A few things to be grateful for

Zoe has been fully pottytrained without an accident for about two weeks now. Yee hah! Now we make a lot more trips to public restrooms, but at least I get lots of kisses while we're there. Yesterday she spent nearly two hours on the pot -- I think about 5 minutes to do her business and another 115 spent perusing the steady supply of picture books Jed carted in for her.

Zane is rolling! And smiling! And laughing! And eating a little big of solid food! It's a miracle seeing his coordination improve day by day. The rule of thumb around here is if you can get it in your mouth, you can eat it. So every meal we've been giving him a little something and he is trying, aiming, clenching... but not quite getting it in for a week now.

One day he couldn't figure out how to get his hand to his face. The next day I gave him an apple slice. I let him taste it first so then he really wanted it. With a fat, determined expression he grabbed that apple tight as he could, wound up, and jabbed himself right in the cheek, quite hard. He threw the apple on the floor and wailed in pain and frustration. The next day he could get it more gently up to his face, but still not in his mouth. Then two days ago, he grabbed the carrot stick and victoriously inserted it into his starving little orifice. Then he made a face and threw it on the floor because it tasted weird. We all cheered nonetheless! The next evening he was happily sucking on rib bones when I went out to dinner with some friends. Nothing like a BBQ smeared baby face - yum.

Jed has learned to read in the last few months. We're taking it slow, just a little bit every day, but he is constantly improving. I am so, so excited for him to discover the world of reading on his own. We may never see his face again after that (well, he'll probably fit some legos in between books) but I just know he will take after his momma and be a "bookie" child. Today I was chatting with my mom on the phone and spelling out a few words (don't want to ruin the birthday surprises!) I spelled "K-I-D-S" at one point, and a moment later Jed looked over at me with a triumphant, glowing face and shouted "KIDS! YOU SAID KIDS!" I couldn't decide who was more pleased, the mother or the speller.