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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Yes, we're all still alive...

I don't know why, but updating just seems completely overwhelming lately! Kyle is getting taller everyday and we got his hair cut yesterday morning. He looks so old to me with his hair cut short! We've had a really good week so far! The last two weeks were a pain because Kyle and Kevin were both sick off and on, in addition to Kyle starting to test his limits with us.

We figured out that junior responds really well to positive reinforcement (no surprise there if you've done any reading on effective discipline techniques or behavior modification). You'd think that a mom with one degree in psychology and the other in education would have quite the handle on raising little ones, but it's still surprising when Kyle "defies" us or throws a tantrum if he doesn't get his way; so surprising that sometimes I forget to react appropriately! Kevin and I talk a couple times a week on how to handle this or that, change our approach here, or continue encouraging certain behaviors there. I think it helps all of us to keep current with Kyle's budding personality and desirable/undesirable aspects of it.

Can you believe it? Kyle is up from his nap, so I guess I'll continue later!

That was a whopping one hour nap. Kyle has had a low grade fever for the past two days and I could almost guarantee you his teeth are the cause of it! Nonetheless, we haven't done any of our normal activities this week due to practically all of Kyle's friends getting sick last week. And so, we'll skip storytime tomorrow morning, even though it's pretty much his favorite thing to do.

Kyle is saying more single words, but has yet to string any of them together into a phrase, he has mastered climbing and going down just about any slide by himself, he's playing independently for 5-10 minutes at a time, he's starting to play pretend, he will call out "mama" or "dada" in the middle of the night instead of crying if he needs something, and oh yes, he is quite the little imitator! I was sitting on the steps at church, with Kyle beside me eating cereal, and I put one hand down behind me to lean back on; well, guess who immediately did the same thing! It was too cute and I've noticed he often tries to copy the way Kevin and I are sitting or doing something nowadays.

We've got pacifiers down to only when Kyle goes to bed and diaper changes no longer require the TV to distract him, just his favorite Winnie the Pooh books (which we reserve for diaper changes only). My new struggle is trying to keep him happy/occupied in the car. He loves it if I sing toddler songs the entire time we're driving, but I'm really not up for it every time we get in the car. Occasionally, he'll play with the toys I pack for him or read one of the books, but that barely lasts 2 minutes. This week I've been trying to let him pick out a book to take in the car whenever we leave the house, but I haven't really noticed a change yet. Any hints, tips, or tricks would be much appreciated!

This morning Kyle just couldn't get enough snuggle time with Kevin after we all woke up! Even after we all got out of bed, he wanted Kevin to carry him around while doing the morning routine. I made a comment about what a daddy's boy he was and Kevin responded with how he's a momma's boy the other six days of the week!

And lastly, I'm the proud owner of a new sewing machine, with two projects under my belt, I'm off to make a purse out of an old pair of jeans...my hope is that with four pockets on the outside it'll be perfect for hauling around Kyle gear in something other than a diaper bag!

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