I have been trying to say "no" less. I realized that I was saying it a million times a day and someone had picked up the word in his own nasty little tone..."nnnaaah." I am not letting him get away with more, I am just finding different words to use instead, like stop, ouch, yucky, hot, etc. I certainly still say no, but I try to reserve it for really important issues so that it doesn't lose its value.
Monkey see, monkey do. I have noticed that I grab stuff (toys, utensils, etc) from him a lot and I don't want him learning that habit. Instead, I have started asking him for the item. He hands it to me, I say thank you and we move on. Hopefully this will help him to learn to grab less....maybe. This of course does not apply to safety things. I'll grab unsafe items out of his hand every time!
Whining. Oh whining. Just as he started this incessant whining, I get an email from Baby Center saying that my 15 month old is learning the power of whining. They really know what they are talking about! It was spot on. Ross and I decided to tackle the issue right away because it was driving me bonkers!!! We decided to correct the whine. When he whines, we tell him what to say to express his needs. I know that he can't say what he needs yet, so I'll say something like, "Oh! That's not how we get what we want. Say I want my drink/need help/want my toy?" He usually says some sort of sweet sounding baby gibberish that's not a whine and I give him what he wanted. He is starting to get it! I mean, we do it 100 times a day, so he gets lots practice. Haha. It is also nice when he can point to what he needs and says "dat" or signs "more." I feel like I am learning a new language, an entire new way of communication and the little successes are so nice! It feels like I'm starting to make sense to the native speaker! Also, on this note, he can understand soooooo much more than he can articulate. He knows body parts, I can ask him to pick up and bring me his monkey/basket/bunny/book/car/bus/etc and he does. It is really crazy to me how much he knows. It's also pretty scary. I guess Ross and I really need to be careful what we say in front of him now!
So anyway, this is my little summary of what we are learning about raising a 15 month old. I will probably have to look back at this for reference with each additional child. (no...I'm not preg)
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2 comments:
Awesome job! I wish you luck with the whining - I'm STILL trying to make it go away!!!! I think they get it from us; we must whine a lot. ;o)
I was thinking while reading your post that it only takes us a short time to realize we think we are raising them up when in reality they are training us. Ha!
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