Little Pooh's Birthday Party

Let's back up a few weeks or so... As you've heard, Little Pooh (stuffed animal) gets quite the attention around our house - I think he may be more high maintenance than either of my kids and he is quite the demanding little bear. We were shopping the other day and Brooke announces that Little Pooh told her we need to go to Kohl's next. I told her we weren't going to Kohl's that day - she responds, "But mommmmm...Little Pooh says we HAVE to." I nicely let her know that Little Pooh was not in the car, nor did he make the rules. Every morning we have new Little Pooh stories. He would scratch her, hit her, fall down, need a time out, refuse to take a nap, etc. Literally about 10 Little Pooh stories a day. If you ask her where she learned something new...her response...."Little Pooh taught me!" So I was just to the point that Little Pooh was going to need to be accidentally lost because he was driving me crazy...that almost brings us up to current day.

On Saturday during nap Brooke wasn't falling asleep. I went in to ask her to close her eyes and rest for a while. Her response..."I can't yet mom. It's Little Pooh's birthday and we're in the middle of his party. He's turning TWO!" (stated so emphatically that I must have been on another planet to have not realized that it was his birthday...how could I?!") Okay, Brooke - finish up the party and then go to sleep.

Sunday...Before nap she’s telling me that she has to feed Little Pooh and that he can’t have cheese because he has "allerJesus" which she corrected herself to say allergies. And that he doesn’t need a bracelet to tell people about his allergies like Tommy has…. I also heard about how Big Pooh has to take care of little Pooh while we go swimming, but he’ll cry while she’s gone so we should bring him along in the swim bag so that he’s doesn’t cry. Ummm…no was my response. I told her Big Pooh would take very good care of Little Pooh while we swam.

So Monday morning we went to Wal-mart to do our grocery shopping. I needed some more cupcake holders (just because we were out) and Brooke says, "OHHHH - those are for Little Pooh's birthday party?!" Sure, Brooke - they are for Little Pooh's birthday party. We then proceeded to buy cupcake mix and frosting. I couldn't remember what brand our friend Tommy could have (he has life-threatening milk and nut allergies) so I was reading all of the labels. I put the items in the cart and Brooke says, "MOM! I have to read the labels TOO because of Little Pooh's allergies." She then "read" the label and let me know Little Pooh could not have the sprinkles.

And here's the reason for the story...Brooke's "currency" for obedience/motivation has rarely been traditional (time out, spankings, etc.) just didn't work. On the other hand, things like not allowing her to buckle herself into her own car seat at 2 was a perfect punishment/threat. Recently Brooke has had some anxiety in going to preschool, the Y's kidcare, Sunday school, etc. and would cling to me and cry when I'd try to drop her off. She's almost always fine once I'm gone and has a great time. It's been going on for about 3 weeks now and not getting much better. SO! *Lightbulb* "Brooke, we can have a birthday party for Little Pooh at lunch on Tuesday with the Seiler's if you go to kidcare on Monday night and preschool on Tuesday morning with a happy face." Worked like a charm! So today, we celebrated Little Pooh's 2nd birthday (which happens to also be Brooke's 1/2 birthday) with cupcakes, candles and song. This evening at KidCare - in with a smile, no bribe required...hopefully we're over this hump! Thanks to a Little Bear that I wanted to "accidentally lose!"

And here's the proof....left to right: Brooke, Big Pooh and Little Pooh (a little hard to see), Tommy Seiler, and Samantha Seiler.

Working for beans (literally!)

A few weeks ago we started a reward program for Brooke to earn summer toys, etc. There are two jars - the good bean jar and the bad bean jar. Each jar started with 50 beans (too many...we'll revise for the next round). Everytime Brooke had good behavior, good manners, etc. she got to move a "bad bean" into the "good bean jar". And the opposite is true for bad behavior. The object is to have all your beans in the good bean jar and when that happens you get a reward. So Brooke has been "working" for this Dora fishing pole for about 3 weeks now. And today she earned it! She and daddy spent the early part of the evening "fishing" in the living room. I should have had a video camera instead of a regular camera...Clayton would chase after the "lure" while Brooke reeled the line in.

So ultimately the goal is to teach Brooke that we have to work for the things that we get and the way we found to instill that for a 3 1/2 year old is with beans...it brings a whole new meaning to "working for beans." The other great benefit to this is that Mike and I are reminded to give her a ton of positive praise for coming downstairs dressed in the morning, eating all her vegetables at dinner, being kind/helpful to her brother, etc. It seems so easy to always be telling her the negative things she's doing and not drawing attention to all the positives. It has also been great in the middle of a tantrum to ask her if she wants a "bad bean"...most of the time she straightens up pretty quickly.

Lots of interesting looks and comments...

