Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Head Marathon Cheerleader
Sam accompanied his mother up to Rochester to cheer her on at her latest athletic feat, marathon #9. While there he got a chance to visit Wegmans (for the first, second, and third time) and show the spectators at mile 1.25, 9, 15, 21, and 26 how it's done.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Sam's Shababaland CD "Star" Chart Complete! (Potty-Training Phase 1 Complete!)
At the end of June, when we had a week of no preschool and a few days
of no scheduled activities, I decided it was time to roll up the
carpets and take a big stab a getting Sam out of diapers. When I say
roll up the carpets, I mean I realized right after we started this
exercise that I needed to roll up the carpets (Sam showed me the hard
way while playing with trains in the living room). I'll say, those
first two days were stressful for both of us, but it got the idea
across: We would be having a lot more "underpants time" (at least while
we were at home). After a while of me reminding Sam to "try" to use the potty once an hour and every where we
went that had a facility (or a semi-secluded bush), something more was
needed. He could hold it for hours, but never (rarely) initiated the
need to go on his own (better things to do I suspect).
It was time to try out the tried-and-true Horowitz Family motivational tool, the Star Chart (Sheyna speaks of her fondness for these often--ask her if she still uses them for motivation). Sam just needed a good incentive. And what did he want more than anything else, his very own CD of everyone's favorite collection of Shababa (Shabbat-related and inspired) songs: Shababaland!
Once I finally got around to planning out a chart for him, I set a goal for him that I thought would be doable for him within two weeks.
8 days later, Sam has applied over a hundred stickers to a poster board for completing various desirable toileting habits with less and less prompting from adults. This morning he applied the last four stickers and happily presented in his chart and cash to a surprised Shababa staffer and spent the next 20 minutes clutching and caressing his CD.
Nice work Sam and thank you to the 92nd St Y and Shababa for inspiring the motivation.
The Shababa folks were impressed too, see link here.
Ask me what Phase 2 is... I don't know.
Someone needs to tell me. Maybe wiping himself properly and dealing
with buttons and zippers on his own, in which case it is going to be a LONG haul
to get to the end of Phase 2. I'll tell you this though. As the
weather turns cold and we seek out some new pants for Sam, elastic
waistbands will be highly coveted.
It was time to try out the tried-and-true Horowitz Family motivational tool, the Star Chart (Sheyna speaks of her fondness for these often--ask her if she still uses them for motivation). Sam just needed a good incentive. And what did he want more than anything else, his very own CD of everyone's favorite collection of Shababa (Shabbat-related and inspired) songs: Shababaland!
Once I finally got around to planning out a chart for him, I set a goal for him that I thought would be doable for him within two weeks.
8 days later, Sam has applied over a hundred stickers to a poster board for completing various desirable toileting habits with less and less prompting from adults. This morning he applied the last four stickers and happily presented in his chart and cash to a surprised Shababa staffer and spent the next 20 minutes clutching and caressing his CD.
Nice work Sam and thank you to the 92nd St Y and Shababa for inspiring the motivation.
The Shababa folks were impressed too, see link here.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Getting ready for Shabbat - Morning Performance
Tried to capture what has become a regular ritual, the morning Shababa imitation performance (here is a link to what he aspires to). This video just scratches the surface and started about 3 minutes into his performance. There was a mid-day performance as well and there will no doubt be an evening performance to round out the day.
Brooklyn Kite Festival & Evening Splashing Fun
BELATED POSTING DISCLAIMER: The events pictured took place on September 13, 2014 (Sam was exactly 3 years and 1 month old)
Preschooler by Day, Superhero by Night
BELATED POSTING DISCLAIMER: The events described took place on September 6, 8, & 10 2014.
Immediately following the trip to the Cape, Sam got back into the swing of things in NYC with a birthday celebration for a favorite friend. The theme was a hit, superheroes! Sam made a cape, got his face painted, and delighted in his new favorite meal: Pizza with Batman Juice (followed by cake of course).
A couple of days later was Sam's first day of preschool as a "preschooler" (no longer a "toddler" now that he is three) and his first day (hopefully of many) in underpants at school. After a morning of hard work at preschool, Sam disappeared and a new superhero made an appearance in the apartment.
Immediately following the trip to the Cape, Sam got back into the swing of things in NYC with a birthday celebration for a favorite friend. The theme was a hit, superheroes! Sam made a cape, got his face painted, and delighted in his new favorite meal: Pizza with Batman Juice (followed by cake of course).
A couple of days later was Sam's first day of preschool as a "preschooler" (no longer a "toddler" now that he is three) and his first day (hopefully of many) in underpants at school. After a morning of hard work at preschool, Sam disappeared and a new superhero made an appearance in the apartment.
A few days later there was another superhero sighting, this time, both in the apartment and on the streets (sidewalks) of the Upper West Side. Are those wheels street legal? (Wondering myself, some searching turned up this fact: Bikes with wheels under 26 inches in diameter and operated by a superhero under the age of twelve are welcome to safely patrol the sidewalks here in NYC.)
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