Raising Future Giants Fans

I'm not sure if the Bubs 1 even knows what football is, but I do catch him watching a game on any given Sunday. If he is a fan, then I hope he becomes a Giants fan.

I'm doing my part in socializing him to be a Big Blue fan-atic... Bubs 2 too.

Bubs 1 owns a long-sleeve thermal shirt with the NYG logo, he owned a NYG little skully (which was lost in his preschool... made dad angry), he owns a Big Blue ball cap and his pediatrician even has a Giants poster in his office (pictured right).

It was easy to be a football fan where I grew up. I grew up in a NY Giants culture. Most of my friends and I all played football - and we all loved the Giants. We played pick-up Nerf football games after school and even donned the shoulder pads for a local "pop-warner" league.

There were so many Giants fans around me as a kid, I thought everybody like the Gmen. That is, until I found out that my Uncle Mike was a Jets fan. He was the first Jets fan I ever met. Since then, I've found out that I have other family members who are Jets fans too: Uncle Bill, Aunt Katie and cousins Stacey, Bill, Johnny, (Amy?), Jimmy, Kevin... there are just too many to list. Actually, I just don't want to waste anymore space on my blog talking about the - (gag) - Jets.

I'll just be sure to keep an eye on both the Bubs during family "get-togethers" and make sure he doesn't spend too much time with the Jets crowd... just in case it's contagious.

The Sleeping Sibling

Bubs 2

Bubs 1

These two bubs have many similarities, but I'm confused over which one was easier to get to sleep. The bubs' mom thinks my memory is selective, because I remember bubs 1 being very easy to put down between feedings. She thinks the opposite. Aren't all our memories selective? I distinctly remember how I got bubs 1 to sleep. We had a system and it operated with the consistency of a fine-tuned Swiss watch. Looking back, I can remember that as soon as bubs1 was done with his feeding, I wrapped (swaddled) him tight (hog tie-like) in a Miracle Blanket, popped in a binky and turn on the static (white noise). Presto - sleeping bubs1. That bubs was asleep before I placed him down. I sweat on it!

However, bubs 2 operates on another system - one that I have not yet fully discovered.

I feel like my senses are sharp as I collect data on bubs2's transition to sleep. I notice everything he does, and does not do, when watching this monkey drift towards unconsciousness. My senses are so sharp that it is to the point that if I am holding bubs2 to the north (versus northwest) and he falls asleep - I'll figure it out. No needle too small for this haystack-of-a-detective. I continually think about this as I hover above bubs 2's crib. I hover with a binky in one hand and the volume dial, of the static-playing radio, in the other. Trying to find the right blend of tools to send this kid to la-la land is my goal.

Currently, all indicators are targeting the binky.

Bubs 2

Bubs 2 hasn't taken to the binky as well as bubs 1 and this adds to my work in getting him to sleep. I need to convince bubs 2 on the joys of the binky. Once I have this accomplished, there will be peace. Until then, I'm going to continue to hover. I will continue my vigilance.

Bubs2 will take the binky - and power will be all mine again. muhaha...

Toddler Bribery

   

Helping to socially develop Bubs 1 has been challenging at times. Other times, it's clicked like clock work. For example, his mom and I are helping him learn how to sit at the dinner table - and stay in his seat. We know that a typical three-year-old doesn't have the ability to stay stationary for too long on his own, so we bribe him. Bribery is such a negative term, so let's say "reward" instead. Bribery, I mean a reward system, starts early and never ends. Quid pro quo.

During dinner, we've instituted the "five-minute-(inject reward here)" game. Over the past couple of evenings, we have been bribing (uh uhm, rewarding) Bubs 1 with these little, bite-sized fruit snacks. The Bubs normally requests the "purpool one pwease." By using a timer that offers the time remaining in red, the bubs can simply visualize (and begin to internalize) how long five minutes lasts (a very long time for a 3-year-old). In order to claim his fruit snack, Bubs 1 has to stay in his seat for the full five-minutes - and he does. He is an involved player, because he likes the reward. Sometimes he forgets (since he's only three) and climbs down from his chair until we remind him that he'll lose his reward. This reminder gets him quickly scrambling to get back into his seat.

Today, it's "purpool" fruit snacks. Tomorrow, it's going to be the keys to the car.

Older Sibling Regression

 We were warned of the incoming regressive behavior that Bubs 1 was going to display after Bubs 2 arrived, but we didn't realize the extent of how far Bubs 1 is willing to take it. We are receiving word that Bubs 1 is being "aggressive" with his classmates at his preschool. He has also been showing some of this aggression at home. Aggression that I look forward to him ditching soon - very soon.

But that's not all.

Bubs 1 also is displaying a sweet side of his regressive behavior... like commandeering his little brother's crib. To be fair, this crib did use to be the Bubs 1's sleeping area. However, it is no longer his primary bedstead.

In an attempt to show Bubs 1 that we are "listening" to him, we decided to let him take his nap in the crib today. He said, "I want to lay in (Bubs 2)'s crib." So he did. Not only that, but he found Bubs 2's binky (a newborn binky) and stuck it in his mouth. To me, his sticking that binky in his mouth was the ultimate show in marking one's territory. This behavior is just one step higher than urinating in the corner of the crib.

I happened to be watching when he woke. He picked his head up and wearily surveyed his surroundings, smirked, and layed his head back down in triumph!