Oh

Meanwhile, in all the drama associated with mouth issues, I totally forgot to mention that Meg can now officially roll over from her back to her stomach. I thought she did it last weekend in that she was back on her stomach from her back when I turned around, but Andy has been known to try to "help" her roll over and he didn't convincingly tell me he didn't do it. Then last night, I watched her do it twice. Go baby!

Milestones

Two milestones this week:
* Meg can consistently flip from stomach to back. She can also consistently sit on her own. She is going to be into everything before I know it. I guess I need to read up on babyproofing. It's been a long time since I worried about what Andy was inadvertently going to choke on.
* Andy has mastered the tricycle. We've had one for ages, but he never really had much interest in it. His new school has several on the playground so he's been watching the other kids and getting into riding the bikes there, which made him more interested in the one at home. This week, they even had "Bring Your Bike to School Day," which he loved. Today after work, I pushed Meg in the stroller while he rode his bicycle around the cul de sac. Last week, he was slow and seemed to lose his footing a lot. Today, he was so fast, I had to really push myself to keep pace with him and even then he beat me. Tomorrow I will wear better shoes. I am excited about this development as it means we can start talking walks again. Even if we just walk in circles to the end of the block and back, it's nice for all of us to get some fresh air. And nice that I don't have to either push two kids or carry Andy once he gets tired of walking.

The cleanest car ever

I am in heaven. It turns out my local car wash can shampoo my car mats and floor, thus removing the smell of dirty diaper, baby vomit and curdled chocolate milk. Well worth the $29.99 price tag. I might become addicted to this. It turns out they also have a detailing service also for $29.99 when they'll clean the inside, including wiping out the cup holders and that kind of stuff. I think I'm going to do that next time. This could become an expensive addiction.

Andy has come quite bossy lately. Well, scratch that. He's been quite bossy for a while now. What's interesting is that he's totally obsessed with being the "line leader" meaning he has to go first wherever we go, even if he's going slower than everyone else. He's learning what winning and losing means so he's always saying, "I win!" regardless of what game we're playing or if he's actually winning. Good thing the Olympic games start next week. We'll have fun watching and talking about who is winning.

Tonight I thought we had a breakthrough on him sleeping with his binky. He announced that he was a big boy and didn't need it anymore. Of course, when time came for bed, he wanted it back, but I'm hopeful this is a step in the right direction. Over the weekend, he slept both nights without it and didn't ask or even seem to need it so clearly he can do it. When we got back, I had in my head that I just wouldn't let him have it anymore, but the weekend had been long and I didn't have the stamina. Soon. Maybe.

Meg is seriously this close to pulling together the whole rolling over, rolling everywhere business. She can easily roll from her back to her side and from her stomach to her side. Those are the hard parts -- once on her side, she can easily go one way or the other, she just doesn't really seem to see a need for it. She can also sit unassisted for a little bit at a time and is putting together going from sitting to her stomach or side. I think it's just a matter of minutes before the light bulb goes off and she puts all the pieces together.

She's also making progress on eating solid foods. She didn't seem interested around 4-5 months and then with three weeks of throwing up and coughing, it didn't make sense to work on it. But now, she's had a week of apple sauce and rice cereal and this week we're moving on to sweet potatoes (of course, this has subsequently led to some stinky diapers. I had forgotten how generally unoffensive milk-only diapers are).

It's been hot and humid here. Fortunately, we've had a ton of rain in Washington so my garden is busting at the seams with squash and tomatoes. It's been a nice summer, but I'm about ready for it to cool down.

Moving along

Andy is moving up to the three-year-old room at school this week. Yes, he's already three, but when he started at his new school, he wasn't as confident with the toilet training so they thought it best to keep him in the two-year-old room until he was ready. I was fine with that. It's a smaller class and the teachers seem really nurturing. With potty training mostly figured out (the glorious moment last Sunday at the DC United game in the broiling heat when he decided to crap in his pants aside), he's now ready for the transition. I was nervous, but he's taking it like a champ.

I like how they do it. They bring him over for a few hours during the day for circle time and playing in the morning with the older kids and then returning back for lunch and a nap with his old class. That's how it went yesterday and he did great. Today, he did so great that he didn't even go back to his old class at all. He was having so much fun when I showed up that he cried when it was time to leave. I'd say that's a good sign.

Meg is also growing up before my eyes. I looked at her the other morning and I swear her face is somehow fuller or rounder than the day before. It was just so, so babylike somehow and less infant/newbornish that I had to stare at her for a few minutes and soak it in. She's just so beautiful and round, like the picture of the Gerber baby. I swear sometimes I look at her and think to myself, "You? You were once inside me? That's just crazy."

And while she's getting bigger, she's still not rolling over which has me slightly paranoid. On the one hand, I'm glad she's not mobile yet. Once that happens, this little blissful like of being able to put her down and know she'll be there in five minutes when I get done wiping Andy's butt will be over and I'll have to improvise ways to keep her contained. That said, isn't five months a little on the late end of rolling over? Perhaps she's just not in a hurry to get anywhere yet.