Alli The Hippo

Tyler is always creating stories. Yesterday he found a wood chip and decided it was a hippo. He played in our wheelbarrow that was filled with rocks, dirt, and rain water and made it his hippo's home. Today when we went out he went straight over to get his hippo. He then told me his hippo was named Alli and it was a girl hippo. Before we could go run errands I had to convince him that Alli would be better off taking a little nap in the sun instead of getting in the car with him. I guess its good that most of the time when we go to the zoo the hippos are napping!

Today has been a great day for Tyler. We have been having a hard phase with him lately. He is getting angry easily, hitting, even biting sometimes. He isn't letting up on Carter when they are wrestling and Carter is done and he just gets in moods where he all of a sudden he has a ton of energy and goes crazy and can't settle himself down. So we made him a behavior chart. He starts out the day with five magnets and anytime he shows that he can't control himself he loses one. He doesn't get one taken away for going to time out, but if he hits me when I put him in time out, a magnet is gone, for example. If he has any magnets at the end of the day he gets a sticker and eventually the stickers add up to prizes. The first three days he didn't get a sticker at all. He then got a little better each day and start earning stickers and yesterday he received his first prize - a Popsicle.

Today he has been a complete angel. Not only is he showing self control, but he isn't whining, he is doing things the first time we ask, and just being a sweetheart. Carter was doing a puzzle and Tyler went right over to help him. Carter took a toy Tyler was playing with and Tyler asked him to not take the plane and offered him another one, instead of getting angry and grabbing or hitting as he would have done last week. I love days like this. Life is good.