A Few Tidbits

The other day Bree and Mason made us breakfast. They are obviously familiar with our eating habits, because when we came to the kitchen table, there was a spoonful of peanut butter for me, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (slightly mangled by Lincoln) for Chad. Our kids are awesome.

Lincoln is saying a couple new words: dog and hug. Actually he will only whisper them; I'm not sure why.

I finished reading The Power of Habit. It was really interesting reading about all the studies and experiments. It presented the idea that if you want to get rid of a bad habit, you can't just stop the habit-- you have to change it. Manipulate it into something better. Here's the framework:

1. Identify the routine (the habit I want to change)
2. Experiment with rewards (adjust routine so it delivers different rewards, then see if that "satisfies" me--if the urge for the habit is gone).
3. Isolate the cue (When the urge hits me, ask: Where am I? What time is it? What's my emotional state? Who else is around? What action preceded the urge? Then look for patterns)
4. Have a plan (when I experience ____ cue, I will do _____ routine to get _______ reward).

I should let Lincoln read it; maybe it will help him to stop sucking his left thumb.

Mason and Bree have just made a fort with blankets in the living room. They're singing a song, "We love the dark..." Actually Bree is making it up as she goes along, and Mason is trying to sing along. They finish the song, and Bree declares: "Nice singalong!"