...And Doing Fine!

Alex just stunned me. He woke a few hours ago. Fever is gone. He's back to his normal self.

He just grabbed a glass from the table and brought it to his desk. Then he took a bottle of water and brought that to his desk. He opened the bottle by twisting the cap off, poured a little bit of water into the glass like he's done it a million times and then closed up the bottle again.

I had no idea he could pour liquid from a bottle so well. I laughed and must have had a look of amazement on my face. He looked at me and smiled a shy smile.

Monday, August 30

Sleeping Off a Fever

Poor Alex ran a fever yesterday. Daddy even took him to the PM Pediatric clinic in town when he hit 102.9 F. No obvious infection was found. None has shown up either. Alex wasn't thrilled about the Motrin, but it was doing its work in lowering the fever.

He had an unusal melt-down after Tumbles today. High sensitivity bringing on tears usually means 'tired' - and he was. I put him down for a nap at around 2. I checked his temp an hour later and it was normal. Orquidea called at around 4 and when I tried to wake him, he cried. I brought him into the living room and he curled up on his chair. I still can't get him to wake completely. I hope this doesn't mean a really late night.

Somehow, I think he just really needs it right now. Sleep tight baby.

Monday, August 30

Trophies Are Nice, But...

Later in the afternoon, Alex heard the ice cream truck's music. A magical siren, it is - this half-midi 'Music Box Dancer'. Daddy went into Dress Alex Emergency Mode (because he was naked again). Mommy went into Emergency Flag Down Mode.

I ran down Hunter Street all the way to Halstead before Billie, one of our neighbors, was able to hold him there for me. He said that he'd come back around to our block. I ran back to the house and informed Daddy and Alex who were waiting outside.

We didn't wait long before Alex heard his magic chimes again. 'He's coming! He's coming!' he cheered.

We bought two Chocolate Eclair bars and had ourselves an outdoor ice cream time. Now, Alex thinks it's a proper celebration.

Saturday, August 28

Two Trophies in One Day!

Alex has slept in his Big Boy Bed at night for three weeks in a row. He's been able to go to bed when told that it's bedtime AND kept Quiet Time for two weeks straight. That earned him a big star for each of the past two weeks in this category.

But the REAL triumph came in that Alex has been using the potty on his own for two weeks now. He doesn't care to wear any pull-ups or diapers, except at night. He doesn't let me put a pull-up on for naps, but he's shown to not need them. He's even stayed dry through the night, using the potty as soon as he wakes up in the morning. These all earned him lots of smiley faces and stars with small prizes and treats. At the end of the weeks, he got a Big Star twice in a row.

That meant he won two more trophies; one for sleeping in the big boy bed daily, the other for using the potty daily. (It also meant that he won Kevin the crane and Hiro, the black locomotive.)

Congratulations Alex!!

Saturday, August 28

Silly Day

Mommy's been awfully tired lately. Today was no exception, even though she didn't go to the gym. We wound up off schedule today, having meals later than usual. Then Alex won some treats for potty and clean-up and Mommy completely forgot to restrict the treats before dinner.

So, Mommy declared it to be Silly Day. Dinner was at Applebee's where Mommy had a nice protein loaded steak with lots and lots of steamed broccoli and Alex had - ICE CREAM!

Alex would like it to be Silly Day more often.

Friday, August 27

Stylin'

Alex has been quite motivated to win Kevin, the land crane. He's already won him for having slept in his Big Boy Bed for 3 weeks. I told him that his award ceremony is on Saturday, so he has to keep up going to bed like a big boy and minding Quiet Time. Alex has decided to put in some extra effort, perhaps in the hopes of making Kevin arrive sooner. Today, he took to pulling up his own underwear after each potty use. That earns him purple smiley faces for dressing himself.

He took his underwear completely off for his last potty use. Normally he needs my help for that. Not this time. He sat down and put them on himself, jumping up to pull them up as if he were pulling up long pants.

Except...they're on backwards. I just noticed it and informed him of this.

'But everyone wants to see the picture on the front!' he argued.

A new style for men? Somebody alert Marc Jacobs.

