Catch Up

It’s been awhile since I’ve written any blogs that were notes to myself about the development of my children and I have a lot of catching up to do. Here are the topics I’ll be covering in this blog: weaning, separation anxiety, naps, sleep sacks, crawling and walking.

Weaning
4 weeks before Micah turned one year old I began to drop his nursing times and replaced it with a feeding of whole milk from a sippy cup. It was nice to ease him into drinking milk and using a sippy. However, at first Micah didn’t like the sippy cup (perhaps it is too much like a bottle which he protested for several months) and we discovered that he preferred a cup with a straw. Eventually he switched to a sippy cup without a one way valve. Now he drinks from a sippy with a one way valve all by himself).

At 11 months old he was down to 4 feedings a day (8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm). I dropped the 4pm first because he was least interested in that feeding and my milk supply seemed lowest. We also tend to be busy around that time of day so it was convenient to drop that one first. Then I dropped the following feedings in the following order – 12pm, 8pm and 8am.

The morning feeding took a little longer to drop since my milk supply was greater for that one and a couple of times I nursed him because I was uncomfortable and he was cranky. A little after his first birthday I lost my milk supply and Micah was content drinking whole milk.

It wasn’t that long ago that I weaned Micah, but my brain has already forgotten what it’s like having to nurse every 4 hours.

Separation Anxiety
Around the time I dropped the last nursing Micah began to show signs of separation anxiety. He’d cry when I’d leave the room, cry when he encountered strangers, cry when I put him down for naps and for bedtime. I’m not sure if the weaning triggered it, but it seems logical that it might have, but then again it could just be the age.

Of course this came right at the time that I needed to leave him with relatives for a couple of days. I felt bad for my sister-in-law, but was so grateful for her patience.

There wasn’t much I could do about this stage he was going through except reassure him of my presence when appropriate and ignore it when appropriate (I had to let him “cry it out” a couple of times during his naps… luckily it never dramatically affected his night time sleep).

Towards the end of our two week trip he finally began to warm up to people he didn’t know very well and the crying/separation anxiety seemed to wane. (whew)

Sleep Sacks
When I was on vacation my sister-in-law asked me when I was planning on not using a sleep sack anymore. I really like them for when my kids are younger because it keeps them warm at night and brings me peace of mind that they are not going to get tangled up in a blanket and suffocate.

I stopped using sleep sacks with Jackson just before his 1st birthday because the weather in the Midwest was getting warmer (he’s a June baby), but with Micah (an October baby) the weather was starting to get cooler. I also had the added challenge that Micah was chewing on the collar of his sleep sack to sooth himself at night and during naps when he had teething pain.

I was a little nervous that I’d have several nights of “crying it out” when I finally took the sleep sack away, so I decided to wait until we were back home to do it. I was really surprised that when I switched him from a sleep sack to a blanket (and I transitioned cold turkey) that there were no problems at all (although I’m pretty sure he still chews on the blanket to sooth himself from time to time).

Crawling, Walking & Naps
Micah started to really crawl around 11 months and then took his first steps between 12 and 13 months. He’s almost 14 months and is still not walking consistently, but I think he’s more comfortable crawling at this point and he can crawl pretty fast.

I want to note that when he learned to crawl and walk I noticed a change in his napping habits. He’d have a hard time going to sleep and then when he did finally go to sleep he’d wake up early from his nap. I thought that he might be ready to go down to one nap, but then he was a beast and wouldn’t take ANY naps and I was NOT going to let that happen.

I switched him back to two naps and some days he sleeps great and other days he fights them. He did this both when he learned to crawl and when he learned to walk and I’m wondering if it’s all connected. I read somewhere that when babies learn new skills like crawling or rolling over that sometimes it does affect their sleep habits.

It’s just a huge transitional period for Micah right now. He really is going from baby to toddler very quickly. I’m toughing out the naps right now, but he’ll probably need to go down to one nap in the near future anyway, so I’ll just have to take that battle one day at a time for now.

Well that pretty much covers it for Micah. I need a whole other blog for Jackson who has grown leaps and bounds developmentally these days. Stay tuned for that one!

Anticipation

Making Memories

On My Heart ...

According to the given statistics in the United States of America, one out of every four girls, and one out of every six boys will be sexually abused before they turn eighteen years of age.

Once again God has put this topic on my heart. My heart aches just thinking about those statistics! It seems silly (to me) to worry about swine flu and such when this statistic seems (to me) to be even more of a "national epidemic!"

