In honor of my month of settling, I wanted to share another success we've finally encountered when it comes to hitting the reset button on yet another bad habit that developed when everything went awry. Cruz Man developed the habit of crawling into bed with us, a habit I know I am not alone on when I talk to several other parents of toddlers. It became a problem when it wasn't a random thing anymore, but a nightly thing, and when it didn't seem like any of us were benefiting from it. We kept letting it go because it always seemed as if one more new transition was ahead of us - first, Mila joined our lives and woke everyone up multiple times a night, then, we were so close to moving, then, we were at my parents', and then, we just needed a few weeks to get used to our new surroundings. Well, we're used to it, Cruz has a nice cozy bed and big room all to himself, and we are officially out of excuses!
We've tried many different tactics --- sticker charts, lima beans, middle-of-the-night snuggles, an OK to Wake clock, and gentle kicks and stolen pillows in our bed as a ploy to make things less comfortable for our wiggler, but haven't had much luck. He just keeps coming back. So just when I had decided to try yet another sticker chart, my husband had the brilliant idea to bring back and old friend from Cruz's 2nd birthday party. When we were unpacking one night, we came across some leftover Cruz Bucks, a personalized paper dollar bill we used for a makeshift Mr. Hooper's Store at Cruz's Sesame Street birthday party. We showed them to our little capitalist and he was immediately intrigued. I gave it a day, but he's surprised me every day since and I'm pleased to say he's met his first goal! Ten days in a row of a little boy who's decided his bed is really pretty great.
Here's how it works for us. Cruz has the opportunity to earn two Cruz bucks every night. First, he has to go to bed when we say, with just a few minutes of cuddles instead of the half hour it had become lately. We read a few books, say our prayers, and snuggle for a few minutes. Prior to this, he wanted someone to lay with him until he fell asleep, which usually meant whoever was laying with him also fell asleep and the rest of their night was shot. Second, Cruz gets another Cruz buck when he stays in his bed all night, or at least until his clock lights up at 6. The very first night, he slept in until after 7. We chalked it up to a fluke, but celebrated the coincidence and really talked up the earned buck. The next night, he woke up once, but we kindly reminded him of his Cruz buck and he willingly scurried back to bed. And much to our surprise, he's been great ever since. We made our first goal within reach - twenty Cruz bucks earns him a trip to Target to turn in his bucks for real cash and pick out something he wants. We have a date to Target planned for Saturday and I'm anxious to see how it goes from there. We've talked about turning this into a little financial planning for our guy, teaching him to save up Cruz bucks if he sees something that's over his savings, but we'll see what Saturday brings. :)
I've been so amazed at our progress that I had to share for anyone else who may be struggling with finding an effective rewards system for their child. A couple nights ago, I heard Cruz get up and use the bathroom. Before I even made my way to his room, he was already climbing back into bed! And this morning, we came in at 5:45, fifteen minutes before his clock would light up. He said he had to go potty and I told him to use our bathroom. When he came back in, I told him to climb in with us so I could snuggle with him. And what did he say? "No, Mommy, I need to sweep in my bed!" Hallelujah, people!
Whatever your opinions are on extrinsic motivation, we are praising its effectiveness with our son and are all sleeping much better at night! If you are interested in making some personalized bills of your own, check out http://www.festisite.com/money/
With less than four weeks before our second baby's 'd-day', I've entered full on nesting mode, attempting to organize this space, simplify our things, and be proactive about meals, toiletries, and ideas to keep Cruz Man entertained and busy during my maternity leave. While I am fully ready to hibernate come January, I also know that cabin fever is bound to set in and I'll need to be ready to get creative with ideas around here. I've started a running list of boredom busters - simple, educational things to entertain both Cruz and myself before we can get outside for walks and park picnics. Because although I'm convinced Cruz could run around the house playing pirates and looking for Captain Hook all day long, I can only take so much.
Here are a few fun projects the two of us have been up to lately...
...Learning our letters.
We are exploring and learning our letters around here and this is the perfect way to engage my very busy boy. Cruz has never been one to sit at the table and color for a long period of time, but he does enjoy games, tools, and manual labor! I saw this idea on Pinterest and instantly thought of this random piece of styrofoam I've had in the bottom of my pantry for a long time. A golf tee, a toy hammer, and some letters (magnets, blocks, etc.) are all the supplies needed to make a fun letter identification game. It's great for talking about letters and also great for fine motor skill building.
...Love of the glue stick.
One thing I've learned when it comes to crafting with Cruz is to go with what he enjoys and find crafts that encourage his independence. Lately, Cruz LOVES anything involving glue. I've found a million super cute crafts that include scrap pieces that are used to create a mosaic of sorts. We can practice cutting without following the lines, and Cruz can have full reign to glue to his heart's desire. I love the Elmer's Adhesive Glue Sticks because they dry clear and allow you to stick and re-stick as often as you need.
...Christmas tree game craft.
Cruz loves playing games right now and this was a simple, fun, and festive way to combine crafting, learning, gluing (go figure) and entertaining all in one. It's simple - just cut out Christmas trees with green construction paper and fill your tree with black circles to designate areas for your 'ornaments.' Then, grab some glue, a dice, a pile of mini pom poms, and a snack, and take turns rolling the dice and adding the corresponding number of 'ornaments' to your tree. The first person to fill your tree wins. I loved this because the rules were easy, we practiced our numbers, and were left with two festive little Christmas trees that look lovely hanging on our fridge.
...Snowmen at Night. This little project was a win win all around. Snowmen at Night is one of our favorite books to read this time of year and I love finding craft projects to go along with books we cherish. Cruz is very interested in snowmen this year and I knew he would get into building his very own snowman with some scraps of paper and his beloved glue stick. While he pasted, I asked him what he would do if he were a snowman and scripted his response with a white crayon. His response makes me smile and I think it would be cute to do a similar snowman every winter to see how he grows and thinks.
...Santa. After the snowman craft and a trip to Barnes and Noble where Cruz found a Batman Cave he most definitely wanted from Santa, I decided it was the right time to write his first letter to Santa. I once again scripted for him and wrote his response through tears of laughter. He signed his name and decorated the letter with stickers. Then, the next night, we took him up to Main Street so he could 'deliver' his letter to Santa. He took the whole process very seriously and I made sure to make a copy of his letter to keep and show him someday.
Visit my Pinterest page for more ideas on keeping the littles busy during the winter months!
What are your go-to boredom busters for beating the winter blues? I would love to hear your ideas and add them to my list.
Our friend, Boone, paid us a visit from the North Pole early Sunday morning, welcoming us to the month of Christmas with his annual North Pole Breakfast. Cruz was excited to see him and immediately announced, "BOONE!!!" when he spotted him in the middle of the table. We've talked about Boone every now and then, but Beau and I were both surprised Cruz recalled his little elf friend, sparking a discussion on just how long-term our little one's memory is at this point of his life.
Our North Pole breakfast included Cruz's favorite, blueberry muffins, some festive reindeer and snowman donuts, Boone's signature strawberry banana candy cane, and snow-chilled milk straight from the North Pole. Boone also brought Cruz a brand new Tow Mater ornament to hang on our tree and a new Christmas movie to add to our collection.
Cruz is having fun finding Boone in all sorts of odd places this week. This morning before school, the two of them sat by the Christmas tree and strung Apple Jack garland on pipe cleaners while they watched cartoons. Boone hung his on the tree; Cruz ate his ornament on the way to school. :)
More Boone pictures to come. Happy December!
To see last year's North Pole breakfast, visit here.
One more post of last week's pirate party...
