Celebrating the Small Victories (and Setting Reasonable Goals)

I am realizing that motherhood is all about overcoming the daily hurtles and applauding all progress you see, no matter how small.  In that spirit, I write this entry. 

 

Here are some of the things we can celebrate in our home (young mothers- can you relate?!):

 

Howie eats chicken for lunch!  I read in my Baby Whisperer book (I feel that she is the final authority on all baby-related questions) that if a baby rejects a food, to put it away for a week and then try again.  We did that and... ta-da... he ate it!  He is also enjoying ham on a daily basis.  We may not have a vegetarian afterall. 

 

Food is no longer flinging across the kitchen at mealtime.  Paw-Paw (Howie's grandpa who has been eating with us quite a bit due to my mother being in Boston for 6 weeks) can vouch for us that Howie's table manners were hitting an all-time low as he yelled, threw food, and would not eat at the highchair.  Telling him "No" wasn't working.  So, rather than repeat "No" over and over in my firm voice, I taught him what to do with foods that he does not want on his tray- we put them on the table.  We practiced putting rejected food on the table for about two days, clap our hands together when he does it, and he now understands that we do not fling food or sippy cups onto the floor.  He is eating a lot better and mealtime is actually pleasant.  Whew, dodged that social bullet. 

 

We drink milk from the sippy cup and no longer use the bottles.  Howie refused to drink milk from the sippy cup.  The dietitian encouraged us to go exclusively with milk in the sippy- no more water.  Eventually, he got thirsty enough to drink the milk and now he is comfortable with it.  The transition to no bottles was a breeze after we got past the sippy cup trouble.  We added a CD of quiet music to Howie's bedtime routine in substitution of the bottle.  He really likes his Howie Day (Collide), BNL (Light Up My Room) and Michael Stipe (Into the Sun) and this has eliminated much of the bedtime fussing. 

 

Here are some things we will be working on in the weeks to come:

• Not hitting our friends (Howie understands that this is not okay, but still lacks the impulse control)
• Not playing with the dog bowls on the deck
• Identifying our ears, mouth, nose, etc.
• Making the sign for "All Done" at mealtime