What affects a 3 year olds behaviour??



Grumpy BoyG!!



We have had a few behavioural issues with BoyG. Mostly since BabyG was born so at first we put it down to jealousy. BabyG is now 11 weeks old and it had started to get worse instead of better. The main thing was that he was just not listening to what I said to him. As it was getting to the point where I was close to tears, DaddyG and I decided something needed to be done!!

We have put some things in place already but we are still open to try even more.

So far this is what we have tried...

Roaring - BoyG likes to roar at people! Its very frustrating. No one likes it. I hate it! He seems to do it for attention so at the moment we are trying to ignore it. It seems to be working as he is doing it much less than before.

Reward chart - We now have a sticker chart. I just drew a chart on some A3 paper and he gets a sticker if he is a good boy. There are two columns; morning and afternoon. So he can get up to 14 stickers in a week. If he gets at least 10 then he can have a special treat the following week. A favourite for him is to go to a play area with his friends. If he gets all 14 he will get an extra treat.

Television - We realised we had the tv on far too much. We now limit it. We have it turned off most of the day. BoyG gets to watch a little in the morning, and maybe after lunch and then after tea if he has been good. This seems to be working well. When he does have it turned on now, it is more of a distraction than before. And he plays with his toys a lot more now that there is no telly to laze around infront of.

Sweets and treats - Originally I took these away as I thought 'he's misbehaving so he shouldn't be rewarded with sweets and biscuits'. When BoyG had been very good for a couple of days, we let him have a biscuit as a reward. Literally as soon as he had finished the biscuit, his behaviour changed. It was like having another child instead of BoyG!! He was rude, hyper, and stopped listening again!!

With this in mind, I went and bought some healthy fruit treats with no added colours or flavours. And for biscuits we got some rich tea biscuits. I got some PomBear crisps as I believe them to be better, and so far they seem to be fine for him.

All of this seems to be doing wonders for BoyG. He is much calmer (most of the time!) and actually seems happier. Also, because I have to shout a lot less, he has a lot more cuddles for me. All in all its win win!!

Remember remember the 5th November!!



BoyG with a sparkler



Well its the 6th actually but we had to wait till DaddyG had a day off!!

We have been waiting for DaddyG to be at home for the fireworks. For the past 4 days, BoyG has woken up asking "Is it my fireworks today?" so he finally got his fireworks and his favourite food!



BoyG and BoyT



BoyG and BabyT with DaddyG



We've had a lovely evening of sausages, potatoes, fireworks and sparklers. BoyG had his friends over for tea and fireworks that DaddyG was organising. MummyT, BoyT and BabyT were here with us. The boys had a great time playing, they loved the fireworks, and they helped eat lots of yummy sausages! It was nice as I got to catch up with MummyT who I haven't seen for a while. BabyG liked watching the fireworks before returning to his bouncy chair (he loves his chair!!).

 



Lots of sausages sizzling in a pan!!


All in all it was a great evening. I love having children - it makes celebrations much more fun :0)

Mummys little soldier



BabyG once he was well again



I just want to write about my amazing baby and all that he has been through and survived. Apologies if it is a little mixed up. To be honest it is still a tender subject to me but I want to write about someone special that BabyG saw yesterday so I feel I should write about the background of it all.



After his operation in London



BabyG was very poorly when he was only 10 days old. He gave us such a fright! He was rushed to Ipswich hospital in an ambulance where they made sure he was stable and did their very best to get him well again. The problem was with BabyG's heart but as they dont specialise in paedeatric cardiology in Ipswich, BabyG was sent to the Evelina hospital in London. When he was there he went to their intensive care unit. He had a condition called coarctation of the aorta. His aorta was very narrow and went in an hour glass shape so much so that the blood could not flow through. The blood was not being able to flow to the lower half of his body so there was no pulse in his groin, legs, or feet. The reason we didn't know about this earlier, is that when you are in the womb and don't need to use your lungs, you have an extra duct which bypasses the lungs. The blood was bypassing the bit of BabyG that was too thin. That duct goes away gradually and then at around ten days old it dissapears and the heart starts to function normally. When it started to dissapear is when BabyG got poory.



DaddyG's first cuddle after BabyG's operation



BabyG's scar



BabyG had to have open heart surgery at 11 days old, and he was on heart bypass. It was such a hard time for the whole family but out little fighter made a full recovery and I am forever grateful to everybody involved in saving my baby's life!

My midwife came to see BabyG at home when I told her he wasnt himself. She is the one that called an ambulance as when she was holding him his colour just drained from him.

I went to Ipswich hospital yesterday to see someone else who played an important part in saving BabyG. The doctor that helped him in Ipswich asked me to bring him in to see her when he was better. I said I would, although at the time I still didnt think he would make it. But he did! So, I went to see her yesterday afternoon. It was so lovely to see her, and give her a huge hug! She got a lovely cuddle with BabyG while BoyG played with the toys in the waiting area. On our way out to the car, she took us through to the resuscitation room where BabyG had been when he was brought in by ambulance. It felt very strange being back there and it brought back lots of memories. There were a few tears shed today! But im so glad i got to go back to see the doctor and thank her for all she did!



BabyG havinh his check up at the Evelina Childrens Hospital in London



Halloween 2012

Logan and I have been getting ready for halloween for the most part of October. We had a 'Halloween box' with all sorts of fun things in it. From painting, glueing, and putting up banners, to making spooky cakes and biscuits. He has loved spending time with mummy just the two of us, and he has been very creative. My favourite was the picture he painted of a pumpkin.

Logan (who i will now call BoyG) dressed up as a bat and was very scary. He is very into batman at the moment!

Riley (who i will now call BabyG) was dressed up as a pumpkin. He looked very cute!

We will shortly be taking it all down and putting most of it in the loft for next year. Logan is already asking me if we can start the things in the 'christmas box' but i think we may need to make him wait at least till mid november!

My lovely little family

This is my first ever post on my blog, so I thought id start with a bit about myself and my three favourite people - my family.

I have a lovely husband, Duncan, and I am mummy to two gorgeous boys.

Logan is 3 years old. He is so independant, he hates to accept any help from anyone! He is so loving and caring.... And my little monster!!

Riley is 10 weeks old. He is a sweet, smiley little boy. Riley's character is now starting to show, after a very tough start in life, having major heart surgery at just 12 days old!

Riley had a condition called Coarctation of the Aorta. His aorta was too narrow and the blood was not being pumped round to the lower parts of his body. He was rushed to the Evelina hospital in London for heart surgery, where a brilliant team took great care of him and made him better. That was possibly the toughest time in my life so far but thankfully we have come through it and Riley is ok now, although he will have regular check ups for a long time to make sure everything stays working how it should be. We are just lucky that he was a good sized baby at birth, that he did not have a traumatic birth, and that he is a little fighter!

Logan is a typical 3 year old.... He wants to be involved in everything, helping me with anything he can. He is a cheeky little boy with a smile that just makes me melt and he most definatly keeps me on my toes!!

We have a few jealousy issues since Riley's arrival, especially as we had to be away from him for a week when Riley was poorly, but overall, he is a very proud big brother, telling me when Riley cries and telling me that Riley must be hungry again. The scariest thing he has done is carry a 4 week old Riley into me in the next room because "He is crying mummy. He needs you"

 

My blog is all about my life with my two boys, watching them grow, and enjoying every moment of it :O)