As I've looked for books at the library on the topic there were a few, but most of which were out dated. We have drug awareness programs in our schools for kids (at least I think they still do D.A.R.E.), but what about abuse awareness programs??

Anyway, I say all that to let you know that I truly do pray for your little ones ... OUR little ones. That God would protect them from becoming a sexual abuse statistic.

... and as I was thinking and praying for them this poem came to my mind:

"You Are NOT the Naughty One"
by Corinne Doughan

It seems like there are lots of rules,
but it's okay to break each one.
When someone wants to touch you there,
you are NOT the naughty one.

It's okay to throw a tantrum.
Kick, scream and shout a ton!
When someone wants to touch you there,
you are NOT the naughty one.

It's okay to tell a grown up "NO!"
and turn around and run.
When someone wants to touch you there,
you are NOT the naughty one.

It's okay to be a tattle tale
(even if they say it's secret).
When someone wants to touch you there,
you are NOT the naughty one.

They'll lie and say, "You're naughty."
They'll say, "Come on it's fun!"
But you NEED to know, my precious child,
you are NOT the naughty one!

Christmas Letter

Our Dearest Friends & Family,

God has blessed us in so many ways this year, but we know that the most wonderful gift we’ll ever receive from Him is the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. So, without further ado, here is the Christmas story told through the eyes of a child (with a little help from his mommy)...

An angel came to Mary and Mary was afraid and the angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I have good news. You’re going to have a baby and you are going to name him Jesus.” Mary said, “Okay. Who will be the daddy?” Angel said, “God will be the daddy.”

Then an angel came to Joseph and he was afraid. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I have good news for you. Mary is going to have a baby and the daddy will be God. Keep Mary and the baby safe.” Joseph said, “Okay.”

Later the king wanted everyone to be counted. Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to be counted. When they got to Bethlehem the baby was coming out. Mary said, “The baby is coming out, I think the baby is coming out!” And they had to go to the farm to have the baby. After the baby came out they put him where the cows eat.

Then angels came to the sheep and shepherds and said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary had a baby named Jesus.” (The sheep were eating because they were really hungry.) Then the sheep walked to see Jesus and they all sang.

Then three wise men saw a star and they followed it. They found King Herod and they said, “Where is the King of the Jews?” and Herod said, “I don’t know.”

Then an angel came to the wise men and said, “Follow the star to find Jesus.” The angel threw them because she didn’t want them to talk to Herod (just remember that he’s three). And they found baby Jesus and they gave presents to baby Jesus and worshiped him and sang songs … “Gloria in excelsis deo” …

Then Jesus grew up and died on the cross so we could go to Heaven.

May we never forget, our beloved ones, the true reason to celebrate and rejoice this season!

Merry Christmas,
The Doughans

Feeding Baby On The Go!

I really need to write some serious blogs ... Micah's birthday, Thanksgiving, weaning, sleep sacks ... just to name a few future blog topics, BUT with the holiday busyness that will have to wait.

HOWEVER, I just had to write a quick note about a product a friend of mine introduced me to (thanks Michelle) that I absolutely LOVE!

It's called Ella's Kitchen Organic Baby Food and it's baby food that comes in a pouch. There's a lid that you can screw on and off and your baby can suck the food right out of the pouch. Isn't that brilliant!?

They have all different flavors and they are SO easy and mess free. I will admit that they are a little pricey, but TOTALLY worth it when you have to feed a baby pureed food in a car and/or airplane!!! (I fed Micah one of them during church last week and I didn't even have to take him out of the service!! By the way, I'm NOT AT ALL opposed to feeding these to Jackson either ... it's WAY better than the food we'd feed him in the airport!)

Anyway, I hope you find them as ingenious as I did ... so far I've been able to purchase them at Babies-R-Us and I've heard you can get them at Costco. I hope this makes some of your holiday travels a little easier!

Happy Holidays and Happy Travels!

12 Months

Okay ... I'm really behind on this post because Micah had his 12 month check up before we left for a long trip to the Midwest.

I also left his stats on a piece of paper that I left in the Midwest ... oops. I don't remember the exact measurements, but I do remember the percentiles.

Weight: 48% (about 22lbs)
Height: 75%
Head: 90%

He's been done nursing since we left for our trip (note: I plan on writing a weaning blog soon) which worked out well because we had to leave him with his Aunt Katie for a few days while Colin and I packed up our house in Omaha.

