Wow. Finn has been a holy terror lately. He is still wonderful with Zachary, aside from occasionally being a little too rough, but he is really testing his boundaries with me. He does a lot of selective hearing and enjoys being defiant whenever he can. Threatening to take away his favorite snack or bedtime stories are good bribes, but it's almost to the point where he has to be threatened to do anything. So I have cut down to just one warning after asking him to do something, and tonight he got no warning at all. He was in the bath and I told him it was time to wash the shampoo out of his hair. He started yelling "No!" and splashing water all out of the tub. So I picked up the rinse cup and poured it straight over his head. He got water in his face, which he hates, but wasn't hurt. There was a lot of crying, but then he was over it. And the rest of the night he did exactly what I asked him to, when I asked it, and was extra sweet and loving at bedtime. I'm sure that's short lived, but it was nice tonight!
Sometimes he's incredibly funny while also being infuriating. A couple of days ago I put him in time out; he sat where he was told, but the entire time sang all the words he could remember from "Mean." Including, "Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me," and "Why you gotta be so mean?" Yesterday I asked him to put his bowl in the sink after breakfast: "No ma'am, I will not." So polite!
I'm working on being consistent and being patient, and hope that eventually we'll get through this. He does respond (most of the time) to "1, 2, 3" which is amazing, but after the 10th time of using it in one night I'm really done with counting. It's just exhausting, and not how I want to spend my last couple of weeks on maternity leave.
Zachary continues to thrive. He has had several nights where he got a solid 4 hours of sleep, and two of those nights, I got 4 straight hours of sleep, too. I'm still sleep deprived, but those few extra hours really made a difference. I'm not feeling on the edge of tears constantly, so I really hope this sleep trend continues. Thanks for all the encouraging comments from last week's post - I hope that my baby blues are on the way out, but it's nice to know I'm not alone.
This week's pictures - it has gotten a little easier to get pictures of him awake, but still a challenge!
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| 4/9/14: sleeping snuggled with me before I headed to bed |
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| 4/10/14: huge yawn! |
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| 4/11/14: alert and snuggle ready |
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| 4/12/14: asleep again! |
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| 4/13/14: smiley during tummy time (though the smiles were short lived!) |
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| 4/14/14: this happened just minutes after a bath and changing into clean pjs |
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| 4/15/14: charming the ladies already |
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Zachary is just a love Shannon, just a love.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm so glad to read that you parent much the way I do. There have been more times than I can count that I have poured the water over Tate's head so to speak to get him to stop misbehaving either literally in the bathtub like you mention or figuratively at other times. And I will tell you that even now with my 4 1/2 year old I get so frustrated that I have to threaten him to get good behavior seemingly constantly. When do they get to the point of doing what they're asked (the FIRST time) without me having to say " I asked you to take your pajamas off, come on Tate please. If you don't take them off right now you're not going to have time to play with your toys before we leave." Sigh. Just take the damn things off because you know the drill...we get dressed every single day. Why must there be a consequence for not doing something.
Ok this is not my blog; I shouldn't be making a blog post :)
I'm right there with ya sister.
Sorry to say I don't think it changes for some time to come.
Oh I'm right there with you & Jennifer!! I whined last night to E, "Why can't you just listen & do what I ask you!" She looked up to me with her precious doe eyes & signed/said, "sorry Momma" break my heart...then continued to not listen!!!! I count 1, 2, 3 & that use to work like gold but I think in the last week or so she's catching on to that. Like Jennifer, I could write an entire blog post (& probably should).Hang in there
ReplyDeleteOh, 3 was the worst! I actually count to 5. At three, I list the punishment that will occur when I get to 5. It's gotten to the point, I can count silently and that works, too. The first time I got to 5, there was such sorrow, I didn't even punish, but it worked well. Sometimes, immediate consequences to actions work best though especially at 2-3.
ReplyDeleteLook how smiley he is! I wish ours was a smiley baby. Maybe this next one will be. I'm happy with content, but smiley babies are great.
I can't even deal with Z's cuteness. Seriously. I can't. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I totally feel you on the stubborn toddler front. D is only 2.5 and he's been like that for the past several months. Now that I'm well into this pregnancy, I have less and less patience for it. The counting seems to work, but time outs not so much. Sometimes on particularly bad days, I just sit there and stare at him because I don't know what else to do! Anyway, I'm hoping things will get better for you, as I can't even imagine dealing with that plus a newborn on your own. Hang in there and know that we are thinking of you.
Can't wait till October!!! :)
Oh boy Finn. I don't have anything else of value to add here. Just... oh boy.
ReplyDeleteOhhh, like everyone above, I too feel your pain. Except Jordyn's not even two yet, so I better watch out!! Maybe since she's starting early it'll end early?? I'm sure that's wishful thinking... Last night she wanted to go for a walk after dinner, and I wasn't really in the mood, but was going to do it anyway. But then she starting kicking me when she was in her high chair, so I told her if she kicked me again (and of course she was laughing while she did it), then we weren't going for a walk. Sure enough, she kicked me. I stuck with my guns, even though I felt horrible. She screamed and tantrumed on and off til bedtime. I just kept saying I knew she was upset, but that we weren't going for a walk because she kicked mommy, and that she could try again tomorrow. I also count to three sometimes, but it seems to be working less often than it used to.
ReplyDeleteOk, yet another blog post when it's not my blog! But obviously you're not alone, and it's helped me to see that I'm not, either.
So, thank you. And hang in there. It has to end eventually, right?!
Great pics, as always!
I have heard the 3's are worse than the 2's. Finn is showing me that might be true! Zachary is super cute!
ReplyDeleteThree is really rough. To some extent, you just have to wait it out. I don't mean that to sound discouraging - sometimes misbehavior stresses me out because I wonder what I should be doing differently. However, as long as you're doing some kind of discipline, you can be pretty much 99.99% sure Finn understands the behavior is wrong, and that means he should eventually stop. Five has been really fun. So there's some light at the end of the tunnel!
ReplyDeleteAdorable pics! I love seeing his resemblance to Finn. And reg. Finn, its funny reading it but I can imagine it was not funny when it was happening! I can just fast forward a couple of years and see myself where you are! Beanie just turned one and I can already see the toddler emerging.
ReplyDeleteThree and four were rough, I can't lie. I wondered what happened to my sweet little girl. Things are improving though, so it will get better. Your boys are so adorable.
ReplyDeleteMy hardest time to date was 3 3/4 to 4 1/2 and half way through that time I had #2 which did not help matters. I ended up taking all his privileges away (iPad, treats, popcorn snack, tv, etc...) indefinitely until he proved to me his "attitude" was gone. I nearly stripped his bedroom clean of all toys. And I did my best to stop yelling and getting angry as things would just escalate as we fed off each others' frustration. Took about 2 weeks, but that and some very physical (hugs and 1:1 play) really worked wonders and also just time. Eventually my sweet boy that had turned into a angry and defiant monster was transformed back into a more mature and still sweet 5 year old boy. Loving me the 5s!
ReplyDelete