Fingers Have Vanished

Haddon is 3.5 years old and since he turned 1 we have been trying to guide him to stop sucking his fingers (not thumb:) Sometimes it was more than guidance, it was sheer pestering (especially from his older brother). Brian gave up some time ago, but Corban has been persistent on this mission b/c the sound of a squeaking mouse on fingers annoys his bionic ears:)

Haddon has been asking me for a Ben10 watch for his next birthday. Even though the boys don't watch the Ben10 cartoon somehow they have become mesmerized with the corresponding toys. Since Haddon's birthday is still 6 months away I came up with a motivation strategy to try to get the finger sucking habit to go away. I told him if he didn't suck his fingers for a week he could get one. I don't normally bribe my kids for things they should be doing anyway, but when it comes to potty training and now finger sucking I do what has to be done:D When I told Brian of the plan he didn't seem so impressed--he predicted, like any other addict, Haddon would be overcome by the thoughtless habit and forget about the prize.

And Corban also had part of the deal, one, because you can't buy one brother a watch without buying the other--or atleast without constant fighting over it--and two, because most of my incentive for offering this prize was to stop hearing Corban saying repeatedly "Noooooooo Feen-gurrrrssss!" to Haddon all day long:) So they both had to live up to the deal to get their prize.

Well whatya know...it worked!!!! Haddon has been finger-free for 11 days now and Corban hasn't had to say a word!! Amazing. Habit broken. I am so proud of Haddon. He resisted his security blanket for the reward of owning a Ben10 watch (that incidentally broke after about 30 minutes of opening the package, but still looks cool on his arm:). If we would have only tried this sooner:) I didn't have a camera to document the Ben10 watch ceremony but you can see the picture above to get the idea.

Go Haddon....Go Ben10!

Birthday Reviews, Camera blues...

I had an amazing birthday on Wednesday! Brian took the day off and had ordered a beautiful cake from my friend Sini (this cake by the way is her best creation yet I think:) We pigged out on cake and chocolate covered strawberries for breakfast (can anyone ask for a better way to start the day?:) Then we went to eat more breakfast for lunch at a little cafe. We took the boys to play at a park--it was a beautiful day. We came home, took naps (ahhhh) and then went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. Can I say this was the best meal of the year for me? Or atleast since the last time we ate there:) The only place in Bangalore that you can get nachos, fajitas and throw in brownie a la mode! It was a perfect day full of my family and food:)

There was one sad thing that happened...our camera broke...i won't go into that story, but we did manage to get some pictures of the cake and a few self-portraits of Haddon, Kai and me before it crashed. Thankfully it is good timing because I had ordered a new camera which will be coming next week when my parent-in-laws come to visit (yay! we can't wait to see them!)

There are a few other pictures in the slideshow...Brian traveled to one of his company's branches in a city where many women make wooden toys for a living. He bought Kai a rocking horse and Corban and Haddon alligators...they are shown wrestling the gators:D I got the bracelet Kai is wearing:)

School Days

Here a few pics of the boys during our usual weekday morning routine. Haddon plays PBS/Disney preschool games on the computer and never seems to tire of them:) If anyone knows of other game websites (minus Starfall which he's not really interested in) please send them my way.

Corban and I do Kindergarten lessons and Kai pretends he is doing school by scribbling all over Corban's completed workbook pages:) He is in the mix and wants to be at the table with us:) Normally we do our school lessons at the kitchen table but on this day Corban set up two "desks"...one for him and one for Kai.

Slumdog Millionaire

Brian and I watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire this past weekend. It was very eye opening. I thought the movie was great--mostly because I'm seeing people like Jamal everyday but to get "into" their lives and experience what it's really like is not something I get to do. There were themes of violence and abuse running throughout it, which I don't like to watch, but I know that it is reality for so many. Brian said that some of the people he's talked to about it thought that the grown up Jamal was too light skinned (he was dark as a child) and too polished (his english was too good:) True, but I thought his acting was so good that I didn't notice all those details until Brian mentioned them after the movie. I also realize that this is another predictable film where the good guy gets the money and the girl:) (Sorry to give it away:) But all that aside, I think what impacted me the most were the scenes of the young brothers in the begging ring. I've heard many people here say that the beggars on the streets (which come up to your car window) are part of begging rings--they get dropped off at certain spots, picked up later and they have to give all the money to the boss of the ring. That's why so many people don't give to beggars here. And it's true--many of the women are holding babies. I couldn't believe that they actually were causing children to go blind--something I hadn't thought about. I wish that the movie would impact change in the country for these women and children but I think there are just too many in poverty and many in leadership turning their heads. I like watching movies like this so that I can get out of my comfortable bubble for a few hours, have more compassion and thank the Lord for so many blessings.