The Hoffman Boys

I have 2 stories to share this morning. One about a 2 year old boy wonder and one about a 4 year old extortionist. I am so in awe by my boys, sometimes for better reasons than others. I'll start with Garrett...

He has been in his big boy bed for a couple of weeks now and I am truly astonished at how well he listens and follows directions. The first night, we put a gate up so he wouldn't go wandering around the house and down the stairs in the middle of the night. We told him to stay in his bed until the morning. So, he stayed in his bed and called out for me like he has always done in his crib when he woke up. After about a week of this, I took the gate down just to see what he would do. He still stayed in his bed and called out for me between 6 and 6:30 every morning. Even with all that freedom, he stayed put.

Finally, I told him that he can come downstairs when he wakes up. This was a little harder because he woke up at 2am so naturally, he came downstairs then. The next night I told him to wait until it was light outside and, guess what... he did.

Some days he sleeps longer than others but it's typically around 6am when he gets up. So I started thinking. If he follows directions this well, why can't I get him to use a clock and sleep until 7. I bought a cheap Target alarm clock and showed him the number 7 a few times. I told him to not get out of bed until he sees the 7 on the clock and I'll be darned! I heard his door open at 7:20 this morning. He didn't cry out for me or wait for me to come get him. He just came downstairs! Why have I not been challenging this 2 year old kid more???
Now, on to the little rascal. Parker has had a loose tooth since Saturday and I gave it a pretty good tug on Sunday to try and get it out. I think it stung a little so he wouldn't let me go near him for a couple of days but this crazy tooth was hanging on by a thread. I tried bribing him on Monday to let me pull it by telling him that I have connections with the tooth fairy and I could maybe get her to hook him up with an ice cream gift card along with some money. He wouldn't bite. Little did I know he was just holding out for something better.

I was trying to get them both in bed last night pretty early but he wanted to keep watching TV. I told him it was time for bed and he said, "What if I let you pull my tooth, can I stay up and watch another show?" I shouldn't have gone for such bribery but I wanted that tooth out really bad. It's like popping a pimple, I just couldn't stand it so I said yes. 2 seconds after I pull it he goes, "Yes! I am going to get money AND ice cream from the tooth fairy tonight!" What?! I so got played! I swear! These kids teach me so much everyday. Most importantly that they are WAY smarted than I give them credit for!