HALLOWEEN 2008

So, it's only 5 p.m. and my little bat has been BUSY!! We started our morning by making Halloween cupcakes to take to mima's work...D takes such pride in doing things himself!!










Then we took a hot bath to see if we could clear up his stuffy little bat nose....he's been fighting this stuffy nose cold crap for a week now but seems fine otherwise......He wanted to put his bat TOP on before we left but not the bottoms....whatever the boy wants!! We headed to auntie Bev's work because she won't see him in his costume tonight.........HIS FIRST REAL TRICK OR TREAT!!!! He put his bat bottoms on as soon as we got there and had so much fun seeing auntie Bev. Tonight we head to gramma's for trick or treating!!!!!!

ANOTHER instrument

So D found a new instrument at Gramma's today....he didn't even get his coat off and he had pulled her clarinet out from under the bed and had the case open and was trying to put it together on his own......Gramma showed him how to do it.......I LOVE that he LOVES music............................

IT SURE IS FUN HAVING AN EMPOWERED LITTLE ONE

So for exactly one week, I have had NO problems with my boy having any tantrums and he has hardly caused me any grief at all....is it a break or has he finally learned that I mean what I say and that he does have some control in this relationship?

I don't know the answer BUT I do know that it has been so nice to see him evolve even in the last week....so, here are some little changes I have made.. I've always been big on giving Dakotah choices and empowering him but for anyone who know me, I CAN TEND TO TALK TOO MUCH) I decided that less is more..less explanation, fewer choices about what to wear, what snack to have, etc.. (2 to be exact) and that FOOD is a must and on a schedule!!!! So, I have started to tell Dakotah in less words than before...you have a choice here..you can do X or mommy can help you...I will count to 3 and you decide....firmly, lovingly and like I mean it but not like he doesn't have a choice.....9 times out 10, by the time I say ONE, he has made his choice and it is usually to do it on his own..sure, I might have to repeat myself 5 times over the next hour or so BUT it's helping him to have control and learn how to make a good choice....I finally put the FIRM voice out there when he was hitting and just said NO! loudly and firmly.I did that maybe 3 times and he has not tried to hit me since..The biggest change has been with transitions which he has never liked...going from park to lunch...from toy store, home etc....now I give him 5 minute, 2 minute, 1 minute warning (may not be actual time but gives him time to process)..then we say GOODBYE (wherever we are) and that's it..we leave...NO PROBLEMS.....

I HAVE BEEN GIVING TONS OF PRAISE FOR MAKING A GOOD CHOICE, HAVING GOOD MANNERS, BEING A GOOD HELPER ETC....I have been amazed at what he has been doing on his own with NO prompting....

Some of the little things he has been doing that make our lives easier: letting me know when he is done in the bath (instead of me getting him out kicking and screaming after the water is freezing and there is no more hot water..(I got a plug that he can remove when he is done)..he pulls the plug and cleans up his toys and gets out).....cleaning up his toys when he is done b4 moving onto the next thing (mommy got even better organized and it makes sense to him so he does it), USING THE POTTY AND PUTTING ON A NEW DIAPER WITH LITTLE COAXING (I put pull-ups and regular diapers on the bottom shelf where he can reach and ask him to go get me a diaper..he picks which one he wants and brings it to me..NO HASSLE)..he has been SO proud of himself going on the potty (poop and pee)..I think he gets a kick out of dumping it in the toilet and flushing.....

HE HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY SAYING PLEASE AND THANK YOU WHICH JUST TICKLES ME TO DEATH.........EVEN IF IT'S SOMETHING HE REALLY NEEDS TO DO LIKE BRUSH HIS TEETH, HE SAY "NO THANK YOU.." I still make him do it but it's cute as hell..or "ready for your nap"..."no thank you mama"......and the cutest was when we were at the beach this weekend and I made blueberry pancakes for D and his friend Bryson and D asked me for some water PLEASE...and I was in the kitchen and he said thank you mama, thank you mama for the pancakes...and said thank you for the water........ah! the little things...

SO, THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS WHAT I'VE ALWAYS KNOWN ...WE, THE PARENTS ARE THE ONES WHO NEED TO BE TRAINED AND OUR CHILDREN WILL NATURALLY MAKE GOOD CHOICES AND FEEL EMPOWERED....I'm sure I haven't seen the end of the "NO" phase and the tantrums BUT I know we are making progress toward raising a good little boy with good manners and control in his little world and for today that makes me HAPPY!!!!

sorry this is long and maybe a little scattered but I have to do it fast while nap time is here!!!

We went to the pumpkin patch at Sauvie's Island
last Sunday with Katie and Big B....two of D's
favorite people. We had a BLAST...D LOVED the
"hay ride"..picking out his pumpkin and washing his"baby pumpkins" at the checkout....It was so fun to watch his eyes lite up at the site of the field of pumpkins , the over sized trash can
used to wash the pumpkins, the pigs rolling in their pen, chickens running free in the grass, HUGE tractors to sit on and corn in the cob! IT WAS AN AWESOME DAY AT THE PUMPKIN PATCH!!! p.s. We have 5 pumpkins!!!!!

Just some cute "stuff"...THAT has happened recently

So I'm sitting with D and my aunt at LaSorelle Cafe last Friday when D is looking at me with a very serious look...I say WATCHA thinkin about ( seemingly a rhetorical ???) when he says: I LOVE YOU!!!! OMG, I melted.....something your partner would say not usually your 27 month old KID


We are at costco Monday and D sees a HUGE motorized Escalade (for kiddos) and he says: I want THAT MAMA and I say Oh, D that cost alot of money and he says: "I HAVE MONEY IN MY POCKET ! I say YOU DO and he looks down and realized he has no pants on (we had an accident and didn't have a change of clothes in store)...and he says "OOPS, IT'S ALL GONE"........ Kid's really do say the darndest things!!!

We met a new friend yesterday (Dakotah's nana's new "friends" son)....He is almost 4 and as we were leaving after they had a VERY FUN TIME TOGETHER....Bryson gives D a hug and D takes both his cheeks gently in his hands, turns his head toward him and lays a big ole smooch right on his lips.....CAN U SAY CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Mama got a new tattoo!!!

FINALLY WE GOT OUR TATTOOS....HERE'S MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!!

We all survived the first trip away from home.

Carrie and I went to San Francisco for 2 nights and 3 days for our 5 year anniversary on the 19th-21st. We prepared D for our trip with some very helpful advice from one of my clients (Thanks Ann)!!! The trip was a BLAST and Dakotah did very well staying at home with BoBo and TT and having time with Auntie Bev and Grandma...I'm pretty sure he hardly knew we were gone. We had so much fun and it was a relief to know that we can go away and the Baby D will be in good hands and have a FABULOUS time without his mama and mima. We missed him terribly of course and every family walking down the street with a child under the age of 3 got an OH!!! WE MISS OUR BOY!!! but we made it and our next trip he will come with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!