Thursday, August 26

An Even MORE Big Boy Stuff

Alex didn't nap today, but he did keep Quiet Time anyway. I heard him talking in his room for most of it. He didn't ask to be let out of his room until after I said that Quiet Time was over.

And if that wasn't Big Boy enough...

When he got out of his room, he was dancing around as if he'd had to go potty. He was grabbing the back of his underwear and I asked if he had to do poopies. He said 'In the potty!'. He dashed to the potty, pulled down his undies and used the potty.

THAT was a really, really Big Boy thing.

I tried to give him a special prize for that, but he argued and cried for the new Cars racing puzzle. I tried to explain that it was for Poop Potty several times in a row, but he was really upset and seemed to feel betrayed. I thought better of it and concluded that he had waited until this moment to even ask for the puzzle. I first thought that I could give it to him pieces at a time and that way I would accomplish what I'd intended it for. Then, after I opened it, I realized it would be meaningless to him in pieces. There was no way he could put it together. So I said 'Later' to my cleaning and assembled the puzzle. Alex declared 'I have a new idea!' When I asked what that was he said 'We can do it together! Like teamwork!'

He's a bigger boy than even using potty indicates. We played with the puzzle and its racing cars. I talked him into waiting for Daddy to come home to continue. Then I gave him his big stars on his chart.

Congratulations baby!

Thursday, August 26

Just Like a Circus...Kinda

Alex loves the shows at Playland. His favorite is 'High Voltage', a song and dance show that features a juggler who does acrobatic and balancing tricks. One stunt this juggler does involves balancing on a high platform while juggling large knives.

Tonight, Alex grabbed some plastic forks and knives from the table and started to try to juggle with them. He wasn't too successful.

'It's too hard to juggle knives and forks', he told me.

Tuesday, August 24

Somersaults!

At Stompers class today, Alex was encouraged into a 'forward roll' or, a somersault. He was so thrilled to have done one, that he wanted to do it again and again. After that lesson was over, he kept trying on his own.

He's so happy to be learning so many new skills!

Monday, August 23

Lazy Sunday With a Big Boy

Any concerns that last night may have jeopardized Alex's potty skills were unfounded.  He went potty as soon as he needed to this morning. Then, he went one further.  He reminded him to use the potty and he responded by saying that he wanted to use the bathroom. 

Daddy took him in there, set up him up with a stool and...he used the toilet!!!

Well done, my big boy.

August 22, 2010

A Big Prize Earned

All summer long, Alex has wanted a specific fire engine from the souvenir stand at Playland. All summer long, the same operator has answered his questions about the fire engine, along with other vehicles they have there. I told the operator that he had to earn those cars by using potty.

Since Alex has been such a Potty Champ and has achieved the first step of keeping his underwear dry all day long - he's earned his first big prize; the fire engine! Daddy had wanted to do a family day at Playland so, today was the day!

We traveled with Daddy to Playland and the FIRST place we went was the souvenir stand. I told the operator there that Alex had finally won his fire engine! But Alex didn't want the tower ladder engine they had there by now. He preferred the school bus. Well, OK. Fine.

Mommy bought a whole bunch of souvenirs to remind her of this special summer spent at Playland (especially since it won't be around for much longer). I bought a Playland T-shirt for Alex, a pennant for his room to match his new adventure page that's coming, and a boat for Mommy's room, on which I'm going to paint 'Playland 2010'. Then we had lunch. Alex didn't want the Nathan's fries we got him. He wanted 'regular' fries (read: Burger King's). AND he wanted his pink lemonade!
Then we had fun with Daddy. We took a Lake Boat cruise with Captain Bill. I tried to get Alex to take some Quiet Time while we waited for the boat to leave. So, Daddy laid down on the seat. Alex told Daddy to get up right away.

"This is the steamboat. This is not Mommy and Daddy bedroom. You can't take a nap on the steamboat!"

