Work started again on August 10th, which sucks up all my spare time and turns me into a bad recorder of our life's events. Noah turned 16 months two weeks ago and I'm only just getting around to updating. If only financially things were different and I could work part-time, then life might feel closer to perfect, but alas. No dice. It is what it is. And here is where Noah is.
- I had to give up on documenting his receptive vocabulary. He understands more than I could possibly keep track of. Now, does he always listen? Well, that would be a real miracle!
- Expressively, he has added the following words to his vocabulary: mama, dada, bottle (sounds like ball or bowel), cheese (deeej), dog (da), boat (he left off the /t/ sound until just recently), no no (we hear this a lot), owl, ball, sky, bye bye, knee, yeah, and what
- He has shown that he can sign the word "more," but pointing to what he wants is more effective. I only ever tried to teach him "more" and "all done," but babies are smart enough on their own and find ways to tell you these things. I don't bother with it anymore.
- He has started to run, but it's more accurately described as out-of-control walking. It's usually accompanied by squeals or "owowow" sounds.
- He is climbing everything in sight. Chairs, sofas, tables, rocks, toilet paper packages, shelves, etc. If he can reach it, he will try to climb it.
- Noah loves to put things in other things, and then take them out again. For example, throwing stuff inside of the laundry basket (and often climbing in) and then digging it back out, dumping buckets of toys and then refilling them, and most fun of all, taking his animals out of his ark and throwing them between the table and the fireplace. (We have a ottoman style coffee table in front of the fireplace to keep him from crawling inside.)
- He moved up to size 4 diapers. They seem a little bit big, but size 3s were starting to feel a bit snug.
- Tooth number 8 popped through sometime mid-August.
- We could probably stop bottles altogether. He drinks from sippies all day at day care, but I just haven't been vigilant about them at home. I don't really have a reason for this. Part of it might be because I'm so used to giving him a certain amount in the morning and at night, but sippy cups don't have ounce marks on them. I should just let that go.
- We've seen our share of more stubborn behavior. If he doesn't get exactly what he wants exactly when he wants it, he will let us know. And don't even try to take something very cool but dangerous away from him. He's not afraid to bite! (Seriously, he's a total vampire. I have had bite marks on my neck, face, and arms.) I still struggle with the best way to discipline him at this age. If I say "no bite" or "no hit" and then set him down and move away, he often just laughs. He doesn't seem to be picking up on the fact that I'm mad or hurt. At this age, I think time-out is a bit too abstract, and is really more for the parent than the child, so I'm not using it.
So that's 16 months in a nutshell. It bums me out to be back at work, and missing so much of his learning. However, he loves going to daycare and his little friend Olivia absolutely adores him. When I pick him up each afternoon, he usually wants to stay and play. I think that's a really, really great thing, even if it sometimes hurts my feelings! :)
Obviously every parent has to do what they’re comfortable with, but I just wanted to talk about my experience with time outs. I started doing them when Noah was 15 or 16 months because nothing else was working, and I hadn’t been able to find a discipline that I could stick with (and consistency is important). Time outs actually worked (and still work) really well almost right away. I would tell him “If you do that, you will get a time out” and then put him in his crib for his time out if he continued to do the forbidden activity (I was sketchy about the crib thing at first, but it hasn’t affected his feelings toward his crib for sleeping time). I would leave the room for one minute (because he is 1) and then go back in and reiterate “You need to listen. Mommy said no ____, that’s why you got a time out” and then take him out of his crib. I only had to give him 2 or 3 time outs and then he knew exactly what a “time out” was, and then saying “If you do that, you’ll get a time out” would generally stop the behaviour.
ReplyDeleteCertain behaviours, like hitting or biting, earn him a time out immediately, and he knows this and he almost never ever is physically aggressive anymore.
I read up on time outs and there are different theories on when to use time outs and at what age. However, Dr. Harvey Karp, who I trust, says time outs are appropriate for age 12 months and up, and for the reasons I use them for.
Granted, I did start doing time outs partially for myself. I would get SO frustrated with him never ever obeying, and I could not find a single punishment I was comfortable enough to stick with. And I was seriously SO mad all day some days. Time outs stop my anger from escalating and stop me from wanting to spank or pinch (I HATE corporal punishment). So in that way, yes, they are for me.
But they also work amazingly for Noah. He started obeying so much better after I started them.
You have to find something you’re comfortable with that also really works for your kid. I just wanted to let you know that time outs can be completely appropriate and effective at this age, as long as you are using them properly.
Love that big adorable grin! It sucks going back to work :( Lots of love for you and that baby of yours!
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