This weekend we had the Seiler children at our home so that Tom and Karen could have one last weekend away before Baby #3 arrives in June. Our children are around each other a lot (close to every day) and get along great. In rank its - Tommy (44 months), Brooke (42 months), Sammie (26 months), and Clayton (18 months)...and soon Baby Seiler. So today was a cold, windy day, Mike needed to study, which meant that the 4 kids and I had all day just to play...but what to do?! I decided that we'd take a field trip to Hoffer's Tropic Pet Life (a huge pet store). I put the younger two in the stroller and gave Tommy and Brooke strict instructions to hold onto the stroller in the store and that if they let go we would leave. They all did GREAT! No meltdowns, no disobedience...perfect behavior. They loved the snakes, lizards, birds, alligators, turtles, fish, fish and more fish. But we definitely got some interesting looks as I traveled through the store....interesting as in "lady, are you crazy for having so many kids!" As we were leaving a little girl whispered something to her mother that I didn't hear. Her mom responded, "No honey, I think they are all part of the same family." To which I quickly corrected her.

We came home ate lunch, all four kids took awesome naps (miracles really do happen!) and then after dinner Mike and I decided to run a few errands with the kids before bedtime. Again, great behavior in the stores, but a lot more looks. One lady stopped Mike to ask, "What are their ages...are they all yours?!" And again as we were leaving, this younger couple whispered (but still loud enough to hear)..."Yeah, that's what I'd call a fun shopping trip." For good behavior, they were all rewarded with a trip to Toys R Us.

I just find it so interesting people's perspective on that many small children at one time. I think I'd find it more interesting to send a 8 month pregnant woman (i.e. Karen) out into the same scenarios and then hear what people had to say!!

Let the tantrums begin...

In the past few weeks, our darling, mellow Clayton has figured out the art of temper tantrums. When he doesn't get his way, he'll throw his head back, while crying, start stomping his feet and head for the nearest corner to express his displeasure. They are usually short lived and he's very easy to move on to something else. I find it cute!....for now. So I was reflecting back on Brooke at his age - (I've considered her to be more of our strong willed child.) What I found was that in actuality Brooke was just busy up until about 17 months (same age as Clayton is now) and the challenge was really just to keep up with her and then she started throwing fits when we tried to put her in shopping carts or anything that restricted her independence....and that lasted up until about 6 months ago! I'd still put her in the strong willed category, but we definitely have more good days than bad days...it just took a year and a half to get there!

My purpose in this posting is that my mellow child may be turning a corner...we'll see! If there's any similarities around this corner as there was to Brooke - it may be an interesting ride.



Also, for those that have been warning Brooke for months now to be nice to Clayton because he'll be bigger than her soon...I hope she was listening. Here's a good perspective shot on their difference in size - he's gaining on her. And Clayton is all boy, with his balls, cars, and wrestling. She'll be laying on the floor trying to watch a show or do a puzzle and he'll come up and jump on her (usually her head.) To which she starts screaming and then he starts screaming because he thinks it's a game. Isn't chaos great!

Easter and Beyond...

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted...a lot has happened.

Grandma Denyse came over the day before Easter to dye eggs with Brooke. Easter was a small celebration with Mike's parents and my mom (Grandpa Ken was visiting Great Grandma Millie in her last few days). The Easter bunny came...because he was so excited that Jesus rose AGAIN! and delivered a few items for both Brooke and Clayton. Brooke was most excited by the jelly beans in the egg and Clayton thought all the eggs were "balls" so he was just thrilled - not to mention that some of the balls made a cool noise when you shook them because of the candy inside.



Sadly, on April 2nd, at the age of 83, Great Grandma Millie lost her battle to cancer. She was an amazing godly woman and will be greatly missed, but we look forward to when we'll join her again in heaven. I explained to Brooke that Grandma had died because Jesus invited her to come home and that we were sad that she wouldn't be with us anymore, but that we are also very happy that she's with Jesus. Brooke's response was, "Mommy, I'm not sad - I'm just happy she's with Jesus." I was able to make 2 trips down to Florida at the beginning of February, one with Brooke - I'm so grateful for that time.



The first weekend in April Clayton and I took a trip with Grandma Nancy to Toledo, OH for cousin Erica's baby shower. Clayton was a good traveler and we were able to catch up with many family members. Matt & Erica recently purchased a new home and we were able to stop by to see that too.

Mike and I then traveled to Florida for Grandma's funeral last week. My saint of a friend, Karen, took care of both kids (while caring for her 2 and being 7 months pregnant!) It was a good visit and the weather was beautiful as we celebrated grandma's life.




So that's been us...here are the stories that I can remember. (Clayton even has a few!)

Brooke was coloring at the kitchen table while I was making dinner and she's saying the letters of her name and Clayton's name and "writing" them out (only a few recognizable). She then says, "Mom - how do you spell "dot com"....can you tell that we live in an age of technology and Internet?! I almost fell over laughing.

Recently Brooke has been very interested in caring for "Little Pooh" - this little stuffed animal. He gets royal treatment of food, snuggling, tucked in at night, etc. Well, a few weeks ago she told me he had a fever in his eye. She kept saying that over the days to come...then finally she said it just a little bit different - she called it an "eye fever". So now it all makes sense to me. She must have heard us say someone had a "high fever." That English language...I'll tell you - tricky, tricky!

And Clayton is still obsessed with dogs - or "bow wow's" as he calls them. I think it's funny that he'll go running for our picture window yelling "bow wow" hoping to see someone walking their dog. So the other day I had bought Cottonelle toilet paper that was sitting in the kitchen waiting to be put away. I found Clayton sitting in front of it shouting "bow wow, bow wow" as though he expected the picture of the puppy on the front to bark back.