Quick Hits

• CHOMP - it is official.  Last Friday (a Friday the 13th, mind you!) Ryan's two front bottom teeth finally broke through.  This has been, and continues to be a very slow process, but one micron at a time my little guy is finally getting teeth!  It amazes me how different this is from when Colin got teeth - Colin had swollen gums, one bad night, and *BLING* the next morning he had two teeth.  Ryan has been working on this for two weeks now.  He started with a pin-prick hole in his gums, a day or two later another pin-prick hole, then nothing for a while... meanwhile the kid has been drooling more than a pack of hounds on a hot day.  His slobbering is so bad he's developed a rash all over the lower half of his face!!!
  
• As I was telling his teachers about yet another sleepless night (Ryan is teething, and the last two nights have been nearly sleepless) Ryan broke into a giant, open-mouthed smile and began clapping (arms perfectly straight).  Clearly he is delighted with his up-all-night little self.
  
• Ryan still isn't crawling or standing, but he's found a way to get around when he wants to.  And he's sneaky about it.  I will put him down, and turn around to do something (wash dishes, prepare food, whatever).  When I turn back a few moments later he's in a different spot, a foot or two from where he started and often facing in a different direction.  And for the first couple of days I couldn't figure out how he was doing it!  This morning I caught him... he'll lean forward and reach for something while sitting (possibly rotating just a few degrees in the process) then sit back up, doing this over and over until he reaches his desired target.
  
• Gender confusion: Colin continues to think he's a girl (he's about 50/50 now... sometimes he remembers vehemently that he's a boy, other days he is adamant that he is a girl).  This in spite of the fact that no one has ever in his entire life has questioned for a moment that he was a boy (even when he was a tiny infant).  Ran, on the other hand, wears all the same clothes Colin had (all blues, greys and browns - clearly boy colors), sports-themed designs or logos clearly indicating he is a boy, but people time and again mistake him for a girl!
  
• Potty training is in process.  Colin is wearing pull-ups, and will go "on command" but isn't yet at the point where he will ask before he goes.  To try and move this forward we are taking drastic measures on the weekends.  I'll put Colin in underwear (no pants) and let him run around the house, reminding him frequently to tell me before he goes.  We even talk about keeping so-and-so dry (if he's wearing Buzz Lightyear underwear we say "Keep Buzz dry!").  AND I set the kitchen timer to take him to the bathroom every 45 minutes.  But what has been happening so far is that Colin will suddenly stop dead in his tracks and say "Buzz is alllllll wet." as he is standing in a small puddle.  We do clean-up (I should buy stock in Clorox wipes!), hit the potty, then try again until I'm out of undies for him.  Messy?  Yes, but it seems like the best way to get him to be cognizant of what he's doing.  And it seems to be working - this Monday he, for the first time EVER, asked me to take him to the potty... and went.  Maybe it was because he was at school (I was visiting at lunch), or maybe it was because Lily asked to go a moment before.  I don't care why - it was a breakthrough!  And for the past two days, in spite of drinking copious amounts of water at bedtime and through the night he woke up with a bone-dry diaper.  Stars have been awarded, and I hope that we can keep the trend going.  WOO HOO!!!
  
• Getting out of the car today Colin asked to be carried (which is no small task, considering I already am carrying Ryan, a lunchbox and a diaper bag).  But I couldn't resist when he insisted he needed to be carried.  His reason?  "I don't want to get squooshed."  Can't fight logic!