Dinner time Discipline

Discipline is nothing new in our house, Jason and I began talking about it even before Gavin was born.  We wanted to have some rules, boundaries and consequences set in place so when it came time the two of us would be in complete agreement about the proper action.  HA!   We do agree on consistency first and foremost;  we both think spanking, (Gasp!) yes, spanking is appropriate for certain things but not for others.  The last thing we are in agreement about is, discipline needs to be consistent however the method is always evolving.

All of this came up the other night during dinner... let me give you the back story first. You see I have created a MONSTER! When Gavin was a little guy just beginning to eat table food(while Jason was in Medical school) , I fed him the same dinner that Jason and I were eating.  Then things changed, to be specific, Jason's schedule changed.  Dinner was no longer a family meal.  I would feed Gavin something simple, easy and usually uninspired (I ate junk usually.)  So add my lack of cooking to lots of traveling, living with family for six weeks, moving  and Jason's crazy intern schedule and you get one tired momma and a suddenly picky eater.  I have been making two dinners and just giving him what I knew he would eat not necessarily what he needed to eat.

Now, dinner the other night.  I made turkey spaghetti (which at one point Gavin loved!) Gavin knows what he wants and what he doesn't want, and he didn't want turkey spaghetti. We have been having a battle at dinner for a while, usually I cave and give him what he wants, chicken nuggets, fruit, mac and cheese. Well not any more.

Jason and I threatened everything from spanking and no playing with daddy to going to bed early.  He ate a couple of bites in response to those threats but it wasn't much, it took over 20 minutes for 3 bites.  Finally it dawned on me... what is the one thing this kids LOVES?  CHOCOLATE!  All I had to do was put a piece of chocolate in front of him and tell him he had to eat in order to get the chocolate.  That did the trick!  He ate the next bites fast and without hesitation. Voila, Bribery! (Although, I am pretty sure the proper name would be positive reinforcement.)

We use positive reinforcement all the time in other cases... cleaning his room, picking up toys, following directions...I guess it just never occurred to me to use it for dinner time too.  We will continue to use positive reinforcement at dinner until it no longer works, and we are forced to change our method yet again.

The lessons learned:
    1. Disobedience requires one form of discipline while not eating requires another.
    2. Discipline changes and grow same as the child.

Gavin's Birthday Party

For Gavin's first birthday we went all out. This year was a little more low key. On his actual birthday we took Gavin to Chick-Fil-A and just had cake here at the house. We continued the celebration today when Derek, Jason's bother came to town.  We went to Chuck E Cheese and had a BLAST!

Me and G

The boys racing

Loves the Carousel no matter how small

Redeeming the tickets he earned, he had 100

His Prize! (Not really sure what it is)

Our Family photo

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Two years have come and gone very quickly.  My little man is growing right before my eyes.

It is amazing how one person can change your life so much.  He is so amazing in every way.

His two year update:

Vocabulary~  The number of words he uses has increased tremendously.  He is starting to repeat words he hears and is really trying to name things he sees.  His favorite word is still mommy :)

He is still learning his manners but he is now speaking "please" and "thank you" rather than just signing.  

Motor skills~ His motor skills are great.  He loves working puzzles, building with blocks, using tools (his or ours) to help build things.  He can put his pants on, buckle his belt, and put his slip-on shoes on all by himself.  

Hobbies/activities~ He loves to color with markers, crayons and chalk on his new chalk board.  Throwing balls is still on of his favorite activities and he throws with both hands.  He will drive cars around for hours. Since he received a train table for Christmas he has been really into trains.  He loves to clean, he sweeps, vacuums (this he didn't not get from me), and puts his clothes in the hamper.  He throws is own trash away and will clean up a spill without being asked.   He sings along to songs and sings to himself while he plays. 

Diet~ Gavin is still rather picky about what he eats but he is now at point where I can reason with him to at least try new food.  

There is so much more that he does but I think it may only be impressive to me.  