We went on lots of rides like the carousel and the Ferris wheel and the submarine and on the antique cars twice! We played arcade games and got a special prize. While Alex and Daddy were on the carousel, Mommy snuck off to the first arcade. There, I won 134 tickets in a single jackpot, making it possible to finally win Alex's beloved Volkswagen Beetle.
See, the second arcade was out of them by the time we won the 350 tickets it required. We settled for an F-16 fighter jet. That very same day, we saw the VW Beetle in the first arcade. They wouldn't let me trade the prizes. Soooo, I won it anyway! It was a fun and prize packed summer at Playland afterall.

Alex was wiped out, but hanging in there. He babbled all the way home in the cab, telling the cab driver, Kate, what his favorite part of the day was. When Alex said "My favorite part was the steamboat." and Dan responded, Alex said "No, not you. I was talking to the cab driver."

We got the driver's attention so that Alex could tell her all about his day.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

A Noble Attempt

Incidentally, our Playland trip was a test of Alex's new potty skills resolve. He'd never been out, away from his potty for so long since starting serious potty training.

While at the park, we tried to talk Alex into using a public potty, but there was no luck on that. Eventually, the hours without going to the bathroom took their toll. I had been successful in talking him into wearing a pull-up in our last attempt at potty. That way, he wouldn't feel so uncomfortable when the inevitable happened. It did. And poor Alex started to cry when it did. We had to reassure him that there was no way he could hold it forever.

I was worried that this would be a major set-back. Those fears were banished when he used the potty nearly immediately upon coming home. Well done, my Big Boy.

Next step, learning how to use a public potty.

Saturday, August 21

What's This? Naps??

One of Alex's BBBC skill categories involves better sleep training. He earns a smiley face for keeping Quiet Time and stars for either taking a nap at Quiet Time or going to bed without a fuss. He's chosen the Big Prize of Kevin, the land mini-crane, for his first skill awards in this category.

Kevin and the alternative prize, Hiro arrived today with a new book with a story containing both of them, 'Hiro of the Rails'. Alex has been surprising me lately with naps. I'll tell him that he needs to keep Quiet Time when I tell him to and that he can read during that time. He was excited to read his new story during today's Quiet Time.

Boy! Was he ever excited. I guess open gym time at Tumbles did its work.

Friday, August 20

Dry All Day!!

Congratulations Alex! You've conquered a big step in potty training! You kept your underwear dry all day long!

Special prize for that one - an ambulance!

Moving closer to those big ol' prizes. Kevin and Hiro arrived today. Playland is planned for Saturday, so we can get the fire engine. Oh boy, oh boy, oh Big Boy!

Thursday, August 19

Grandpa Fashion

Alex asked me if he could put on socks this afternoon. I told him to go get a pair from his sock drawer and I would help him put them on. He emerged from his room with two pairs of socks and his Buzz Lightyear sandals. He excitedly sat down on his chair trying to get them all on at once. I sat down to help him.

'I'm pretending like grandpa!' he announced.

Pretending like grandpa? I got the socks on his feet and he quickly worked to get the sandals on over them. I got what he meant - I think.

'Alex, I have never seen your grandpa wear socks with sandals.' I told him as I helped him close the sandals.

'Yeah! Yeah! He does!' Alex announced 'And I'm just like grandpa!'. He stomped around the house with glee.

Gerardo, if you're reading this, I have no idea where he thinks he got this fashion idea. I'll try to keep his announcing his Grandpa Fashion influence to a minimum. I'd hate to have him slandering you like this.

Tuesday, August 17

Ice Cream Man of My Dreams

During my recent trip to the supermarket, Alex insisted on carrying a basket and choosing items he wanted. He headed straight for the frozen food aisle, looking for his 'bars'. Those would be Good Humor's Chocolate Eclair bars, the first of which he ever had when I bought two from the Good Humor ice cream truck in the neighborhood.

Now, Alex's summer has become about an intense search for the Ice Cream truck. If he should hear a slight sound that MIGHT be the chiming 'Music Box Dancer' song that the truck plays, he dashes to the window to see it.

Yesterday, I'd offered an ice cream bar from the freezer because he'd been so brave in the Applebee's bathroom. His first time trying a public potty! He enjoyed the ice cream, but he soon started to cry while having it.

