Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Next Challenge

I'm happy to say that Jack is starting to figure some things out. For example, there are foods out there besides french fries and ice cream that not only will not cause his death, but might, in fact, be tasty. On Sunday alone, he tried three new foods. We got some fresh apricots at the grocery store and because they were "so cute," Jack agreed to taste them. Then he ate all five. I gave him some red pepper strips with his dinner, and he informed me that, "I don't yike red peppers," but after I told him he did not have to eat them, he did without complaint. Even better, Steve convinced him to try one of the world's greatest foods, ribs. "I yike ribs," Jack said happily, and I had him call my dad with the good news.

Now if only we could get him to try something completely off the wall, such as CEREAL, we'd really have something.

Last night, Jack informed me that he was not going to sleep in a Pull-Up. The kid has been successfully potty-trained during the day for quite a while, and I have to admit that 99% of the time, he wakes up in the morning completely dry. But I also really like not having to change sheets in the middle of the night, so I was prepared to do Pull-Ups indefinitely. Jack informed me politely and reasonably that his body is indeed ready to go all night and that he would not be needing a Pull-Up any more.

"But what if you go in the middle of the night," I asked. Jack said that he would get up, go to the bathroom, and go back to bed. Um, okay. If you say so. Sure enough, last night was successful. "I am all done with Pull-Ups," Jack informed me triumphantly. Too bad that happened immediately after I spent ten bucks on a new bag of them, but whatever.

The little man is also expressing more and more of an interest in learning to read and write. Last night, he and I spent a long time practicing writing the letter J. It is unfortunate that the kid happens to have his name start with a letter that is kind of hard to draw, but we kept on working on the line on top with a hook at the bottom. He definitely doesn't have it yet, but the desire is there.


Yes, I know those are numbers, but you get the idea.

As he and I were working on letters, then making a mixed media collage (ie coloring book page involving crayons, colored pencils, and marker with stickers on it), he'd occasionally grab a carrot stick to munch on. I looked like the greatest mom the world has ever known. I will have to remember that moment the next time I hit the Hell With It button and give him a bowl of marshmallows and put him in front of the TV.

Still, we don't have everything quite figured out yet. Jack decided a while back that he doesn't need to take a nap anymore. However, all evidence points to the contrary, particularly when he is tired to the point where he has screaming fits and attempts to hit me and throw shoes at Steve. The kid needs to take a nap, and we all need to work a little harder to make it happen.

Last night after work, Steve and I had a Team Meeting with my mom and Doug, who take care of Jack on Mondays and Tuesdays. We agreed to attempt a nap at 12:30 and keep trying for 40 minutes. Jack is to stay in his room for 90 minutes, at which time his alarm will go off. We aren't going to make him sleep - if he wants to stay in a darkened room and play with Roary and Susie, so be it, but we are hoping he will get bored and give in to the urge to nap.

Starting today, his sticker chart will no longer be for staying in bed at night, but rather for staying in bed at naptime. He's down with the plan and is eager to earn enough stickers to get his Superman and Krypto action figure set. Here's hoping that The Great Nap Crackdown of 2008 is successful.

6 comments:

Jennifer Burgett said...

Okay - so I need some tips for potty training a little boy. I have a 27 month old little boy. He likes to sit on the potty and has since he got it for his birthday but has yet to actually go in it.

Any tips, suggestions, hints would be greatly appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Jen -- On pottie training, I let The Man do it. Since I really had no clue. It took a while for the poop issue to resolve itself.

God, can your kid talk to my kid. Yesterday, after 7 and a half years he decided that brocoli was his favourite vegetable. This is a child who didn't want it on his plate a month ago. AAACK. He was actually fabulous at 18 months. We're still working on hummus, shrimp and all the thing he used to eat.

Meg said...

That's cool he knows when he's ready to move on to the next step! I bet the messy post-ribs Jack face is worth a picture!

The 311 Boys Mom said...

keep the PULL UP's.....you'll be SOOOO happy when you have them if/when the stomache flu happens...& its not a fart!

The 311 Boys Mom said...

oh & the nap thing- - -Parker is 4 (DOB 3/11) & if he doesn’t have a nap, its like I've invited Satan to move in.

AND I'm trying a sticker sorta bribe with staying in his bed all night. I’m doing stars on the calendar & at 5 days we go for a special ice cream treat (coldstone), day 10-toys r us, day 20 movies of his choice & day 30, ANYTHING HE WANTS (I'm that desperate). Luckily he’s pretty good about not getting too crazy in the store. But who knows maybe it’ll be a trip to the zoo!

Anonymous said...

My son also gave up on the nap, but I make him do a two-hour "quiet time" in his room every day and that seems to help with the tantrums. We're still working on the potty stuff, though.

I'm so glad to hear another 3-year-old is already into reading and writing! My son is WAY into reading and I haven't written about it because it so sounds like I'm being braggy. Leapfrog dvds have been gold with teaching him to sound out words!