Christmas 2011

Christmas this year was very different than any other year.  We were unable to go North for Christmas so we spent it in warm sunny Florida.  Joan, Bob, (Jason's parents), and Derek came here to celebrate with us.
This was the first year that I did not get to see any of my family.  Not going to lie, I cried.  I cried on Christmas Eve. I cried on Christmas Day.  Don't get me wrong it was a great weekend, there was just something that was missing, without my family.

On Christmas Eve Jason did yard.... somehow that doesn't seem "normal."  Christmas Eve is supposed to be filled with last minute wrapping and cookie baking.
Aside from all the stuff that didn't happen or the people I didn't see, I had a great Chritmas with my boys and my in-laws.

Christmas Eve we open one present each.  Joan got all of matching Pjs for us to wear on Christmas morning.

Me and all my boys!

Yep, we have on matching pjs for Christmas Morning.

After our family photos we opened stockings, then had breakfast.  Homemade Cinnamon Rolls.

Gavin was peaking to see if the cinnamon rolls were done

That is the face that made Christmas wonderful

Play Group

Gavin and I have made some great new friends here in Jacksonville.  Every Friday we get together with the Little Acorns for a play date. It is great since they are all in the same situation as we are in.  The play group is an extension of the Oak Leaf club.  The Oak Leaf club is the family support group for the military physicians.

Friday the play group met at the local fire station for a tour.  Gavin LOVED the trucks.

Wearing his Fire Hat

The whole Gang

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving seems so long ago even though it was just last week.

We had no family to spend it with but God has given us some amazing new friends to celebrate with.

 Jason works with an amazing group of Interns/residents, and most of them are in the same boat as us.  We celebrated with 4 other lovely families, the Hray's, the Pierson's, the soon to been Dr. and Mrs. Gossert, and the Daab's, who graciously opened their home to all of us.  The food was delicious and the fellowship was just what we all needed. For a few of us it was a our first Thanksgiving without family, that didn't stop us from having a great time.

Gavin had a great time playing, although I am pretty sure the only thing he ate for dinner was peanut butter fudge.  :)

Many pictures were taken that day, just not by me, I only have a few to share hopefully I can get copies of the others

Here are the only ones I have.
Me and G rolling out our dough for the desserts

The ladies: (Form left to right) Beth, Cristy, Laura, Me, and Bonnie

It was  a great time. 

November Update

November came and went in the blink of an eye.  It is all a blur.  I will try to remember some of the highlights.
We spent one weekend in Orlando visiting Derek, Jason's brother.  While we were there we stopped by Animal Kingdom for the Safari ride to see some animals up close.

After Animal Kingdom we headed over to Epcot for some delicious food (no wine :)  

And the best part of the trip.  DATE NIGHT!  Jason and I actually got to go on a date courtesy of Derek, who watched Gavin for us.  The last date night we had was in July.  We were long over due. We did nothing fancy just dinner and dessert but it was great to just talk and be alone together.

Once we got back home I finally put Gavin's play set back together.  He received it last year as a Christmas gift from Jason's mom and dad.  We took it down when we put the TN house on the market.  Now that we are finally settled and completely unpacked I was able to put it back up. Gavin loves it and plays on it everyday.  It makes my days much easier.

Update on Gavin:

He is FINALLY talking-ish.  He is speaking some words very clearly,and is now making an effort to repeat words that he hears.  He tries so hard to tell me stories but I still only understand about a tenth of what he is saying.   

• The words he has learned (or now speaks clearly)  this month: Bubbles, up, down, off, on, out, max, bye, turtle, dog, peanut butter, bath, spoon, water, juice, cheese, cereal, more and birdy
• He knows all is body parts. 
• He is still learning animals and their sounds, there are just so many.
• He is now starting to dress and undress himself with limited help. 
• He does a great job picking up after himself. 
• Food:  He is still very picky except with cereal, he will eat any cereal 
• Still getting the hang manners, he says "please" or "thank you" not both, it is a work in progress.  

Gavin is very independent gets out food when he is hungry, puts his clothes in the hamper, wants to do it all by himself.