'It's not from the ice cream truck!' he sobbed. I mean - for real - sobbing. That led to a promise that we would get ice cream from the ice cream truck. I flagged the guy down when we heard him, got Alex dressed and bought us each a fudge and banana ice pop. No good either. He wanted a RAINBOW ice pop.

So, today, while he was stark naked, the chimes were heard. The strains of 'Music Box Dancer' called him to the window. Daddy was home and I had him dress Alex so that we could go to the truck I'd flagged down. It took a while. You see, Alex will not go out unless he is completely dressed - shoes and all.

I went out to the truck to explain. Soon enough, Daddy emerged with Alex and he got his Rainbow Ice Pop. Like the fudgescicle before it, it proved to be too big for Alex. It's now in the freezer being kept for a later time.  And I'm betting that it will be forgotten in favor of a new ice cream bar bought from the poor ice cream man waiting for Alex to dress once again tomorrow.

Dan told me that while he was dressing him, Alex told him "I love the ice cream truck. I love the ice cream man."

At least he now knows he's loved while I make him wait.

Saturday, August 14

Superhero Delivery

Alex has done so well with sleeping in his Big Boy Bed that Mommy actually had to order more sheets! We didn't have any more than 1 set of toddler sheets. He wasn't sleeping in the bed, so they weren't getting dirty. Now he's been sleeping there for 2 weeks! Ooops! Sheet emergency! (He does wear an overnight diaper though. And they've been dry every other morning.)

After all, all Mommy has to replace on the bed are his baby sheets. That simply will not do!

So, when I realized that he was going to succeed at Big Boy Bed training, I ordered a new set. This one was of all his favorite Marvel superheroes. These sheets have Iron Man and Spiderman and Wolverine! (And the Hulk and some others we haven't met yet, like Silver Surfer). They arrived on Friday.

Alex was sooo excited about his new sheets, especially when Mommy put the comforter down, he didn't want to leave his bed!

Saturday, August 14

Winds of Change

For Big Boy Boot Camp, I've been promising Alex that he would see some changes in his room. I'll be creating some more Adventure scrap pages to hang up. We don't want the BABY ones up there any longer! I've already replaced some baby pictures on the dining room wall. Alex was quite pleased with that turn of events.

On Friday, I received notice that the extra bench/shelves I ordered for his room are on backorder. I decided to do some rearranging to see if I really needed them. (I do). In the process, I wound up trying to find more space in his room. I accomplished that partly by removing two specific items: his baby clothes hamper (which was torn anyway) and...the diaper pail!

I haven't been able to use his changing table since March. He got used to having his diapers changed on the floor, so it wound up making it unnecessary to have the diaper pail right at hand. Now, he wears only one diaper and one pull-up per day; for overnights and naps respectively.

So, into the kitchen it went. Alex was upset only a little by the removal of the hamper. I explained that this means that his clothing will go into the family hamper now. (In the bathroom, where he gets undressed for bedtime anyway).

Lots of work went into this rearrangement and it STILL looks crowded. Hmmm, maybe a toy purge is in order.

Yeah, right.

Friday, August 13

Trainer Alex

Since Alex continued to use the potty without prompting, I took him to the Open Gym session at Tumbles today with the promise that he could have another J.W. Tumbles T-shirt. (The one we got Wednesday was in the wash).

He was SO excited to get his new orange Tumbles shirt that he grabbed it from me and ran into the bathroom so that we could put it on. He spent the rest of the gym play time strutting around and trying to help the littler kids with their gym training.

'I'm a trainer', he told one little girl up on the adventure fort.

OK, but first you have to pay attention to YOUR trainers first, pal.

Then he spent the walk home leading me down a different route home, strutting all the way down the sidewalk by himself. Well, he DID agree to sit on the public potty at Applebee's today. It's not like he's a real little kid or anything!

Friday, August 13

Nature Explorers

Sometimes Alex's cool, red binoculars can come in handy. Like, this morning when we spotted a hawk on a nearby treetop. We took turns watching him with the binoculars. Alex (and I) thought it was so cool!