The unfortunate thing for Aunt Katie was that he started separation anxiety around the same time. It started right before we left ... he wouldn't even let me leave the room without crying (perhaps it may have been related to the weaning?).

It took him quite awhile to warm up to his relatives and by the end of the 2 week vacation he was finally becoming more comfortable being without me. Since we've been back home the separation anxiety has seemed to lessen ... go figure.

I try to get Micah to drink about 20oz of whole milk a day (about two sippy cups worth) and he drinks it best when he uses a cup with a straw, but we're working on a regular sippy cup as well (although we take the one way valve out to make it easier for him).

He eats three meals a day and gets one snack in the afternoon. I'd say he's eating about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups worth of food ground up in the baby food grinder for meals and has about 1/2 - 1 cup of cheerios or crackers for a snack in the afternoon. We've slowly been adding more texture/chunks to his ground food (i.e. oatmeal with raisins) and offering more finger foods as well. I also want to note that we've introduced him to honey and peanut butter now and he loves them!

His hemoglobin test came back low during his 12 month check up so we've been really pushing the cheerios and the baby cereal as well as adding a vitamin supplement with iron to his diet in the evenings as well. We'll go back at the beginning of December to check his hemoglobin again.

Micah's taking two naps a day (10:00 - 12:00 and 2:00 - 4:00), but it seems like he'll sleep his whole morning nap lately and shortens his afternoon nap showing signs of being ready to go down to one nap soon. The past couple of days I've tried to wake him up early from his morning nap to see if he'll sleep longer for his afternoon nap (so that both boys are taking long afternoon naps and I can have a few more moments to myself to get things done), but that hasn't been working.

However, I can't complain because he's still sleeping wonderfully at night. There were a couple of nights when we were on vacation that he woke up in the middle of the night, but that was because he was sick and/or not used to having us sleeping in the room with him. I feel the need to dedicate a future blog to our travel adventures though.

Micah has become VERY efficient in his crawling and can get around pretty fast. He LOVES to be chased ... it makes him giggle so hard that he buckles over and can't crawl away anymore ... it's pretty adorable if you ask me. He's also cruising more and walks pretty well holding on to one hand. It won't be long until he's walking on his own. Although we are entering the season of bumps and bruises until he can master walking and running.

Due to his mobility, discipline has been coming more frequently. When Jackson was younger he'd cry even if I had a serious tone to my voice let alone give him a spanking. Not true for Micah. He will sometimes laugh after I give him a spanking (SIGH)...oh boy ... it takes a few corrections before he obeys, but he eventually obeys. He's a pretty persistent little bugger sometimes, but that will be to his advantage in the future if he learns to use it "for the greater good."

Micah is a go, go, go kind of guy. I rarely see him sitting still to examine a toy or book, but that's usually because he's trying to keep up with his older brother. He's showing signs of being a tantrum thrower, but he has yet to have a full blown tantrum yet.

As far as communicating is concerned Micah can say/sign the following words:

Dada: Dad
Mama: Mom
Da-Din: Jackson
Aye: Hi
No-no: No
Nigh-Nigh: Good Night
dant-du: Thank you
(signs) please
(signs) all done
(signs) more (sort of)
uh-oh
t-t: touch it

I've found that it's REALLY hard to keep up with his vocabulary when I have a 3 year old talking in my ear 24/7. Don't get me wrong ... I'm grateful that my 3 year old is very verbose, BUT there are times when I wish I could pay sole attention to Micah. I'm sure there more "words" he's saying, I just am not able to pay attention to them.

Micah is such a delight! He's so curious and he loves to be with his family. He loves to cuddle more than I remember Jackson cuddling. He's SO ticklish and can be such a silly goose sometimes (I'm wondering if I have a class clown on my hands here). I LOVE that his personality is really starting to shine lately.


That's about it! I'll leave you with this picture of Micah on the morning of his birthday with blueberry muffin shoved in his mouth!

Happy 1st Birthday Micah!

Happy Birthday to our dear little Micah who loves to give kisses and make silly sounds. Who loves his brother with a passion and wants to grow up faster than what is possible. You are so precious to us and we thank the LORD for you daily!!

Our birthday prayer is that you grow up to be a warrior for Christ. That you would love the Lord your God with all of your heart soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

Life is but a fleeting breath and we give you over to our sovereign Lord every single day because we know that you ultimately belong to Him.

We love you Handsome Prince.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!

