Maisy's Growing!

4 days old - 8 lbs, 6 oz; 20"

(she dropped down to this from 8 lbs, 13 oz at birth)

One month - 11 lbs

Two months - 13 lbs, 10 oz; 23.5"

Three months - 15 lbs, 11 oz; 24"

Four months - 16 lbs, 15 oz; 25"

I still can't believe how big she is. I looked it up - she is a pound heavier than Jared was at this age. Seriously?! She's going to be one tall chick, if her brother is any indication of where she is headed! Ayda, on the other hand, was 13 lbs, 9 oz at this age. Not that she didn't catch up and get tall, but compared to Maisy, she was tiny! (Now to be far, Maisy had a good two pounds on Ayda when looking at birth weights - Jared and Maisy were much closer to the same.)

Anyway, she is obviously healthy and doing well! No signs of rolling over anytime soon, but she's starting to sit on her own! Again, crazy. Jared was 5 months when he did that, and Ayda was 6 months. And her hair seems to be heading in the same direction as Ayda's - lightening up. We'll see what happens there. Her eyes - not sure what's going on in that area. Today they looked hazel/green - her cousin Kaitlyn asked why her eyes were green, so they must have looked really green at that moment. They don't always - mostly I would say more brown. But we all know that with babies - who knows! And Ayda's settled on blue at about a year, and then changed to green at 3 1/2 years! Excited to see where that goes. It's so fun to compare who she looks like, etc. and yet I am fully aware that she is her own person, with her own looks and gifts and talents. Which I am also excited to see develop!

Becoming Accountable...

I'm going to give a more "official" review of the Accountable Kids program in this post. We started a couple of weeks ago, and are just moving into the second "step" tomorrow. Up until this point, the kids have had "core" chores - chores that are expected of them each day because they are a part of the family. They earn tickets for each "set" of chores they do - one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. They must then redeem tickets to do certain activities such as watch TV, play on the ipod, etc.

Both Jared and Ayda have basically the same core chores. In the morning, they each have to get dressed, make their bed and brush their teeth. Ayda also has to make sure her hair is combed, either by her or myself. In the afternoon, we have quiet time and they have to pick up their toys on the main floor and in the basement. Jared also has to practise his music. In the evening, they have to put on their PJ's, get either Ryan or I to floss and brush their teeth, clean up their room and say their prayers. We will add more as they get older and are capable of other things.

They can also get tickets taken away for bad behavior, such as arguing, complaining, etc. Basic undesirable behavior.

Tomorrow we are starting with the next part - extra chores and privilege pass. (I realize we are doing the extra chores thing in step two instead of step three.) Jared has been dying to start this, as he has decided to work towards a DS. We decided, because they are younger (5 and 4), instead of giving them cash, they will each pick something to work towards with their extra chores. I'll make a chart, and each time they complete an extra chore, I'll add a line in the chart until the lines reach the top and they get whatever they pick. Jared's daily extra chore is clearing the table and Ayda's is setting it (at supper). Jared's weekly chore is helping Ryan collect and take out the garbage and Ayda's is helping me clean the bathrooms. We will add more as time goes by.

This program has definitely helped my sanity. I think it's helpful for me, because it's a "no argue" method. The board, reminder cards and tickets are all there, in plain sight. No fighting about what needs to be done, etc. It has helped Jared more than Ayda - his personality lends itself better to this sort of thing. I think with Ayda, we need to find her "currency" a bit more accurately, so that having tickets means more. She also seems to think that she can buy bad behavior. For example, the other day, I told her if she didn't stop playing and start cleaning her room, I was going to take a ticket away. She said to me, "That's ok - take a ticket and I'll keep playing." Umm, no sweetie, it doesn't work that way!

I also started the program before I set clear conditions for taking away tickets as well as what activities needed to be "bought". Now that I've done that, I expect it to run smoother.

Overall, I give this program a 4 out of 5. It doesn't work quite as seamlessly as I thought it would. But the kids are excited about it and it has definitely helped them complete daily tasks I would fight with them about otherwise - that or let it slide and then it wouldn't get done. I am still deciding whether 3 years of age is too young for the "full version" or if it's my daughter's personality that creates the struggle. She turned 4 in December, so she's not even 3, but a struggle it is, at times. If she's with Jared and he's excited to do something, she follows suit, so the more I can get them together doing chores, the better. She tends to not do things unless supervised, either. And that was one big thing I was hoping would happen - that I wouldn't have to be on her. Again, I am hoping that if I can tweak the things that need tickets to do, so that it's more her currency, we will have success in this area as well.

