I took my camera out on a beautiful day, and took some fun pictures.
Ronan wanted to run around outside, so dad went with him. I followed along and snapped!
Ronan pretending he fell down. “Ooowwwwwwww.”
Dad gave him a stick, and he was very proud of it.
I don’t know why, I just love this picture.
Blue eyed babe! Probably saying something here like, “Zigga zigga?”
SO glad I caught this shot!
In the world of Ronan, we have begun using Time Outs. I have wanted some form of discipline for a while now, and haven’t found anything that works. We’ve tried time-outs before and ended up with bigger tantrums than the original problem! Brock and I have both smacked or spanked Ronan on occasion and have firmly decided that we don’t like it as discipline, and it doesn’t work with Ronan. He will cry, and then repeat the offending behavior. It was time for something new.
I watched an episode of “Super Nanny” with a little boy I could TOTALLY picture Ronan becoming with the wrong discipline. Super Nanny went over the rules of the Time Out, so I wrote them down and tried them the next time Ronan acted up. We use the steps:
A warning for bad behavior – “If you continue to do that, you will go to time out.”
Place in the “Naughty spot” – We’ve used the landing on our stairs, where there are no toys or distractions around.
Explain why the child is in time out – “You are in Time Out because you threw your toy after being told not to throw toys.”
Set a timer for the same number of minutes as the child’s age – Ronan gets 2 minute time outs.
Return child to time out spot and reset timer if the child attempts to leave – do not talk to child, just return to the spot.
When the two minutes are up, explain again why the child was in time out, then ask for an apology, hugs and kisses. (If the child is not ready to apologize, he/she must remain in time out.)
So.
I can’t even remember what Ronan was doing wrong. But I warned him, “If you do that again, you will be going to time out.” Of course, he did it again. I picked him up, carried him to the landing, set him on his bottom and said, “You are in Time Out. You are in time out because you… threw your toy.” We’ll just go with that. “You must sit here for two minutes. I will come and get you when your time out is over.”
Of course, he screamed and hollered and left the landing. I carried him back to the spot and reset the timer. It probably took about 20 minutes for him to sit the whole 2 minutes of his time out. He cried the whole time. When the alarm went off, I walked over and picked him up. I told him he was in time out because of *throwing his toys. I asked him to say he was sorry and give me a hug and a kiss, and he gave me a hug and a kiss. We’ll work on saying, “Sorry” when he’s able to talk.
He didn’t have ANY other misbehaviors for the rest of the day. As a matter of fact, we’ve been able to use the ‘threat’ of time out very effectively… from him throwing fits during diaper changes, to hitting during rough-housing with dad. The past two days, he’s gone to time out 3-4 times per day. I can easily picture days where he’ll be there more often than not, but so far I’m very pleased with the results. Since the first time, he cries but he stays in time out until the timer is up. WIN.
Ok. On to Ruby pictures.
Kissy lips!
This may or may not be a ‘real’ smile, but I’m going to pretend it is.
I love these little feet… and this little bottom. Also? Cloth diapers! (I have never done so much laundry in my life.)
I love her little expression… I also love that little tuft of hair.
So SWEET!
Ok, Ruby deserves an update too. I should have made this two blog posts.
Anyways. I had to take Ruby to the pediatrician today for Thrush. I knew she had it, but I didn’t treat her for it – when Ronan had thrush, I would treat him with Gentain Violet, and every time the Ped saw him, I’d bring up his thrush again. He’d look in Ronan’s mouth and say, “I don’t see any. You must be mistaken.”
We got a new pediatrician.
So I left Ruby for a few days, to make sure the Ped would see the thrush and be willing to give us a prescription. He looked in her mouth and proclaimed that she had a VERY bad case of thrush. I felt awful. He gave us the script, and told me to go ahead and give her some Gentain Violet to help ease her symptoms until the meds kicked in. I am also on a 5 day course of Diflucan, so hopefully we will kick this yeast sooner than later. It took us 3 months with Ronan.
Also, she weighs 10lbs 8oz already! At four weeks old. I wish I knew how quickly Ronan grew, but it has been incredible. I can literally see more chub on her thighs from day to day. She’s grown out of all of her newborn sizes, and I’ve packed them away. Holy moly, hold on for dear life, this is going fast.
Sleep is so back and forth. She was up from 11:30pm last night until nearly 3am, crying. Aaaaaannnd… then she slept until 9:30. Without waking. Bad+Good = Okay?
That’s all the energy I’ve got.
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Ronan is 2 years old, and Ruby is 1 month old, and I don’t matter any more!
