Quiet House

In the two weeks since I posted last, we've had all sorts of excitement around here:

We got to meet the VP Monday when he visited Lexington. My brother drove him to the venue and arranged for us to attend the event for a quick picture. We were prepared to be ushered in to take a quick snapshot, but we actually spent a good 30 seconds posing for pictures and speaking with the Second in Command. That morning John had told Lauren Clay that she was going to meet the Vice President. She said, "Oh, the Vice Present. He's my favorite." We told him the story, and he laughed. He was much more cordial than I expected, but the event was surreal nonetheless. We can't wait to see the pictures; we're nervous that Ty's diaper is going to be completely exposed and that John's face will be upstaged by Lauren Clay's green sucker we'd forgotten to take away before we posed. Plus, we were drenched by Monday's downpour just before the picture. But it was a good memory, and it will likely be better preserved through a not-so-perfect picture.

During the same event we were able to meet Coach Gillespie, and had our picture snapped with him as well. I'll post one when I get it; it's saved on mom's camera.

Ty is popping out of his 3-6 month onesies and shirts (thus the "completely exposed diaper" from the VP picture), but he still fits best in 3-6 month pants. He's in size 3 diapers, though. It's funny how you realize it's suddenly time to move up to the next size. We had just run out of size 2 diapers, partially because we were having to change them constantly to keep him from leaking. We thought we'd use a size 3 (which we had on reserve, thanks to the Bunco girls who showered us with all sizes), and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the bigger size was a nice fit. In fact, we probably should've moved up a couple weeks ago; the leaking problem was solved with the switch.

Ty is rolling over now: belly to back and back to belly. He rolls all around his crib, which is a fun next step, but it has caused a bump in our previously smooth ride with his sleeping.

Ty's first tooth broke the surface of his bottom gums this afternoon (another culprit thwarting our dedication to helping Ty be a good sleeper.) I noticed it as he was screeching in his high chair after lunch. The screeching just started in the past few days; I think he found his voice and enjoys trying it out (he knows it makes me laugh, but it's actually a shrill shriek that reverberates an uncomfortable echo through our hardwood-floored home!)

Ty is eating all sorts of foods, and-- while he turned down carrots on the first try-- he's gobbled up everything we've given him: sweet potatoes, squash, peas, prunes, pears, bananas, avocados, rice cereal, oatmeal, and the second try on the carrots. The doctor assured us that the introduction of new foods would not affect his diapers, but we've seen quite a change there. We get a dirty diaper only every couple of days, and they are definitely not what they were before. I'll spare you the details...

Lauren Clay is quickly becoming the good sleeper of the house. Between her themed sheets and a new clock that shines the time onto the ceiling, she has been going to sleep for us like never before. It probably also helps that the weather has turned milder, so she is able to run outside during the day and she's ready to sleep by naps and nights. I usually read her a book, tuck her in, then lie down with her for 3-5 minutes. I tell her when I'm going to get up (we look at the clock together), then I do get up, and she stays in bed. No crying, no fussing... and she's generally asleep by the time I go back in to check on her (I always promise I'll return in 10 minutes.) If she's not asleep, she's usually just watching the clock or her fish tank, and she usually answers, "good," when I ask how she's doing. I may be premature in celebrating her success because we've only had a week of pleasant naptimes and evenings, and she's still not sleeping through the night... but we're better-- oh, so much better-- than we were just a month ago. Heck, we're better than we were just a week ago. Hopefully next week's update will be an equally positive report.

Lauren Clay is napping now, actually. In fact, Ty, Henry and Bugsy (who is boarding with us for the weekend) are also sleeping soundly. And for the first time in two weeks, I have been able to justify setting my class to-do's aside to update the blog. Thought I'd even spice things up with a new template.

I'm off to search for pictures to post, then to read essays for which my college students are anxiously awaiting their grades.