Tokens

A few days ago, we started a simple token system for Joey. We are hoping that earning tokens toward a prize will help to manage some of his, let's call it - aggressive behavior - toward Carlee.

I took some data for about a week and determined that most of Joey's unwanted behavior toward Carlee - taking toys, pushing, pulling hair, tripping, etc. - occurs during times when I am not able to completely attend to them. So my options are to never cook dinner or fold a load of laundry, ignore the behavior and let him torture her, or try to change some of the behavior!

I chose the third option because the first 2 aren't working out so well for me!!

There are two parts to my system. First, trying to arrange situations where Joey is less likely to engage in unwanted behavior. (The behavior analyst just took over my mom voice for a sec!) For example, if I am going to be cooking dinner I can either let him watch TV, give him a project to do at the table so Carlee is free to roam and play, or let them him play out on the driveway because this tends to produce less unwanted behavior). Second, I am giving him tokens for playing nicely with Carlee. He also earns tokens for following directions because this brings about a lot of stress in my life too.

The deal with the tokens is that he has to earn 10 to get the prize. Right now, I want him to earn the 10 each day. Eventually we will space it out longer so he is not getting prizes every day!!

The "catch" for him is that if he hits or otherwise harms Carlee then he looses all of the tokens and has to start over again.

So day one was fabulous! He was SO SWEET all day! Day 2 was, um, not so good. He never had more than 3 tokens before he lost them all. So today, on Day 3, he is still working toward those Buzz Light Year PJ's from yesterday! And he has been doing pretty well today! No hitting so far, but definitely still trying to push her buttons some.

The funniest part of this whole thing is watching him try SO HARD to earn a token!! Here is a video of Joey and Carlee eating breakfast this morning so you can see how hard he tries! :)



Now, Carlee can certainly feed herself a bowl of cereal, but he pulled her over, took the bowl, prompted her to say "more" and then would feed her. After doing this for a few minutes he says - "Mommy, I'm being nice to Carlee!!"

Words

Just a quick note to track Carlee's words so far - she is 16 months:

"Woof Woof" - for dog
"Eow" - for cat
"eh eh" - (quack quack) for duck
"More"
"Hi"
"eh-huh" - yes
"oosh" - shoes
"Eaes" - ears
"Be" - belly
"e e" - drink
"eehuuh" - out
"ee oo" -peek a boo
"uh uh" - up
"ta-oo" - Thank you
"iye" - bye
"inc inc" - binky
"eers" - cheers
"ing ing" - swing
"nooeh" - no
"hot"


Aside from her many words, she likes to say "one minute," and/or "be right back" by putting one finger up to her nose. Then she waves goodbye, runs away, and comes back with a big smile on her face. It is her favorite game right now and it is SO CUTE!! Joey usually joins in and the two of them run around screeching in delight when they see each other around the corner.

She also goes over to her high chair to indicate that she is hungry, claps her hands and pats her legs whenever she hears music - the girl LOVES music, and hops up and down if you tell her to "hop." She is also trying to figure out how to run, but really it is just a fast walk right now.

She loves to hide in the cabinet where we keep the trash cans, and often throws her most treasured possession in there for safe keeping! I am constantly finding shoes and sippy cups in the trash can! :)

Oh, and she plays baseball with an upside down bat!

Disney

It's been almost a week since we went to Disney and I think the kids are finally caught up on their sleep and we are back in a normal routine!!

I have posted a video showing the pictures of our trip. There are of course a lot of them but hopefully the music helps them to pass quickly!! I love taking their pictures at every moment to capture their excitement and remember every piece of the trip!!

The flight to Orlando was great and the kids were very happy. It helped that Joey and Carlee were separated that we had several adults and older kids (Julia) to help out!

We spent the afternoon on Thursday getting settled into the hotel and ordering pizza for dinner. On Friday we were all up early and out the door by 8 am. We loaded into the 15 passenger van and headed to the Magic Kingdom. The kids all had a blast!! Joey met Mickey Mouse and loved the Buzz Lightyear ride! Carlee's favorite was the Dumbo ride - although she liked watching it go around while we waited in line more than actually riding on the ride.

Saturday was Animal Kingdom which was fun for the kids as well! Joey went on a rapid rivers type ride and thought it was hysterical when the water splashed up on him. He also got to meet Pluto and Goofy (who he calls "hot diggedy dog"). Aside from all the neat animal excursions and rides, we also saw the Nemo Musical.

Both park days included a parade of characters at the end of the day which both kids loved watching. At the Animal Kingdom parade Carlee was clapping to the music and waving to all the characters!

Sunday we took it easy and went to church and the pool. Then that night we went to Downtown Disney and ate dinner at the T-Rex Cafe as well as walked around. The Lego store was Joey's favorite, and Carlee loved dancing to the music!

The trip was such a blast and we made SO MANY awesome memories! The best part about it was that we got to do it with Noni and Popi and the Sallusti crew! I love when we are all together with the family and Joey and Carlee get to hang out and bond with their cousins, whom they adore!

A big THANK YOU to Noni and Popi for the trip of a lifetime!!

I can't get my video to upload to the blog so you will have to follow the link below to see it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJuTSftIFiE