just to keep you informed of the daily goings on in my family

1. Asher is a lover, not a fighter.

This morning he spent a little time working on annihilating a pop-up book on the life of David that came from a yard sale. We are teaching him to take care of his things, but pop-up books are especially tempting to pull apart, and I didn't realize what he was doing until it was too late (reading and annihilating look remarkably similar). He had disassembled a fight scene (maybe David was fighting Saul? Surely Bathsheba and Uriah didn't make it into a children's story) and was holding the tip of a spear in his fingertips. "Paint, Mama!" he announced. He was pretending to paint the book.

2. About potty training - I don't think he's ready for really for real potty training yet. For one thing, I don't think he has the patience to sit on the potty and wait for something to happen. I think that part alone would become a battle, and one thing I know about potty training is the fewer battles you create, the more successful you will be. But he is definitely aware of when he has pooped - he won't sit down if he has on a dirty diaper (not that I can blame him), and he wants to be changed as soon as he's dirty. Even though I don't think he's ready to use the potty, I'm not going to let a natural entry into the whole potty thing pass me by. So I've started changing his diaper in the bathroom and talking about why we go to the potty. I've also told him that the next time he tells me he needs to go before it happens, I'll let him sit on the potty like a big boy. He likes to talk about it (he likes to talk about everything), but so far that's it. At this point, I hope to just help him understand the function of the potty, but we're not going to completely take on potty training just yet. We'll see how it goes.

3. Silas is beginning to cut a tooth. But, moms, would teething affect his appetite? Thursday night he ate 11 oz before bed; Friday morning he would only eat 5. Since then, he has tried to fight his bottle at every meal, and will only eat 6 oz or so. Anytime a baby's food intake is on the decrease, something is wrong, but I'm not sure what it is. He also did really well with cereal in the beginning, but since Friday has refused it. His stomach doesn't seem to be upset. He still has a little congestion from the cold a few weeks ago, but hasn't developed any new symptoms (aside from not eating). Any guesses? Even so, he really is the happiest baby you've ever met. He's just a very calm kid. He spent a lot of time on our trip strapped to my chest in the baby carrier, and I loved having him so close to me. The second child has been harder than I expected, not to bond in the basic sense, but to develop a relationship. I just don't have the same time with him that I had the first time around. It has nothing to do with love or even compatibility, just time. Thankfully newborns (and young babies) need a lot of time and attention, so we're getting to know one another. It just took a little longer the second time around.

4. Speaking of attention, we're trying to nip whining in the bud (or hoping such a thing is possible, I should say). When Asher begins whining, I'll remind him to use his words. Most of the time that's all he needs. But if he persists, I'll ask if he needs attention. This morning I was holding Silas and Asher says to me, "Mama. Tension. Please." I'll take that over whining any day. He's also become attached to a Mickey Mouse doll. I would imagine he plays with this in a similar way to little girls and their babies, acting out daily life with his Mickey Mouse. He'll let Mickey Mouse ride on his shoulders to go look at the moon, which is something he loves to do with Brian. He burps him (the way I do Silas) and tells him how he was brave in the face of elevators. This is why I love his age. Now that he's talking, I love hearing what's on his little mind. Bravery and elevators are a high priority, it seems.

5. Missy is hosting a blogger's diet? I guess you could call it. Getting Hot for the Holidays is what her logo says. For the sake of full disclosure I will tell you that I am working towards losing ten pounds before Christmas, which I started before Missy brought it up, but I haven't officially joined in on the action over at her blog. Losing weight for me is a shift in mindset, and once I do that, I'm fine. So I probably won't join publicly, mostly because it's just not the sort of thing I'm likely to want to blog about very often (what is there to say? Do you really honestly want to know how many times I exercised this week? Wouldn't you rather hear about my child's awareness of his bowels?), but in real life, I am with you, Missy.

That's it for me. What's going on in your neck of the woods?