As mentioned [url=http://don.oninohana.com/blog/?postid=276]a few entries back[/url], Chloe is really starting to talk. Although the “Me make poo poo” thing may have been a misunderstanding. The next day after the first spoke those words, the said the same thing a few times, but this time she was pointing at Gabriel’s shirt that had Winnie the Pooh printed on it.
“Me make poo poo” = “Winnie the Pooh (poo)”
Yes, Gabriel and Chloe tend to add an extra “poo” on the end of the famous bear’s name. That’s always good for some laughs.
Anyway, as I was saying she is really making strides with her language. One of her recent catchphrases that just cracks me up everytime I hear it is “Down me”. This indicates that she wants to get down from somewhere. I’m not really sure what I find to be so funny about it…maybe it’s her tone of voice. It’s kind of monotone and she tends to speak her little sentences very quickly.
Gabriel is steadily advancing as well, but lately, he’s been letting his hands do the talking. He’s taken to hitting and pulling Chloe’s hair whenever he wants to get our attention or take something with which she’s currently playing. This was a stage that he went through several months ago that luckily passed pretty quickly, but now it’s back with a vengeance. Yesterday, he got six time-outs for misbehaving. Oh yeah, we’re trying to use short time-outs as suggested by our pediatrician. I’m not sure that he understands the concept yet as they don’t seem to be leading to any changes in his behavior.
Any suggestions from my faithful readers?
Not many magic tricks here. He probably is too young to make the association of punishment being the outcome of his behavior. Instead, he probably just sees you as a great big jerk for making him sit in the corner. 😀
The only thing that seems to get through to OUR little maniac is taking something away from him that really hurts- like Wii for the night or something. But it still really doesn’t correct behavior, it just makes him furious. I really do think that even he is too young to understand punishment to that degree. He knows why it happens, but he doesn’t yet have the self control to keep it from happening again. It’s really tough, man!
Robyn has found that if she can catch him just before he pulls Chloe’s hair and tell him to “be nice” or “be gentle” then it seems to redirect him and Gabriel will pat or rub her head rather than pulling or hitting. Doesn’t work all the time since we can’t watch them so closely every second, but it’s a start.