1-2-3 Magic!

Our pediatrician recommended the book 1-2-3 Magic to us a while back. It’s a very simple book about discipline for kids. Through counting you give your kid a chance to get back on track before a time out. The book can provide a lot more details and encouragement if you are on the lookout for a behavior management technique. Ryan and I both really liked the concept and put the plan into action as soon as we both had finished reading the book. We have been very pleased with the outcome. I mean, some days are just a mess and nothing seems to help but we’ve seen how it can really help a situation spinning out of control.

So, we recommended the book to our friends Paul + Tessa – they are the parents of the gorgeous Maeve and Liv . They introduced the idea to Maeve through role playing. Bless their hearts. I am not sure which one of them got the time out, but my guess would have to be Paul. Maeve thought role playing was really funny. She laughed and laughed; when they were finished she wanted them to do it again. They were like a band at wedding forced to do encores for drunken, insatiable dancers. It all worked out as they eavesdropped on Maeve counting her dolly. Maeve was in charge and seemed to have fully internalized the system. Like magic.

Oldie But Goodie

This is from quite a while ago – exactly how long ago, I’m not exactly sure. Maisy doesn’t sleep quite so peacefully anymore, nor does she permit herself to be swaddled. This probably has to be somewhere around 3 months, because I think that’s as far as she’d let us go with the swaddle before outright rejecting it. Anyways, it’s still so cute, so it’s worth posting this link.

All Wrapped Up

All Wrapped Up

Old School Vocabulary

Real Words are For Nerds

Real Words are For Nerds

Nowadays, Ryder speaks pretty clearly for a kid his age, at least when he’s not crushing us with whining or the other verbal antics typical of an almost 3 year old. This wasn’t always the case. Since we’re his parents, we’ve almost always been able to understand him, but there were some times when it took a particular understanding of his unique and colorful vocabulary. Here’s a primer of what we could remember from his old vocabulary:

  • Peendoh: tomato
  • Goko: squirrel*
  • Racoot: racoon
  • Yabogook: ladybug
  • Weeki: Kiwi (fruit)
  • Kineapple: Pineapple
  • Mazageen: Magazine

And some variation on a theme – sometimes it’s all about the context:

  • Bakeebah: broccoli
  • Bakeebah: bicycle
  • Mobakeebah: motorcycle

And the showstopper.
Drumroll please….

  • Alloowah: I love you.

*Ryder once told us: “Gokos love donuts.” We later came to understand that while it didn’t make much sense on the face of it, but the word “donuts” contains “nuts” and we had already talked about how squirrels loved nuts. See, it makes perfect sense.

Old School Vocab in Action