ZIAH'S LIST OF WORDS

THIS IS US!

Another GrandChild

Today, June 28, 2008 my brother Nicholas' son Kaiden was born, 7.5 oz and 20 in. long. I've almost lost count of the number of grandchilden in the family. I can tell you that it has crossed over 25. I have 8 brothers and sisters and all of us have at least 2 children. Oh yeah, there are great-grandchildren as well. I'm so thankful that my parents have been blessed enough to see us children grow up and raise our own families.

Since my son is 13 years old now, I began to think about how time will fly and he will be out of school in the next 5 years and going into adulthood himself. Needless to say, I'm not ready for that one yet.

Not So Much Progress

I know that I sounded so optimist in dealing with Ziah's "temper tantrums", but I have to say that she is not responding very well to my previous tactic at all. Only 13 Months old and already a "terrible 2"...Oh My, what do I have in store for me?

She doesn't like the idea at all of having to sit alone, until she calms down from her tantrums and it seems that she has learned to scream even louder. Oh yes, she's my adorable baby girl, but she has a terrible temper!

I am so amazed at the differences in temperament of my 3 children. Maybe it's because she became the newest baby of the family, up until recently anyway, and everyone, including sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends have have a hand in spoiling this adorable little girl. I think I can also attribute it to me babying her more than the other two.

I think it has alot to do with age. I can tell the difference in how I handled the other two as babies, versus how I handle Ziah now. I have alot of patience with her, even with her tantrums and dependency that she has on me. I think that I have created a little monster and right now I have no idea how to change her behavior.  On the other hand, she's so wonderful, adorable, loving and most of all she has brought a new light into our lives. Even though she has the temper of an adult, we wouldn't trade her for the world.

Demanding 13 Month Old

Ziah is 13 months old. We are at the stage where we have to cater to her and what she wants or ELSE! She is so "demanding". Ziah wants what she wants, but on her time. We have to take turns engaging her or the house is in an uproar.

We can't believe she's 1 year old already! Joe and I constantly talk about ways to get more control over her demanding ways. So far, we haven't figured it out yet. But, I still continue to search for ways to encourage direction for our 13 month olds temperament. We never experienced this kind of demand with the other two, so much of her behavior is new to us.

Her behavior is even more strange because Ziah is very much independent if she is outside in the yard exploring. She wants nothing to do with anyone who may try to control her moves. Its so different when we're inside. She forces all of us, including the 6 year old and 13 year old to abide by her rules. She demands all of our attention, grabbing onto our legs and holding on and wanting to be held everywhere that we go in the house.

I know there's a solution, just haven't found it yet. Until then, we will continue "coaching" Ziah and encouraging her to seek her independence both inside the house and out.

Responding to Ziah

It was a long day with Ziah today. First of all, she absolutely hates her car seat. We drove about 40 miles to help my sister move and Ziah was not at all happy.  The combination of our long day had Ziah as cranky as ever. We get home and of course there's no way that she's going to go about her own business inside the house so her angry temperament kicks in. I tried putting Ziah on the bed with her favorite "Binky" and making her stay there until she calmed down. I'm pleased at the minimal results so far, but at least she did respond to this.  I sat at the computer, looking in the room at her  and she wanted me to come get her. I waited until she calmed down and stopped screaming, then took her off the bed and brought her back in with me again. Her behavior again repeated itsself and so did my response. This time I let her stay on the bed a little longer than before. She laid down, turned over on her tummy and calmed down. This has never happened before! Oh Yea, now I'm feeling even better about this approach. I repeated the same thing and went back in and picked her up again off the bed and brought her back in for the last time. She remained calm and 20 minutes later she decided that she was ready for bed and fell right asleep. I am so...so...relieved. Maybe I have found something that may help to change her behavior and give the whole family some relief from her "13 Month Old Demanding Attitude".