New Media Available

Heather and I figured out that we could post audio too. This is a silly file we made after unsuccessfully trying to record the baby's heartbeat with a computer microphone.

http://www.geocities.com/gloopy21/baby_interview.mp3

Heard the Heartbeat Today

Heather and I went to the doctor's office today for her monthly check-up. It was the first time either one of us heard the baby's heartbeat. The heartbeat was really fast and strong. I couldn't help but smile when I heard it, and it made the pregnancy real to me.

Afterward, we asked the doctor about moving during the third trimester. She said there wouldn't really be a problem since our existing move date is right at the beginning of the trimester.

Heather and I talked about getting a sonagram to determine gender in month 5. She wants to keep the gender a surprise until we have the baby. I promised I would keep it a secret when I found out. Of course, she would have to stop blogging once I posted the results...

-Robert

Name Time

We're taking suggestions for names. You can pick a new one or vote for the ones we've already considered:

Boy
----
Hayden
Landen
Augustus

Girl
----
Rosa Leigh
Vivian
Lilian

Spank 'em Once and Make It Last!

At a recent dinner party my at my boss' house, I noticed how well behaved his children were. The one time his older son (4 yrs) threw a spat, his father took him aside, calmly said something we couldn't hear and that was the end of bad behavior.

All I wondered the rest of the evening: what did he say to a 4-year old, without shouting, to guarantee good behavior for hours?

I asked him a few weeks later about his technique. The answer: Spank 'em Once and Make It Last!

It sounds worse than it is, but here it is...

1. Start with "nose in the corner" (time out) to enforce immediate obedience
2. In public, when nose in the corner is not available, take the child to a quiet place
- Explain why they're receiving the punishment
- Spank 'em
- Explain which behavior is desired
- Continue with activity
OR if you've spanked them in the last 5 months
- Ask them if they want to be spanked
- If they continue behavior, go to step 1
3. Only punish for disrespect/disobedience, never for being annoying

I've met a lot of people who think spanking does long term damage to their children. From personal observation, children that were moderately disciplined seem to turn out much better.

Any advice from the blogsphere? What did your parents do to keep you in line? How do you discipline your kids? (I think my mom's technique was "Spank 'em, then spank 'em again... :-) )

-Robert

Check-Up

We had a doctor's appointment this week. The chart said on Friday that the baby was eight weeks and three days old. The due date is November 7th or 8th.