Friday, August 13

I'm in Charge Here

Alex has been taking his new Big Boy role very seriously. On our way back from J.W. Tumbles, he insisted on a new way home. Then he insisted on walking it by himself.

Well, OK, if it's on the sidewalk.

Friday, August 13

No Prompt POTTY!!

He did it! By himself!!

Only today I was wondering if I was getting this whole potty-training thing all wrong. For the past four days, Alex has had only about 1 accident a day. That's a sharp decrease from the seven accidents he had last Wednesday. However, which one of us was really being trained here? I was constantly prompting Alex to sit on the potty within 15 minutes following a meal and whenever I felt he needed to go. Additionally, he HATES poop accidents. Each time he has one, he'll spend the next few hours and into the next day sitting on the potty trying to avoid another one.

Sooooo...what exactly is he learning if I'm telling him to sit on the potty or if he just won't get off it? He's bound to have a low number of accidents that way. I posted the question to my Moms of Yuku. They advised that this is the way it's supposed to work. It will 'click' after spending time with my prompting.

No sooner did I post that question did it happen. We had just finished picking up toys (for which he earned a pink smiley face sticker). I was in the living room picking up the rest of the things lying around when Alex dashed to the potty. He pulled his underwear down and sat.

I asked him if he had to do pee and he smiled from ear-to-ear. I hooped and hollered. Dan heard me and joined the ruckus. Sure enough, within about ten seconds of sitting down, he peed. Oh! We made such a HUGE deal of it. A star sticker for that one! But it gets better.

I continued to clean up and Dan did as well. They went into the bath. I folded a load of laundry and was busy putting it away. They came out of the bath and Dan was getting Alex's bed ready and then picking up in the bathroom. I called Dan into Alex's room to show him how many yellow smiley faces Alex had earned in the Potty category that day. Just then, we noticed it. Pee in the bedroom potty. I know it was clean when we cleaned up Alex's room before his bath.

We asked him if he'd used the potty AGAIN after his bath and he declared with glee "YEAH!"

Twice - a no prompt potty using.  He won a special accomplishment prize for that.

Congratulations Alex!

Thursday, August 12

Not So Fast

Big Boy Boot Camp may be roaring along at home, but Alex's class behavior isn't so Big Boy yet. At today's class, he was directly refusing the teacher - running off to play on his own, not waiting his turn. I had to tell him that we wouldn't stay for free play time because of his behavior. That, especially, since Kelly had to ask me if it was OK to give him Time Outs in class. Ooops!

More work on class behavior, Alex! Especially if you want to take a music class this fall!

Wednesday, August 11

Moving Those Skillz Along

Big Boy Boot Camp has been more of a success than I could have imagined in just one week's time. Alex has been coming to the table for meals nearly as soon as he's called. He's been keeping Quiet Time and even napping! (And needing naps too!) He's sometimes been putting his toys away when directed. He's been taking off his own pants and underwear and putting his pjs back in the drawer when asked.

This past Sunday, he won a trophy for having given up the bottle! OK, so in all honesty, this one was a skill we control. He doesn't even have the ability to backslide, because we just won't give him a bottle. But still! He gave it up with very little objection and is now saying that bottles are for babies.

When he won the trophy, he wanted to take it everywhere with him and even slept with it. Then after I had replaced his daily skill chart with a new one, he took the previous week's chart and hung it back up. He was PROUD of those stickers!

I hung it back up. Who am I to take a boy's stickers away?

Tuesday, August 10

You Mean There's TREATS?

Alex has been understanding that he gets a treat for each time he uses the potty. Never underestimate the power of Swedish Fish to work potty miracles.

Sunday, August 8

A Day Out With Daddy

Alex went to a whole bunch of places with Daddy today. There was the library and the park and Mamaroneck Avenue and everything! More to come on this. I need to get Dan's list of Alexisms from this day. I know that thanking a lady for information on the direction of the ice cream truck was involved. As was saying 'Hi Steve!' to our mail carrier - whose name is Steve.

Saturday, August 7

Working Man

A Big Boy needs his own work ID, doesn't he? Now, Alex is just like Daddy. He tells me that he needs to take Diego Car to Greenburgh, where he has to go to work.