Love, Mommy, Daddy and Jackson

No More Mullet

Micah's mullet (although cute and curly) was getting out of hand and starting to drive me crazy so I cut it off. Here are the pictures:

The "mullet" ... I mean ... the "before" picture.
Be afraid ... be very, very afraid (I was).
The "after" picture. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Micah didn't cry at all! Neither did I for that matter. ;)

39 Cents a Pound

I'm not sure I've ever seen sweet potatoes this HUGE (I put the knife and potato in to give you some perspective) or bought them for this cheap!! It won't take long for Micah to eat this one up though with the appetite he's had lately!!

100 Things I Hope I'll Always Remember...

It's my 100th post and I wanted to celebrate it by making a list of 100 things. Since this blog is purposed to be a reminder here is a list of 100 things (in no particular order of importance) I hope I'll always remember:

100. to smile daily.
99. to live life with a positive attitude.
98. to buckle my seat belt.
97. the smell of rain.
96. the smell of my husband when his cologne settles into his skin.
95. the smell of my children after a bath.
94. the first time my children ever smiled at me.
93. my babies cooing at me instead of nursing in the early early morning.
92. my babies' first laugh.
91. the first time my husband held my hand.
90. the first time my husband and I kissed.
89. my wedding day.
88. to tell my husband that I love him every day.
87. to tell my children that I love them every day.
86. the excitement and joy I felt the day my children were born.
85. to encourage my children regularly.
84. that friendships are an investment.
83. to learn from my mistakes.
82. to forgive as I have been forgiven.
81. to ask for forgiveness when I am wrong.
80. the funny things my children say.
79. to take time to cuddle when the opportunity arises.
78. to date my husband.
77. to seek after God daily.
76. to pray continually.
75. to taste my food.
74. how blessed I am.
73. to not "bite my pants with gum in my mouth."*
72. to savor my family.
71. that relationships are more important than "stuff."
70. that I am a sinner saved by grace.
69. the wonder of feeling my children move inside of me.
68. to support and encourage my husband in his everyday "dragon slaying."
67. to take care of the body God has given me.
66. to rest.
65. that growth rarely comes in the comfortable.
64. that everyone is created in the image of God.
63. to be patient.
62. to trust in my sovereign LORD.
61. "to whom much is given much is required."
60. to put others before myself.
59. the times I laughed so hard my head hurt.
58. to listen first.
57. to pray for the salvation of my children and their spouses.
56. the delight my children have in each other as siblings.
55. the special bond I have with my sisters.
54. the grandeur of God's creation.
53. when my children first show an understanding of Christ's sacrifice.
52. the awe of worshiping with other believers in spirit and in truth.
51. that the Creator made me creative by nature.
50. that life is but a fleeting breath.
49. to let my children be imperfect.
48. to show grace.
47. not to compare my children.
46. the month after our wedding when we almost had to move back in with our parents.
45. the first time my children say, "I love you."
44. to live below my means.
43. that I am a work in progress.
42. to write down my best impromptu recipes.
41. that obeying quickly, completely and with a "happy heart" applies to me too.
40. to be more concerned with my children's "heart" rather than just their actions.
39. not to discipline out of anger.
38. that my husband likes venti non-fat mochas with whipped cream.
37. to read to my children every day.
36. to encourage my children's creativity.
35. to listen to my children ... REALLY listen.
34. the Iowa winter I was blown across the ice standing still.
33. the night my husband proposed to me.
32. the first time I auditioned for a play.
31. the excitement of discovering I was pregnant.
30. the three hour talk I had with my husband before we were officially dating.
29. my honeymoon.
28. to thank my parents.
27. to ask when I'm upset, "will this matter 10 years from now?"
26. that "when Mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy" is true.
25. that it's okay to not have all the answers.
24. to practice what I preach.
23. not to buy clothes that need to be ironed ... my husband and I hate ironing.
22. to sincerely ask my husband on a regular basis "how I can be a better wife?"
21. to not let "the sun go down upon [my] anger."
20. to celebrate my children's victories ... even the little ones.
19. that "he who dies with the most toys wins" is NOT true.
18. to keep learning.
17. I am loved.
16. to say what I mean and mean what I say.
15. to sing to my children.
14. to send love notes to my husband.
13. the people in my life who have influenced who I've become.
12. to play with my kids.
11. that my worth comes from who I am in Christ.
10. that I'm a child of God, wife and mom ... in that order.
9. to be silly sometimes.
8. to love others.
7. to buy two pairs of jeans when I finally find a pair that "fit like a glove."
6. that beauty is more than my appearance.
5. to dance like no one's watching from time to time.
4. that the world doesn't revolve around me.
3. to pray with my husband and children.
2. to be flexible.
1. to be heavenly minded.

