It's been our routine for a while that Miles gets to watch TV for 30 minutes before he goes to bed. We set the timer on his TV and when the TV turns off he's supposed to go to bed. Lately, the routine just hasn't been working. And since that is our standard punishment for everything, I feel like I spend way too much of my day talking about taking away his TV show. Nothing, and I mean nothing, makes Miles lose his mind like not getting to watch TV at night. While something that cuts that deep is a good punishment, it didn't really seem to be deterring him much for poor behavior. He did get his show taken away occasionally and the TV has been removed before, but again, this form of punishment didn't seem to be making him think about his behavior on the front end. I finally got sick and tired of talking about the TV show and decided the TV was causing way more trouble than it was worth.
At first, the plan was to keep the TV out for a week. But then I realized something...having the TV out of the room was such a relief for me and he was going to bed way better without it. I did not want to put it back in, so we came up with a new plan. We put his TV in the sun room. The sun room is right off of our living room, but there are french doors, so it can be closed off. In essence, it's like having another TV room.
We rearranged the room to accommodate the TV. I didn't want the TV to be a big focal part of the room, especially since I never really wanted a TV in there at all.
Miles still has a table in there to play games, work on puzzles, build Legos, etc.
He watched some TV on Sunday afternoon and loved it. He loved laying on the couch. As of now, he says he likes the TV better in the sun room than in his room.
I'm pleased with the new set up and I think it's going to reduce a lot of arguments and melt downs. Darrin is gone a lot at night right now and I'm left to deal with the bedtime routine that hasn't been working for a while.
So our new plan goes like this. Snack & brush teeth between 8-8:15. In bed at 8:15 with a book. He gets to read for 15 minutes at which time his clock alarm goes off. Then, he turns off his light and goes to bed. We've only been doing this for three nights, but all three nights have worked perfectly. This morning I told him that I was proud of him for going to bed so well last night and he said "I like it" meaning the new routine. Be still my heart. I've been wanting to encourage reading more with him, but have been having a hard time finding the time to fit it in. I went to the library on Monday and checked out 20 books for him. He read one last night and was able to tell me all about it this morning. It seems with kids that it's always about chasing a new routine or a new plan until it doesn't work anymore and then it's onto something new. I really hope this routine is here to stay for a long while.
In other news, Carson had his two month check up today. I fed him while we waited on the doctor. He was very happy with his full belly. He weighed 9lbs 3oz and measured 20.5" long. He has almost made it onto the growth chart in both areas, but is closer in weight.
He wasn't as happy while she examined him. He didn't cry until she pushed on his belly a little. I talked to the doctor at length about his stomach. He is still pooping 10-15x a day. Today, he projectile vomited twice. It sounds like the situation is dire, but he still looks good and shows no signs of dehydration. She took a stool sample to check for a bacterial or viral infection. We should the results in the next day or two. If everything comes back negative, we will talk about formula again. I'm not worried, but I just don't like to see him in pain or unhappy. I'm trying to keep things in perspective. He was perfectly happy and healthy for the first 8 weeks of his life. This rough patch has only been for the last week. I'm actually hoping it's a virus that is about to go away so that we can get back to the formula he was on when he was doing so well. Having to play guessing games with different types of formula doesn't sound like fun.
At two months...he started smiling just yesterday. He's been close for a while, but he definitely smiled several times yesterday.
He loves to be snuggled in soft blankets. He buries his face in them in a scary way.
He loves tummy time. If his stomach isn't bothering him, he is very content to lay like this. We don't let him sleep on his belly in his crib, but I let him nap on his tummy during the day when I can keep an eye on him.
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