Wow, I never thought Big Boy Boot Camp would work that fast!

Thursday, August 5

A Special Event

POOPIES!

Alex. Potty. Mater.
Excellent.

Thursday, August 5

1...2...3 Musgik Please!

Alex had his first Stompers class at J. Tumbleyou Tumbles today. The teacher's name is Kelly and she was just fantastic. There were only three other children in the class with Alex, but one older girl, Dylan, was particularly sweet and polite to him.

Alex wasn't too into following along with the class, but he was sure happy to be in a class - or, really, at J. Tumbleyou Tumbles. He often ran off from the class to play on the fort or climb on the soft blocks and beanbags. I'm hoping he learns to pay attention a little bit better as our adventure in Big Boy Boot Camp continues through August.

Given that it's Tumbles...probably not.

Wednesday, August 4

Wheels a-turnin' and it makes me grumpy!

Yesterday, I had to coax Alex to come to CVS, which was unusual. Normally, he can't wait to get there to see the toys - and, of course, demand some. I had to pick up his Big Boy Boot Camp poster which had been delivered to that store yesterday morning.

After I'd picked up the poster at the photo counter, I checked out some craft supplies to see if I could get any ideas about mounting the poster. This section is right near the toy section. On our way in, Alex had already grabbed a shopping basket. Sure enough, he loaded up a toy he's wanted for a while. It's a fire engine/firefighter collection.

I left the paper section with no ideas for mounting and told Alex we were leaving. He headed towards the counter with the fire engine toys in his basket. I grabbed the box of toys and placed it back on the counter. That sent Alex into a crying jag.

I told him that I understood why he was upset, but we were in Boot Camp now. All toys must be earned. On our way down the street, I continued to explain to him that he had already earned some pretty cool toys that day and he had lots of opportunities to earn more in the coming weeks. I offered to substitute the CVS fire engine collection for the Playland fire engine as a Big Prize. He wailed. 'No! No prize! It's a regular toy!'

I told him that he seems to like EARNED toys better than he likes gift toys. He said that wasn't true. 'No! I like regular toys! I don't like prizes!'"

"Oh, really?" I asked "Then why is it that you SLEEP with the earned toys and always want them with you? I saw you. Last night you slept with the traffic sign you earned. Today, you brought the ice cream truck and the snake with you in your backpack. I think you like the earned toys better than regular toys."

He went quiet after that. He stopped his argument about earned toys being no good. In fact, he went totally silent and folded his arms. He told me to not hold his hand, or his arm. He wrenched his forearm away from me while we were trying to cross a big intersection. At the other side, he cried that I'd hurt his arm. I told him that >I< hadn't done that. He did. If I make a mistake, I apologize, but that one wasn't MY mistake. It was his. I took his other hand so that he could nurse his "hurt" arm.

He continued to be grumpy for the next few blocks and then all was forgotten.

Hmmmmm, grumpy when he knows I'm right, perhaps? I can see it in his eyes when he earns a prize. I know how proud he gets. Mamas know these things.

Tuesday, August 3

Let's Take the Shovel!

Alex and I headed off to the Bronx Zoo. He's been asking for a trip there for months, especially when he sees the 61 bus go by. ('I want to go to the Bronx Zoo! Let's get on the bus!')

We took the train that day, because as convenient as the 61 might be, it's also a lot slower. Alex excitedly told the conductor that we were going to the Bronx Zoo as he gave him his 'ticket' (receipt) to punch. We had a lunch at Pete's Cafe, where I used to go when I was in college. Alex wanted the pancakes, but he didn't seem too interested in eating the pancakes. Maybe I shouldn't have cut them up for him. That seemed to cost his interest in it all.

When we were approaching the entrance down Mosholu Parkway, he was dancing and singing. 'Bronx Zoo! Bronx Zoo! We're going to the Bronx Zoo!' We showed the entrance ticket booth operator our membership card and off we went. I told Alex that I would like to start out in Wild Asia this time, because it seems like we're always getting there just before it closes. We would take the shuttle, I told him."
The walk to the shuttle was a tad much to ask, however. One must walk past the sea lions, with their new baby; the children's zoo, with its tantalizing playgrounds; the monkey house and a cafe. That happened to be a day in which a lot of day camps came to the zoo as well. Throughout it all, Alex kept asking where the "shovel" was. By the time we got to the shuttle station, the line was really long. Alex was a trooper for some of the wait, but eventually wanted to give up.

