit but have nuts with their fats). He still refuses to eat avocado, which once was a favorite--why, oh why that sad change?
We are using our Toddler Nutrition Log to confirm that Gallant eats a balanced diet.
New Toys
Gallant also gets to use the sandbox now. We move it down from the stand I built to keep it at a good hight for Smiley.
One day he tried crayons with his brother. They were great for putting into and out of the purple cup. That is all he did with them.
On warm days his brother plays in the wading pool. Gallant just watches, and splashes the water (with his hands or a toy) while leaning over the edge. He likes baths, but for some reason does not like being in the wading pool.
Remember the new big swing? Gallant can swing too! We unhook his brother's wooden circle seat and hang up our baby swing seat. It is nice to have a child who enjoys the swing at a young age. (Smiley would only swing for a few moments until we made the big swing. Park swings were too boring for him.)
Gallant's selection of inside toys has not changed much. He still likes stacking toys and putting objects in boxes. He shows more interest now in board books and shape sorters. He has become fond of rolling toy cars down cardboard ramps. He gets to shake the vacuum cord when I vacuum (which is a treat since he is otherwise prohibited from touching electrical cords). He yearns to play with dishes in the dishwasher, but I do not let him help with unloading the dishes (as his brother got to help at that age) because he still drops them on the floor so often.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Walking and Stacking
Early this month I wrote about Gallant learning to walk. At that time he was taking up to six steps at a time.
A few days later he could walk forward as far as he wanted. Two days later he learned to pivot to face a new direction.
By the end of that week he was able to walk on a flat floor, although lacking stability or confidence.
His second week of walking happened while visiting my grandmother. Although she did not see his first steps, she did get to see him develop more balance and confidence. Within a few days he could walk on her mowed lawn, and walk over the track of the sliding door that leads out to her patio.
Gallant still does not want to ride the wooden scooter that was so much a part of Smiley's life at the same age. When I put Gallant on he climbs right off. It is funny how different the siblings are.
Gallant's newest trick is stacking.
My wife saves Trader Joe's coffee cans for him to use as drums and stacking toys. Smiley enjoys making towers and pyramids for Gallant to knock over. On Wednesday Gallant started to put one can on top of another. He was so happy after doing this!
He also has one of those colored rings stacking toys. He started putting the rings on the post, or on any similar "post" we held (such as a wooden spoon handle). This also made him happy.
Gallant has been settings lids on containers for a few weeks. (Although not yet screwing them on, of course.) I wonder why lids come sooner than stacking?
A few days later he could walk forward as far as he wanted. Two days later he learned to pivot to face a new direction.
By the end of that week he was able to walk on a flat floor, although lacking stability or confidence.
His second week of walking happened while visiting my grandmother. Although she did not see his first steps, she did get to see him develop more balance and confidence. Within a few days he could walk on her mowed lawn, and walk over the track of the sliding door that leads out to her patio.
Gallant still does not want to ride the wooden scooter that was so much a part of Smiley's life at the same age. When I put Gallant on he climbs right off. It is funny how different the siblings are.
Gallant's newest trick is stacking.
My wife saves Trader Joe's coffee cans for him to use as drums and stacking toys. Smiley enjoys making towers and pyramids for Gallant to knock over. On Wednesday Gallant started to put one can on top of another. He was so happy after doing this!
He also has one of those colored rings stacking toys. He started putting the rings on the post, or on any similar "post" we held (such as a wooden spoon handle). This also made him happy.
Gallant has been settings lids on containers for a few weeks. (Although not yet screwing them on, of course.) I wonder why lids come sooner than stacking?
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