Sunday, January 31, 2010

Growing in leaps and bounds

Thank you to everyone who read my little rant on sleep habits, the other day. And yes, it has been a little easier. I say a little, because I don't want to jinx anything. But now we are moving on to bigger and bullier problems. We're fully entrenched in the hitting phase.

Sutton was never really a biter. Yes, he did bite a little, but then his classmates starting biting HIM. And I think he realized, "Hey, that f@&*ing hurt!" (And yes, knowing our son, he probably will curse. He has his uncle Tony to blame for that. The man curses like a sailor.)

But hitting is another story. And it's been getting pretty bad. He'll start by swatting the furniture. And he looks at you to see if you're watching what he's doing. And then he's trying to swat the dog. And if we discipline him, and he doesn't like what we're doing-he'll hit us. He's already sucker-punched Dave in the nose.
So, needless to say-we get mad. So into time-out he goes. And he knows to sit in time-out, and he screams his head off the whole time. But he still hits.

Now my dad is a child psychologist. So I turned to him for help. He told me that most of Sutton's hitting is simply frustration that we can't understand him (and honestly, I knew that. It just helps that someone removed from the situation tells me this. You know, and the many degrees help, too.) And that we need to be more concise about the words we use with Sutton. Instead of "No hitting-that's not nice." It's simply "NO HITTING!" And we're supposed to use a loud voice. Sometimes all you need to do is scare them.

And all of a sudden, Sutton is talking like crazy. For a while, I wondered if he had delays. (My friend Sarah went through something similar with her son Jack.) Sutton was born tongue-tied, and all the nurses kept telling me that it would cause speech delays-so of course, when Sutton really didn't start using words until about 18 months, I automatically thought it was because of that.
Anyway, he is talking more and picking more and more words up. He's like a little parrot. And I think that because we're able to understand him more, he's happier. Like last night. He asked me, in his little language, if I would turn on the TV. I told him that he could watch TV for ten minutes. His little face just lit up. It was like, "You understand me!! You like me! You really, really like me!" (Sorry, threw a little Sally Field in there.)
And tonight. He told me that he ate pizza. Small steps, but we're getting there.

Speaking of steps. On Thursday, I took Sutton to StrideRite. We were at the playground at the mall, and the shoe store is right there. So I asked the woman to size Sutton's feet. We had just bought a pair of size seven and a half shoes in late December, and they seem like they're already too small. So she sized his feet and told me that he wears an eight and a half!! I ended up buying a nine! My wallet cannot keep up with this boy's feet! And yes, we have tried other shoes. StrideRite just seem to fit him better. Luckily, I found a pair on sale.
In closing-some new pictures.
Playing with Mommy's sunglasses

Playing peek-a-boo at dinner.

4 comments:

  1. Cory, first I want you to know that I have been meaning to comment on like the last 5 entries you've posted....I really enjoy your blog. On another note-hitting, yeah it's a doozy of a phase. Personally, I never really liked the word "time-out" when referring to the chair, only because I felt that if you took a child from an already frustrating situation and put them into a "time-out" more than likely the frustration gets escalated. We've always called our time-out chair the "quiet chair" and explained that they have to be quiet and think about what they did. Now, don't get me wrong they're not always quiet but the majority of the time they are. Also, it was a way for me to calm down. When putting a child in the chair, more than likely I'm just as frustrated as they are. So, I look like a huge fool if I'm yelling while saying the words "quiet chair" so it's also a tool for me. Believe me I'm having huge issues with Mia and her biting. But each week seems to get better than the week before--I think it's due to her improvement in talking. Hang in there!

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  2. Thanks Gina. I love your blog as well. I just wish my photos looked as good as yours and Eugene's.
    Yeah, we do experience a lot of frustration. Sometimes it seems like Sutton's body just can't hold the feelings he's having. So it's a struggle to remain calm. But we're trying.
    BTW-loved the photos of your trip to Paris! So jealous!

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  3. So funny-- we are living parallel lives! Jack just outgrew some 2 month old Stride Rites himself-- he had a little blister on his fat little toe-- so sad. Also, Harry is wearing the shirt that Sutton has on in your pics right now. We are also with you on the hitting. I know J is frustrated because we can't always understand him, but the hitting is driving us nuts. Do you have the book "Hands Are Not For Hitting"? I like it b/c you can follow the "no hitting" up with the question what are hands for? and the book gives them some nice things that hands can do.

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  4. That's a good idea. I'll have to look into getting it. Got to love the Jumping Beans brand from Kohl's! I refuse to buy expensive clothes, knowing that in two weeks they'll be too short on him.
    However, I was more than willing to buy these adorable onesies with little wings on them for Alex and Finley!! Got to spoil my little nieces!

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