Over the past week Jess and I have been consistent with our routine, discipline, encouragement, and interactions with Lane. It took some getting use to on all of our parts, but things are finally starting to click. No longer is there kicking and screaming when going to bed. He doesn’t fight the sheer mention of going in bed. It’s still not perfect, and he still comes and gets in our bed at random hours of the night, but it’s light years ahead of what it was a week ago.
In addition to the nights getting easier, Lane’s mood in general this weekend has improved. Certainly he still has outbursts of either yelling or crying, but they seem to be getting fewer and fewer. I’ve also implemented a new timer system. Basically when I need him to do something I give him a heads up and we set a timer for when he needs to do that thing. For example, if I want him to go to bed at 8, we’ll set a timer for 10 minutes at 7:50. If I need him to wait 3 minutes for his oatmeal to cool down, a timer is set. He gets to push the start button and I tell him when he hears the timer go off it’s time to do X. So far it’s working great. He has actually requested the timer a few times. In the past time was an arbitrary number for him. Waiting 3 mins on his oatmeal was forever. Going to bed in 10 minutes might as well have been 2. Now he knows that I don’t mean right now, but in the future. And that yes, his oatmeal will be ready for him. It’s a great tool that seems to be working for now. And at this point, I’ll take it.
So things are looking up. We are making progress and every day is a new victory. This weekend was fantastic for many reasons. Went to White Water and to see our friends new baby. The house is clean and we’re all caught up on general chores. Should make for an easy start to next week. Chase went for his baseball skills assessment and was looking great on the field. Should be an exciting season. I’m looking forward to watching him play some fall ball. I’m also generally looking forward to some fall anything.
Stay tuned for more updates on this ever growing family! Jess is rocking the baby bump and I can’t wait to meet baby Jack in just over 2 months!