Happy Little Milestones

I have nothing earth-shattering to share tonight, but there are a few small things to celebrate...

1. Matthew is potty-training! For real! We first bought him some unders back in the early fall and made an attempt at the transition from diapers to potty. After two days of 100% wet chairs, wet carpets, and wet Woody & Buzz briefs, I was convinced: the kid wasn't ready. We made one more stab a month or so later, at Matthew's initiation, when he received a set of Transformers unders for Christmas. Still no dice. He just wasn't getting the fact that he had to do something different! But at the beginning of last week, he again asked if he could wear his underwear, and after a big pep talk, I agreed. Low and behold... he's ready! I don't know what changed, but we've had a very high success rate for the last seven days. Today he even used some public toilets on our family day outing! Go, Matthew!

2. We finished Genesis! I'm not sure exactly when we started reading through the first book of the Bible during our morning "table time," but we finally finished! We did skip just a few sections: Lot and His Daughters (save that one till they're a bit older), Judah and Tamar (ditto), The Defiling of Dinah (double ditto), and a couple of geneologies. (Oh, and the part where Rebecca and Jacob conspire to deceive Isaac and steal Esau's blessing--but I won't take the time to explain that one here.) This is the second book of the Bible we've completed together. Psalms was the first. (We've also been reading through Proverbs the whole time, but at only three verses a day, that's taking quite a long time.) Meg and Matthew have grown so much in the last few months. They are now much more able to listen quietly and carefully while I'm reading. I'm very proud of them, and grateful to God for His work in their little hearts! And now we're ankle-deep in Exodus...

3. Lastly, Esme is getting all of her teeth at once! That may not be precisely true, but that is how it seems. She doesn't like to let me look (or poke) into her mouth, so I'm rarely sure exactly what's going on in there. However, I'm quite certain that she's been in the process of cutting at least three molars at once, and I believe there's one more. There's also at least one canine starting to push its way through the gum--seems like maybe two. This does occasionally mean some night-waking and some grouchy days, but I actually prefer the all-at-once approach. Matthew's teething took f-o-r-e-v-e-r, and at age 3 1/2, he's just finished getting his lower two-year molars. Top ones still missing.

But at least he's using the potty!