*inside joke with the Doughan family. If you want to know ... just ask.

Family Portraits

Once again, Jill Martin did an amazing job on these! She also did Micah's one year portraits today, so look for that post soon!

Language Skills

Micah's words at 11 months:

Dada: Dad
Ma: Mom (I've been trying to get him so say this when he wakes up rather than fuss. He's done it at least twice now.)
Ah duh: All done (he also signs "all done")
Ear-a-go: Here you go.
Uh-oh: Uh oh
Nigh Nigh: Good night.

He also signs please as well. I have a feeling there are other words he's saying consistently, but with two little ones to pay attention to I'm sure I haven't picked up on all of them.
He doesn't sign please on his own chest (here he's rubbing his hand on his tray), but it's close enough and he's very consistent with the sign now, so I'm not going to complain.
This is "all done."
He also folds his hands when you ask him to pray.

Besides the lanugage skills he's also crawling on his hands and knees and pulling himself up consistently and has even started climbing stairs as of late (he made it all the way up both flights of stairs in our house by himself the other day).



I'll blink and tomorrow he'll be running and talking in full sentences.

"It's a Hard Knock Life"

Jackson has started participating in chores around the house. He doesn't get compensated for doing them, it's just part of being in our family.

Everyday he makes his own bed and helps clear the table after supper.


He's also helped dust the living room shelves and vaccum the kitchen floor, but I don't expect him to do those regularly ... not yet anyway. ;)

Jackson prides himself in "becoming more of a man."

Eleven Months Old

Here's what's going on in Micah's life at 11 months old:

He's still nursing 4 times a day (every four hours) and sleeping 11 - 12 hours at night time.

Sometimes he'll wake up around 6:30 and talk to himself and play until 7:15 or 7:30 when I give him his first feeding.

He's tried just about every type of food except milk/cheese (he has had cottage cheese and yogurt), nuts and honey. Although I'm debating about whether or not I want to start weaning Micah this month. Four weeks before Jackson's first birthday I dropped one nursing a week and replaced it with a sippy cup of whole milk and it seemed to work out well.

Although Micah has mastered self feeding with cheerios and the like we still spoon feed him quite a bit. In the past couple of weeks I've even pureed some of our families left overs (smoothies and pulled apple-chicken sandwiches) and put them into ice cube trays for Micah (FYI: I've found it helps to spray the ice cube trays with cooking spray before I put the pureed food in them so I can get them out easier after they freeze.)

Micah takes two naps. Usually one is 1 1/2 hours and the other nap is 2 hours. However, a couple of weeks ago he was struggling off and on with his naps.

All in about one weeks span he popped 3 new teeth, learned how to crawl, sit up on his own and pull himself up and he had a cold. All of that combined was interrupting his sleep cycles at nap times (and a few nights too).

After trying everything I could think of I finally swaddled him, put him in his crib and put my hand near his face until he fell asleep. I've only had to do it a couple of times when he was too tired (usually when he's been standing crying in his crib not knowing how to sit down again). Once he gets a full nap, he wakes up happy and gets himself out of the swaddle by the time I come in to get him.

He needs a little more time to wind down before he goes down for a nap or for bed. He loves to cuddle for a few minutes before I put him in his crib and I LOVE it when he grabs my face and gives me a big-slobbery-open-mouth kiss two or three times in a row.

Micah's also been jabbering and communicating more. He definitely knows what he wants when he wants it and we are working on changing whining into words through sign language and simple words.

Micah can say and sign "All done." Although it sounds more like "Ah duh." He has yet to clearly sign or say "please" (although he sometimes signs "please" on his leg). Some of that may be due to pure stubbornness on his part. Just this week he started saying "uh oh" sounding more like "uh uh."

Micah lights up when Colin comes home from work. Colin will play with Micah for a few minutes and then go upstairs to change out of his work clothes, which is when Micah starts yelling "DA?! DADA!?" over and over again until Colin says, "yes?"

He mimics Jackson in his intonations and even some rough pronunciations and it is SO ADORABLE!!

He definitely has a grasp of when we say "no" to him and has received a few swats for disobeying, but overall if we say "no" he's obedient.

