Bad Mommy Award Winner!

I used to have a lot of theories about raising a child.  Now I have a child, and no theories.  This week I did one of those things I never thought I would do.  I would like to preface by saying that I enjoy going out to dinner.  To say that Hannie does NOT enjoy it is a little bit of an understatement.  I try to keep her entertained with crayons, books, crackers, toys, etc. But she just doesn't tolerate being strapped in a high chair for more than 20 minutes, and most of the time one of us ends up wolfing down our food and walking her around outside until the rest of us are finished eating.  So I gave in.  I pushed my thoughts of mommy guilt to the back of my mind, plunked down (WAY TOO MUCH) money and purchased the Fisher-Price Kid Tough Portable DVD player, designed to stand up to even the most wild and crazy toddler.  And guess what? IT WORKS!!!

For all the haters, I should mention that we don't watch TV at home, and so I don't feel TOO bad about letting her watch a semi-educational video every few days when we hit the restaurants.  And I am guessing the other diners don't mind not having to listen to a howling, unhappy toddler either.  So that's my confession, please don't judge! I am going to include at the end of this post a video of Hannie identifying body parts to make up for the movie-watchin' :-)

December continues to fly by with the holidays just around the corner and the weather poised to turn treacherous any day now, we are trying to pack in as many fun activities as we can.  Here are some  recent pics of holiday fun, including a holiday party, sledding in the snow, seeing Scuba Santa at the Aquarium, and fun at EnterTRAINment Junction with Hannie's Kaz friend Kamilla!

 

In my profession, when patients can't remember the past, we call them "poor historians."  The same could be said for me these days.  Since I never did get around to getting Hannie a baby book (again, Bad Mama Award), I use this blog to keep track of my Best Girl's milestones.  WARNING BRAG ALERT!!!  Boy is she doing great!  She is identifying and sorting (and labeling!) shapes and colors, demonstrating comprehension of pronouns and some opposites, knows over 20 body parts, can take off (and even sometimes put on) her clothes, throws balls, and her fine motors skills are wonderful.  She draws lines and has a great pincer (sp?) grasp.  I have stopped counting words and phrases because she has so many, and she has also started to sing a bit (her favorite -- e-i-e-i-o).  She also gets SO excited to be in the company of other kids.  My mom takes her to several playgroups throughout the week, which is great for her social skills.  Gross motor-wise, she is still behind, however, she is now regularly taking around 7 steps independently.  She kind of lurches around and looks like Frankenstein when she walks, it's pretty funny, I will have to video it.  I purchased literally hundreds of dollars in assistive equipment for her -- walking wings, braces, Suresteps, etc.  In the end it was a 50 cent bag of candy that did the trick.  It is AMAZING what this child will do for a single blue M&M.   She still needs to work on motor skills though, but Help Me Grow won't classify her as physically delayed until 18mos, so next month she may qualify for some more services. We shall see.  The only other issue we are having is behavioral in nature.  Hannie has recently become more aggressive when playing with her peers. After several unsuccessful attempts to discourage the behavior, I have begun following the Alderian approach to behavior management.  Basically, I am teaching her to be respectful by using a logical consequence (aka, a modified time-out).  So effective immediately, the rule in the Herman house is: IF YOU HIT, YOU SIT. I am being consistent and following through and I believe the message is getting across.  Well that is it for this post, Merry Christmas To All and To All a Good Night! 

    

 Biology is the least of what makes someone a Mother ~Unknown

Childbirth is an act of nature, adoption is an act of God ~Unknown