"We'll take the shovel another time." he told me.

We stopped for some water at the Dancing Crane cafe and I noticed that it was getting close to 2:00. I warned Alex that Quiet Time was approaching. This would be the ultimate Big Boy Boot Camp challenge when it comes to the Quiet Time skill set. Could Alex take "Quiet Time" at the Bronx Zoo?!?

I took us through the Butterfly Garden (which Alex calls "Butterfly Land") for its soothing music and quiet enclosed pond setting. Alex wasn't too thrilled to have butterflies flying all around him, but it seemed to work. We got through the garden and to a shady spot on the grass. I had promised Alex that Big Boy Boot Camp rules remain in effect while at the zoo. He still gets a treat for observing Quiet Time. He asked to see the treat I'd brought with me. It was a special zoo treat zebra lollipop! He agreed to Quiet Time.

Alex laid back on me for a whole 30 minutes. He nearly fell asleep more than once but kept forcing himself awake, afraid that if he did he'd wake up in his bed instead of the zoo. Sleeping wasn't going to happen. But he was a very Big Boy who did Quiet Time who won the lollipop! (Which he traded in for a box of raisins when he didn't like the taste of it. Oh well.)

"The shovel! The shovel!" he cried each time he saw a utility cart. We'd have to get to Wild Asia to be able to ride it, but instead, Alex wanted to go to the Dora the Explorer 4-D experience. It was an 8 minute 3-D movie with touch sensations, like splashing water and blowing winds. Alex was NOT pleased with the 3-D movie, which looked like it was coming at him and which made him feel like he was really moving through the sky in the plane. When the water from the ocean splashed on us, he was done. Poor little guy started to cry and I snatched his glasses off. At least I could help by making the movie flat again.

When the film ended, Alex couldn't get out of there fast enough. "That was a grown-up movie." he told me.
I tried to talk him into a walk through the African exhibit, but he didn't care for the giraffes. "They're too far away!" he declared. Actually, they weren't. And they're giraffes, for pete's sake. They're HUGE! How close do you need to get to them? He wanted to pet them, like he pet the sheep and goats in the children's zoo. No petting the giraffes? No more African exhibit! Let's get to the Bug Carousel!

He chose a grasshopper (or maybe it was a cicada) to ride. He chanted "Up! And down! Up! And down!" I told him that he was hopping along with the grasshopper.

Afterwards, he still wouldn't walk towards Wild Asia. Instead, he wanted to go back to where the cafe was. I agreed that we both needed a snack. We stopped at the Bronx Zoo store where he got a snapping tiger puppet. Then he tried to feed the tiger some leaves. At least it's a vegetarian tiger. No worries having it at home then. We had our snack, which was shared with the tiger because Mommy had a salad - and tried to finally head off to the shovel...er shuttle.

It was nearly 4 PM now. Would we even make it?

We made it! We caught the very last shuttle to Wild Asia. "We're on the shovel!" Alex cheered. We had only 5 minutes to spare to catch the last monorail through Wild Asia. We dashed through the exhibit to catch it.

"Is this the mono-trail?" Alex asked? I said it was. "This is like a train?" he asked? Yup! He wasn't impressed. He wanted the shovel. At least he got to see some elephants during the ride.

Once again, we were at Wild Asia while the zoo was closing. We still couldn't see all of the exhibits. And now we had a long walk back to Fordham. But as we got to the shuttle station, I saw that the line was really, really long. I saw one woman be able to walk off with a rental stroller, so I asked a staff member at the station about it. He let me use the stroller.

"Yay!" Alex cheered! He was so tired, he couldn't get into that stroller fast enough. I pushed it through Africa and North America, all the way to the sea lion pool.

"This is MY shovel", Alex said several times on the way back.

Tuesday, August 3

Prizes Galore!