His favorite toys to play with would have to be anything we'd prefer he not play with (cell phones, remote controls, cords, books, toys with small parts, etc.). He's gotten MUCH better at not putting toys in his mouth though and we've been more lenient with what "big kid toys" he can play with now.

We have made a few drawers and cupboards that he can play in (DVD drawer, sock drawer and Tupperware drawer) and he stays pretty content with those.

He's in a "go go go" stage right now and would walk holding on to our fingers all day if we let him. He's so eager to be running along side his big brother and that day is just around the corner.

That about sums it up. I'll leave you with these pictures. If you have any clever captions you'd put for each picture I'd love to hear them!! ...oh by the way ... that's a leaf in his hand.







edited 10/2/09: my cycle this month was 38 days

High Chairs vs Booster Seats

When Jackson was younger we asked our friends who had already had children what they recommended for high chairs and they highly suggested a booster seat with a detachable tray, so this is what we got.

When we moved to Santa Maria and Micah was ready for eating solid food Jackson was still using that booster seat. However, our neighbors (the same generous ones who let us use their trampoline) had a high chair that they said we could use. It's an older model, so I'm sure some of my qualms with high chairs may not be valid if I would get a newer high chair.

Anyway, it was free, so we used it. Here is my list of pros and cons for a high chair versus a booster seat that I have discovered in my experience with each.

High Chair:

Pros :
The trays are much larger and less food ends up on the floor.
It's easier on my back because the baby is higher up.

Cons:
They take up more room (when you're using them and when you have to store them later).
They are harder to clean.
They don't travel well or at all.
They are more expensive (the cheapest I saw at Babies R Us was $39.99, unless you can get a used one or one given to you).
Babies grow out of them quicker than a booster seat.
I've noticed it's harder for Micah to use sign language because he's much more enclosed.



Booster Seats:

Pros:
They are much cheaper than most high chairs (the cheapest I saw at Babies R Us was $16.99).
They are very portable.
You can stick most of them into your dishwasher to be cleaned thoroughly.
They are not out grown quickly.
They don't take up a lot of space.
They can be pushed directly up to the table (when the tray is removed).
I've noticed Micah signing more because he's not so confined.

Cons:
Babies tend to slouch in them at first.
The trays are smaller and more food ends up on the floor.
It uses up a chair (which is inconvenient when we have guests, but if I really had to I could just put him on the floor).



If I had to choose one over the other I'd pick the booster seat. We kicked Jackson out of his first booster seat so that Micah could use it and bought him this one for $12.99 at Babies R Us (it does not come with a tray). So far we're happy with it.

Jackson's First Big Purchase

Jackson has been receiving allowance for quite some time now. (You can read more on our views on allowance here.)

When he first began getting an allowance it burned a huge hole in his pocket every time we went to the store. It was important to have that time though. He quickly grasped the concepts of cost and payment for material goods.

Then we decided we needed to teach him a lesson in delayed gratification/saving. So Jackson picked out a toy in the fisher-price catalog and we cut it out and made a little count down calendar of how many weeks it would take to have enough money to make his purchase (9 weeks to be exact). Every week he could rip off a piece of paper and the last piece had a picture of the toy of his choice.

This week was the last week!! We are so proud of Jackson. He had many opportunities to spend his money before the end of the 9 weeks but he stuck to his goal. When he got his allowance on Saturday he and his dad sat at the table and counted out the amount he needed for his toy. (That was a good lesson too.)
All of the money he used to purchase his toy I put into an envelope and labeled it "Allowance $$" so that I could just keep using the same money over and over ... it makes it a little easier on Colin and me come Saturday (before we were scrambling around the house, car, couch, etc. for loose change because we weren't very good at planning ahead).


I pre-bought the toy (which I'm glad I did because they only had one left at the store) so that he could "purchase" it from me that morning and then play with right away (I even made sure we had batteries for it). He was SO excited and proud.



While counting what he had left in his bank I had the idea to start using dry erase markers directly on his piggy bank to keep track of his money (at least a rough amount) and it works great!


Jackson's already starting to talk about what he's going to save up for next. Did I mention that we are very proud of him? Delayed gratification is hard for most adults let alone a 3 year old.

Finger Foods

Micah has begun to feed himself more recently. He's done cheerios, green beans, papaya, etc. Some of the foods are hard to pick up (like bananas and avocado), but he does his best and almost prefers to feed himself now. Although feedings take a lot longer when he feeds himself, so I still feed him ground up food as well.
He wanted his "toy" back.
Don't let him fool you though ... he's a happy boy!