B(O)ALD

A mama's mistake became a boy's wish realized...

Bald is back, ya'll.

My Jamie Oliver

Ever meet a 2 year old who could make a marinara that competes with the finest? There is little this little guy likes doing more than cooking and doing dishes. Lucky is the lady who finds herself with this fellow. For now, he's all mine and I'm going to savor his culinary delights for the next 16+ years.

Pretty Princess

I realize it's been far too long without updated baby pictures. My in-laws are traveling abroad for a few weeks and have told me they've been checking for updates on the kids...so for them, and for you, here are a few posts.

Positive Discipline

I've been making a concerted effort to use Positive Discipline techniques over the last year, and am currently re-reading the book. The last couple of months, probably in tandem with adding another child to our family, I noticed a lot more testing from Torin. Maybe it's just that he's 2.5, but he is seriously behaving like an aggressive two year old: pushing, hitting, throwing tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants, repeatedly getting out of bed after lights out, etc. Up until now, he's been a very 'easy' baby/toddler, though he's definitely always been on the more aggressive/physical side. I assume he's trying to find his new place in the family now that he's no longer the baby. He's receiving a lot of positive attention from me throughout the day, so I'm not sure that he feels like he's getting a lot less attention, but something is different. I'm trying to apply the positive discipline techniques, which for a two year old, mostly includes trying to distract them, but it is not working for us. Time outs do not work. Rewards do not work. We've even had 1:1 dates with both boys, and we do not notice a change in behavior after those either. I'm not sure I know what his 'currency' is. Anyone have any ideas on how to help a 2.5 year old behave appropriately?

First Day Back

Today was the first day back to (a new) school for Ashen. He was so excited, and had an awesome day. He used phrases like "School was GREAT" and "I like school" and "School is so fun!" in the hour following pick-up. I am beaming right along with him--knowing we have about 18 more years of school to go, there's just something so reassuring about him getting off to a good start. He'll be attending 3 mornings a week from 9-11:30. Torin was out of sorts this morning without his sidekick and admitted that he'd like to be going to school too (he will, next year). I'm sure he and Bereket will get some good 1:1 time in on school days.

Yelling, "I love school!"

The prompted goodbye hug :-)

10 months

Ten months old this week, and totally enamored with Shakira's "Waka Waka."

Rocket Man

Mark accidentally crunched the stomp rocket launcher this week. The boys play with it daily. Being resourcful, he quickly utilized "Slow Man" and the neighborhood kids all think this is the coolest rocket launcher ever.

Two Wheels

Wait a minute...wasn't it just last week that I showed you a picture like this?


And now, I present to you a boy who won't quit shocking his mother:

The back story: We met up with some friends at our local park last Thursday. One of Ashen's friends had his bike there without training wheels. Ashen asked if he could try it. The rest was history. He was off and riding and continued riding without falling for a half an hour! This week he's learned to use the brakes and start on his own from a complete stop. I know he looks at least five, but he's THREE, people!