Thankfully, Alex's prizes arrived this afternoon and CVS phoned to let me know that his poster chart is ready for pick-up. This morning, however, I had to award two prizes from the Melissa & Doug auto collection I bought in Trotta's yesterday.

Alex slept in his big boy bed and did so without having a bottle of milk before hand. He won two prizes this morning for those two, since they're two different skill sets. Then, this afternoon I let him watch me sort his newly arrived prizes from Oriental Trading. I put them in a wooden chest. All together, they formed a mixture of plastic rainbow slinkies, yo-yos, small gliders, stampers, rubber balls, plastic cars and planes, wooden tops and various other goodies.

There was some objection that he couldn't have the prizes now. In typical Alex fashion, he didn't argue the rules of the game, but rather the categorization of the rewards. So, he argued that a certain plastic link snake he liked wasn't a prize. He made the same argument for the whole collection of plastic cars.

After I was done, I declared it was Quiet Time and told him that for keeping it, he could win a new lollipop (that arrived today as well). For NAPPING, well, then he wins a prize. Instead of a temper tantrum, I got - gasp! - cooperation! He gladly got into his pull-up and into his Big Boy Bed. He asked for his Lorax book, which he wanted to read by himself. I asked him if he wanted a sippy of warm milk and he said 'No.'

I reminded him that he wins the lollipop for Quiet Time, but that he should try to close his eyes and nap for a prize. He napped! I had to wake him up at 3:15!

He won TWO prizes for that. The first for napping. The second for giving up the bottle. He choose the helicopter he'd spotted in the original package and the plastic link snake. He's still enjoying his "Hmmmm...banana!" lion lollipop right now.

Congratulations, Alex! Next challenge up - Quiet Time at the Bronx Zoo tomorrow. I told Alex that I would bring prizes with me. If he tries to use the potty at the Bronx Zoo and obeys Quiet Time/Nap Time there, then he gets a prize. Good thing the place is huge and it will be easy to make him tired.

Monday, August 2

Big.Boy.Boot.Caaaaamp!

It started today. We don't have the prizes yet and we don't have the poster yet, but we started it anyway.

The game is this:

Alex has to accomplish four sets of Big Boy skills; daytime potty training; better sleep training, including napping and sleeping in his Big Boy Bed; sleeping without a pre-nap/bedtime bottle; and various self care skills such as dressing himself or picking up his toys.

These skill sets are represented on a chart. For each week, Alex will have a daily tracker in his room. For an eight week period, the week's average will be tracked on a giant poster.

Effort to get the skills right gets rewarded with a smiley face sticker. A collection of stickers for consistent effort wins a small prize.

A half-way point on the skill wins an edible treat. For example, peeing in the potty will win Gummi Bears or Graham Crackers, etc.

A full skill performed wins a prize. Sleeping on the Big Boy Bed. Sleeping without a bottle. Napping during the day. Keeping his underwear dry all day. Dressing himself to the best of his ability. Picking up his toys. Etc. Each of these wins a star sticker on his charts.

At the end of a 4 week period, Alex will be awarded a trophy for each skill set in which he's earned many stars in a row. The trophy will be labeled for which skill it is and he earns a Big Prize.

For August, the prize choices are Spencer, Hiro, Victor and Kevin (all Thomas wooden railway series trains).

For September, the prize choices are a ride on the Pioneer at the South Street Seaport, a ride on the W.O. Decker at the Seaport, a big fire engine from Playland or a tricycle. The idea is that he will keep getting rewarded for efforts and the skills until he performs so consistently that it is a way of life for him. At that point, he gets the really big prizes.

We'd had no luck gaining these skills on their own, working on one at a time. We had originally thought that throwing them all at him at once would overwhelm him. It seems now that by giving Alex a choice as to what skills he'd like to work on during any given day, he really responds well.

Mommy had to run out and buy some extra prizes to make sure we had some on hand, since the collection of small prizes weren't here yet. JUST in case he naps or something.

So far, he's earning effort smileys galore - except in potty training. Oh well. It's only Day One.

Wish him luck!

Sunday, August 1