My streak would have continued if today was September 25

I realized that if I'm going to use the blog to track the kids' milestones, I'd better get to it. I know that pretty much everyone who reads this thing already knows about most of these, but this is for posterity, kids.

Ava is officially pulling herself up on anything and everything. She's also cruising. I hear that early walkers start around 8 months old, so she clearly won't hit that. But I wouldn't be surprised if she's walking before Jonah turns 3. She is also finally cutting her first tooth.

Jonah is potty trained!

After our disastrous attempt at potty training back in July, Matt started telling Jonah that he could have five (!) M&Ms if he peed in the potty. (Matt didn't consult with me before determining the quantity of M&Ms that a peepee was worth.) Jonah was still not interested—until we gave him an M&M to try! Once he knew what he was missing, he was pretty much potty trained in two days. It's been over a month now, and he's not even wearing a diaper for naps. He's also often dry overnight. I was terrified of potty training; I'm shocked and amazed at how easy it was.

Jonah has also started preschool, and he loves it. He's going to Pine Village Preschool, which is a Spanish-immersion preschool that just opened up a site in the South End. How we got to this particular school is a whole other story, but we're happy with it so far. And Jonah can already count to at least 20 in Spanish!

Ava and I attended Katie and Blythe's non-bachelorette party/non-bridal shower last weekend. We spent two nights on Block Island with them, Mom, Aunt Sally, and Blythe's mom, Adrienne. Ava had been a little sick, but she was a real trooper, and she was great the whole weekend. The adults had a lot of fun playing games and drinking wine after she went to bed.

Labor Day weekend, I flew down to Memphis for Tiffany's bachelorette party (and I held my own, even though I haven't done much partying lately!), and Matt drove ALL BY HIMSELF with both kids down to New Jersey for the weekend. I'm truly impressed that he did that. Personally, I find the idea of driving alone with two kids to New Jersey on a holiday weekend way more terrifying than the idea of taking care of them by myself for a few days.

We had a busy summer, and it's carrying on into fall. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up!

Quick Kid Update

Even though I have a few other thoughts percolating in my mind (gender identity and baby clothes, trip to Colorado, why I'm becoming an accountant), I decided to write a quick kid update. I realized that I've been trying to use the blog to track Ava's milestones, since I don't have a baby book for her, and I could miss a few if I don't get them in here pronto!

Miss A mastered the art of sitting up in early July, and the day before we left for Colorado (July 9), Emma and I observed her go from her belly to a sitting up position for the first time. She kept working on it while we were away, and now she's a master sitter-upper. In fact, when I go to get her after a nap (or check on her while she's falling asleep - it's kind of a problem!), she's usually sitting up.

Over the weekend, she pulled herself more or less up to standing in her crib. I know, yikes, right? It's too early! No photographic evidence of this yet, but for your reference, Jonah did not do this til he was almost four months older than she is. We're in trouble.

She saw the doctor for her six month check up yesterday, and she is growing growing growing! She is now 28 inches tall, taller than Jonah was at six months, and weighs 16 lb 11 oz.

About a month ago, we did one disastrous day of attempted cold-turkey potty training with Jonah. We took off his diaper and told him he was going to use the potty and wear big boy underpants from then on. Not only did he not use the potty, he refused to even wear the underpants. So he went commando under his shorts, wet himself once (and freaked out), and then peed like crazy during his nap, during which he wore a diaper. (We're not masochists.) Then he held it until bedtime. Clearly he can do it, but convincing him to even sit on the potty fully clothed is a battle. Good times.

Tonight, after both he and Ava went to bed, Jonah climbed into her crib and wound up the mobile, much to the delight of both of them. (This from a kid who, while he was sleeping in the crib, never climbed in nor out of it!) Mean Mommy went in, admonished him, and put him back in his bed.

Finally, in case you didn't know, I WON the Sling and Swaddle Journey! I'm so thrilled. My prizes arrived over the weekend, and I think the best one is the new breast pump. I'm actually looking forward to giving it a try. I can't believe I'm actually saying that!