I will keep updating as we continue with this program - I continue to be excited about it!

You can check out the website at www.accountablekids.com.

I was just reading a friend's blog, and she mentioned that this year, she wants to talk about good books she's read. And since I recently asked for suggestions from people for good books to read (and received many awesome suggestions), I thought I'd pass them on.

Let me start by saying that up until, oh, 5 1/2 years ago or so, I would devour books. I mean, devour. When I started driving, I asked my Dad numerous times when that house or that farm along the highway had been built, because I had never seen them before. They had all been there long before I was even born - I had just never noticed them because I ALWAYS read when I was in the car. And out of the car. Anyway, enter kids and that slowly changed. Actually, it changed when I went to college and university. I read just as much, it just wasn't my choice of books. It was quite nice to convocate and be able to choose my literature again!

Anyway, over the years I have read books here and there, but when I started on the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series this summer, my passion for reading was rekindled. I think I read those three books in the week we were at the cabin. And I was there by myself with the kids from Monday to Friday. That's not to brag, it just made me so happy to remember my love for books. Having a newborn is a good and a bad thing for reading. On the one hand, I have lots of nursing time to spend reading. But other times during the day are taken up by her or the other kids. But I have managed to do a lot of reading lately, and here are some of my favorites:

- All three books of the Dragon series - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (some shocking scenes, beware)

- The Hunger Games Trilogy - Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay (although aimed at teens, I would say it's not appropriate for young teens)

- Room - I heard about this book a couple of months ago and then forgot about it. It's fascinating.

- Sarah's Key - Some parts are hard to read (it's about WWII), but you can't put it down. One of my favorite things about it was that the chapters are SUPER short, so I could read a chapter here and there throughout my day. Mothers appreciate this!

- Quo Vadis - My sister in law gave this to me for Christmas last year, and it took me awhile to get into it. It's written a LONG time ago and the language/grammar/spelling can be horrendous at times. But once you get used to that, you can't put it down. It's about the new Christian church in Rome - new as in, Peter and Paul are in the book.

Those are some of my recent favorites. I also have a book shelf full of favorites from the past. When I was in high school, I read a series about WWII by a Jewish Christian women. It's historical fiction and totally fascinating - the series is called The Zion Covenant. When I thin k of favorite books, those always pop into my mind first. If anyone wants to borrow them from me (or any books I have for that matter) feel free to ask!

So Accountable Kids is going well. Particularly with Jared. This type of thing is right up his alley - visual and goal-oriented. Ayda...not so much. She just doesn't care about moving cards and getting tickets. Actually, giving the warning that I will take a ticket away does usually change behavior, but doing the chores to get tickets...eh, may or may not happen.

I am going to do a formal evaluation soon, but in the meantime, can a get a few of you to become followers? I need 5. I know I have more people than that that read my blog, but please become a follower. Thanks!

Going Public...

After privatizing my blog a few years ago, I'm going public once again. The reason for the change is a new "program" I'm doing with the older kids, called Accountable Kids. They have a really good rebate program for blogging about them, as long as the blog is public. And I have to have 5 followers - anyone know how to get that as an option? I mean, I know I have people that read my blog, but I don't think I have any official followers...

Today was the first day with Accountable Kids. It's sort of a chore chart idea - very loosely. The kids were really excited to start, which made it easier! There are four steps to ease yourself into the program and so we just started step one today. Basically, in this step, I've set up core chores that the kids have to do every day. They are things they have pretty much had to do anyway, like getting dressed, making their beds, etc. When they complete all their morning chores, they get a ticket (they also get a ticket when they complete their afternoon chores and again after evening chores). The tickets are used to "buy" things - things they already enjoy. So for example, one ticket can be worth half an hour of TV or something. We as parents decided the value of a ticket. I'm excited to start this process, as I've been wanting to do something like this for awhile, but wanted more than a simple chore chart. We'll be adding chores and a few other things in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned! And I'll write an official review at that point. If anyone wants to check it out, go to www.accountablekids.com