Rewards for sleeping? Oh, c'mon!

I never got around to posting this in January when we did it. Oops.

I love sleep. It baffles me a bit that my girls don't so much. I get it, kids think they're missing something exciting. They're not (at least in this house).

This project had two purposes:

#1 - Seoul was getting out of bed. A lot. When we put her down to sleep as well as multiple times through the night. I was hating the bedtime routine because it was stressful.

#2 - Seoul has been trying to eliminate her afternoon nap for months and I refuse to let her. So I thought a reward chart might be helpful.


Consequently we have two charts: a bedtime routine chart and a sleep reward chart. For the bedtime routine chart she had so much fun helping with pictures and gluing them on the poster board. It has helped streamline bedtime and keep her on track. To this day she still refers back to the chart for fun. The best part? She enjoys picking up the house before going to bed. The nights it is late and we say we can skip it she is bummed. For the sleep reward chart, there were three parts: taking a nap, staying in bed when we put her there at night, and sleeping through the night in her own bed. We would set a number of stickers she had to earn and then she got the reward she chose. A DQ ice cream was the most motivating reward. Last week she straight up told me she's done with the reward chart. Boo! At least she is still in decent habits for sleeping, although she is back to refusing to take naps.

Here's a video of Seoul explaining the charts to Kelley when he got home from work. Don't mind Sydney eating the plastic strawberry!

At least for a while the days were less stressful for me - fighting to get her to sleep twice a day was definitely taking a toll on me. It's been nice the last couple months. Any suggestions for getting her to take naps?? I cannot wrap my brain around no naps permanently. I love that girl to pieces, but she is ridiculously stubborn!

Seoul's Birthday Parties

Seoul's Tangled birthday party went well! She is excited to be three now, and is excited to be four next year {slow down Seoul!}!!


This is one of the four Tangled templates I used for the invitations.

I made Seoul her very own Tangled birthday t-shirt for her special day.

We got creative with some decorations and activities thanks to some great sites online:
http://family.go.com/disney/pkg-disney-character-fun/pkg-everything-tangled/ 
http://www.supermommoments.com/2011/01/tangled-party-games-activities/

My awesome Mom and Mother-in-Law helped with this cool braid. It took more time than I anticipated but Seoul still plays with it so totally worth it! I printed the banner (from the movie) and Kelley strung them up. We hit the jackpot with Tangled decorations at Walmart! (Kelley tried to find some at Party City and he struck out - so crazy since Tangled is a pretty popular movie right now).

 

Kid Party

Sorry, no traumatizing event like a life-size SpongeBob like last year. Probably made the kids happy, but the parents remembered :)

First the kids colored coloring pages while everyone arrived. Next they worked on a cute Pascal blower craft.

The kids played the game: Pin the Frying Pan on Flynn Ryder - some kids tried it blindfolded, some didn't. They all had fun, though! [To toot our own horns, Kelley and I did the poster free hand!]

Seoul was most excited about eating - that's our girl! She chose her plate and napkin early on. We had Pascal cupcakes and Jello Boats, inspired by the Lake scene in the movie. Kids love their sugar!

Seoul opened some fabulous gifts that she loves - such kind & generous friends! Then, of course, the traditional 'all kids' photo.

Happy Birthday, sweet Seoul!

Love,

Daddy

Side note: Sydney does exist even though she's not in a single photo. She slept during the entire party. Not kidding.

Family Party

Fortunately both girls took afternoon naps after the morning festivities. This party was low-key so we could visit and wind down a bit. I attempted a Tangled cake since Seoul asked for a cake with the "Tangled tower" on it. After various experiments to make the tower tall, yes, it did fall over. Fortunately people were able to see it before the dramatic crash of 2012.

More presents - what a lucky girl! We now have all things Tangled in our house... and Seoul is in heaven!

Hopefully Amanda had more fun that this photo depicts - haha!

Sydney made an appearance! She even got a gift today also :)

So much cake in one day... LOVE it!!

Seoul's Actual Birthday

We just had a little gift opening party on her actual birthday. More fun things for Seoul! We love her and spoil her so much because she's our princess!

I love you, my sweet daughter!! Happy Happy Birthday!!

Blessed

I'm pretty sure I'm the luckiest girl in the world. I feel so blessed right now.

So big in the swing!

This is a test post from Blogger on my iPhone. How fun!

Seoul enjoyed the dry weather today as we played outside. She's almost too big for the swing!

There she goes!

Sydney started taking solid steps a week or so ago. She's gotten some distance in but I haven't been able to catch it on video because she's always too close to me. This time I was lucky to get my phone up and started just in time.

Seoul loves helping Sydney walk around. Now it's progressed to urging her on to walk to her all the time. She's so encouraging and Sydney loves to walk to her!

We can't believe our baby is getting so big! It's adorable to watch her toddle around. It's funny to hear her walk around the house: footstep, footstep, footstep, thunk, pause.... footstep, footstep, footstep, thunk, pause... shuffling (as she crawls for a while).

Go Sydney!

Random side note: So, how's this for fun? I looked up my post about Seoul being a walker and they "started" walking at almost the exact same time in their lives. Their birthdays are 18 days apart and these posts are 20 days apart (excluding years of course). {Reviewing Seoul's video shows she was much more of a walker but she was cruising around furniture for a lot longer. Sydney will be solid in no time!}
http://www.joolinandkelleyforever.blogspot.com/2010/03/look-at-her-go.html

Starting the new year...

These are some pictures from the beginning of the year... yep, a little behind as usual. We're excited for all the things this year will bring!

One night we had a game night and played a new game: In a Pickle. Seoul had fun deciding if things were bigger or smaller. Sydney had fun grabbing our cards. [Pictures courtesy of Seoul.]

The girls certainly enjoy their snacks. Sydney is in a puffy snack coma. Seoul has every single fruit snack from the pack in her mouth. Gotta love the silly faces!

Sydney was startled when I called her name. She does have pretty, big, brown eyes though!

I like how the red stars are the focal point of Sydney's jammies. She is very dainty when playing with toys sometimes... touching with just a finger & thumb.

We love our lazy mornings reading on the couch. Seoul is into the 'Louise the Big Cheese' books at the moment.

Cute. Need I say more?

One morning Seoul made me breakfast: notice the multiple donuts and cake. She loves cooking in her kitchen(s)! Sydney is so patient waiting for the food Seoul "makes" for us.

Play group is always fun for the girls. Sometimes we go to church and bring toys for the kids to share. Seoul has attached herself to someone's tricycle. I was impressed she got on and pedaled the first time she tried it. We're working on steering. Sydney has fun crawling around after the kids.