Sleep Success, Zich and Zach, and More

Zach - Of Note

• Zach remembers to wash his hands and clears his dishes. We're trying to make both a habit. The hand washing is almost there.
• He always closes the car door and puts himself in his car seat. Every time.
• A couple mornings we walked to school, and since it's so cold, Zach is not always a fan. Those mornings we told him that the building management needed us to check on the gate and the sign and that we also needed to make sure the red light/walk signal was working.
• Zach went to two parents nights out and Merrick was at both. What a blast!
• Zach's dance recital
  
• Spending the night with Grandad
• We took Zach out for Thai!
• Valentine's Day and the heart-shaped cake from Trader Joe's
• He picks at his nails all the time.
• Still a lot of playing with the neighborhood kids!

Sleep Update

• He did great, but it took time. I used the "walk back" or mantra method, but also tried checking back on him. In the end that didn't work, and we went with mantra method: "It's time for sleeping. You need to stay in your room/bed." Frank and I split things up at first, but before I was about to leave on my trip and as Zach really seemed to get the hang of it, I handled all nights for the last week or so. 
• I did research and talked a lot with fellow parents at GoCanvas. We bonded around our kids' sleep challenges. I listened to the Parenting Beyond Discipline podcast. It took from January 16 - Feb 1, but he really had things down in two weeks. 
• We tried having music on as he fell asleep since they do that at school, but that was distracting. 
• He got many rewards for his hard work: a trip to Peets with me and visiting my work, multiple visits to the water park at the St. James, and in fact, the afternoon after he went to the water park for the first time, he fell asleep while I was reading to him, which has NEVER happened. He got to go to a Paw Patrol show. There were too many toys, and a Paw Patrol book with a blond-haired, brown-eyed Zach as the hero. 
• He sleeps with his light on (dimmed). We watched the Daniel Tiger about "See what it is, you might feel better." Before the sleep training, I started talking with him about "Sleep Rules." Lay down, close your eyes, be still. We also always used to go to sleep "on our tummy." 
• He needed strategies for what he would do when he woke up and was scared. 1. Hug spider man 2. Try to go to sleep w/ sleep rules 3. Read a book. 4. Try to go to sleep w/ sleep rules 5. Read a second book. 6. Try to go to sleep w/ sleep rules. That seemed to work!
• The goal is in his room from 8:30pm-6:30am. The 8:30-9pm is still a lot of popping up, but the morning works pretty well. 
• His training now works for his naps, and he spends 2-ish hours in his room either playing by himself, reading, or napping. It's pretty great. 
• We are so proud of him!

Zach's Words & Songs

• Driving to meet Mary Kay and Hance, he noticed the Mormon Church off the Beltway for the first time. He said, "My wish came true. I wanted to see a castle."
• We are loving Story Pirates and Eat Your Spanish. One day I could hear him repeating the words: “mama,” “papa,” “abuelo,” and “abuela.” Teehee! 
• The Bippolo Stories are great! Zach is loving the story of “Todd and Tadd,” so this morning, we decided his alter ego version would be Zach and Zich.
• We read the story of Pinocchio after Zach saw a Geico commercial at Dogfish Head with Pinocchio on it.

Good Food

• Mushroom ravioli at Maggiano's and a visit with Kathleen
• Sunday morning with Auntie Em - I took her to a Rake's Progress to celebrate the end of chemo, and we went to the Dupont Circle farmer's market. Fun!
• The heart-shaped cake from Trader Joe's
• Great brunch in Woodstock with Gamma and Daddy Bob
  

Visits with

• So may walks with Auntie Em
• Walks with Katie
• Bowling with Katie, Suji, and Veronica
• Dinner with Rae
• Lunch with Emily R.
• Dinner with Jenifer and her family (Dennis, Jason, Zac) and Katie and Suji. There were no phones at all!
• To Vanish with Merrick's parents
• Mom and Dad
• Mary Kay and Hance
  

Fun (and Not So Fun) Stuff (Personal and Professional)

• Marcus Buckingham: Which bit of your day flew by recently?
• Bonding over Richard Marx and Vertical Horizon with Judie and Kiersten
• I led two, great small-group sessions on inclusive leadership!
• Bourne movies (Supremacy and Legacy)
• AMP Kickoff, Sales & Marketing Summit
• Runs along the Pacific Ocean
• Karaoke to Dancin' Queen and 70's costumes!
  
• Watched Miss Americana
• Marney, Jim, Virginia :(
• Hiking at Seven Bends State Park
• Some great changes with Amanda: walking daily check-ins and white board sessions for her 1:1
• The Good Place continues and enjoying Spinning Out
• One-year anniversary at GoCanvas!