Discipline - define that please

So just a quick update on the weaning...Christian decided himself that he was done! I was nursing him one night last week. While he was nursing, he bit me. I yelled; he got scared and cried. From that point on, he refused to nurse. I tried the next morning and then the next evening just to see if it was indeed a cold turkey move. The last time I got situated, he hid his face under his blankey!! Talk about rejection! :) But in a way, I'm glad it wasn't a longer process than that. He seems fine, though I have noticed that he snuggles a lot more with me - he does the mom's apron strings hug where he comes up behind me and hugs my legs while I'm standing. Very cute!

So weaning is weaned! Now on to the next big learning curve - discipline! He is a spirited boy who has a quick temper and frustration limit. Yesterday, his sippy cup was upside down and because he couldn't get the milk out he got angry and bit down hard on it! Tantrum!

Dan and I are discussing our discipline strategies - the whole gamut: time outs, removal techniques, spanking, etc. I'm looking into the evangelical press books as well as some secular (specifically the Supernanny). It's definitely a topic that begs prayer!

One of our current challenges is throwing food from his chair. I tell him not to; he looks at me and does it again! Stinker!!

Will keep you updated...

Conversationally, he is gathering more and more words and sounds. At the moment I'm forgetting some new ones. I'll have to start a list when I'm around him at home...

I still miss him while at work and hope that more time will be portioned in the future. The time goes by so fast! Dan was gone in DC from Wednesday to Sunday and he even said that Christian is a whole new person!

Last item: his molars are finally coming through. The first couple broke through last week. I just pray that he has some relief. It's been a rough, long episode.

Road trip, family reunion & nutrition - plus photos from bday party!

Here are some pictures from the birthday party:
This card sings the 'eensy weensy spider.' He loves it! He rocks and bops to the music.
This is one of the gifts...clothes and a shape sorter.
Mmmm...banana cake with cream cheese frosting...
Lovely cake a la Amy (not Martha Stewart that's for sure!)

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This week my family will have a reunion of sorts - my paternal grandmother passed away on Friday night. Grandma Jean had been declining for over a year and a half and so her passing was both a welcome and a sad event. She had recently turned 90! But really the past few years were not of great quality. She had dementia, had an eye excised and other issues. It is an end of an era and passing of the torch. I have no grandparents left, I realized! Now my parents are the main trunk of the family tree. It will be something to process over the next weeks...

On Wednesday we will pick up my brother from the airport, pack up our car and make our way up to Michigan. It will be Christian's longest car ride so far. I'm kind of anxious about it - he doesn't like to be strapped in for very long. We hope to time it with his afternoon snooze. If not, his uncle can maybe entertain him for the 2.5 hours.

I am excited that he will get to see and play with his cousins and second cousins. Catching up with the cousins is always a good time. And this will be his third time with my sister's kids. We will see everyone at the wake and dinner following and then also at the funeral services and lunch. We will also be going to a waterpark for a couple of hours (not really a reverent outing but sounds fun! our hotel doesn't have a pool or anything).

So we'll see how he relates to the family at large and then also to swimming. He loved it when he was 4.5 months. We'll see if it stuck!

As for the weaning process - I packed up my pumping materials! However, I will continue to nurse in the morning and evening for awhile. It seems like we have been feeding Christian constantly. He's always got a snack or something. I noticed that he is definitely taller; my mom said he looks a little chubbier on his face. We will see what the doctor says in three weeks.

When he likes something, he bops up and down with his upper body and hums a 'yum' of sorts. SO CUTE:)

More later...

1st Birthday

We celebrated Christian's first birthday this past Saturday. Both sets of grandparents were able to come witness him eat cake and ice cream (though my parents have sneaked him ice cream and Dan's parents have sneaked him frosting). But he enjoyed being the center of attention - having the birthday song sung a couple of times. The night's winners included the balloons we gave him, blocks my mom gifted, and a card that sung the eensy weensy spider when opened. He loved the ice cream and cake. One funny highlight - the onesie he was wearing was a bit too big around the chest area so when we stripped him and put him in the tub we found a ton of cake in his diaper!

We can't believe he's one, in some ways. We visited the doctor this morning for his 12 month appointment. He's a bit underweight, so we will have to work on his table food ingestion!! Moving toward full weaning as well - whole milk, no bottles. I'm relieved that I'll be weaning myself from the breast pump, but there's also a sadness too that comes with weaning. Still, we are proud to have survived and to have him survive:) We are not experts by any means - just survivors. We have so much to learn. I guess maybe having another kid would allow us more confidence in some ways. But I cannot even think about that right now!

Well- on to toddler hood. If any of you have advice, we'd love to hear it!