Dinnertime is so nice now, with all 4 of us at the table. Gavin has fallen in love with helping me cook so that (sometimes) motivates him to eat things he might not otherwise try. Colin has been eating cereal for a few weeks now. Today we tried oatmeal for the first time at dinner and he seemed to like it. Chances are, this kid will like anything we give him - he and Gavin are polar opposites when it comes to food and eating.

We'd been feeding Colin in the Bumbo seat we borrowed from our neighbors but I think he's getting too big for it. Today we pulled out the highchair. After he'd eaten his fill of cereal we put the toy on the tray. Colin was mesmerized! It kept him highly entertained while the rest of us finished our dinner.

After Gavin ate a few bites of his turkey burger he decided he'd had enough and he went to get his bike instead. Scott showed him videos online of other kids using the same kind of bike and it got Gavin interested again. He's been wary of the bike, choosing his purple tryke instead when we're playing out front, but today he seemed to have a lot of fun with his strider bike. It's way cool - no pedals, so he learns to coast and balance without the added issue of pedaling at the same time. No training wheels - he can just put his feet down. Scott brought the bike inside for Gavin to ride today so he could practice. It's usually an outside-only item but we made an exception today. I think it will resume its previous status tomorrow. :)

We went to visit Kelly at her house again today so that Colin can continue working on being less screamy over there. He had some fussy moments at first. Apparently he was hungry and after eating was much happier. We went upstairs to play in Allison's room (Gavin missed the kids - and their toys - a whole lot!) and he started to fuss again with Kelly holding him. She turned on a CD (nature sounds and music) and *poof* he settled down! Music may be the key. Colin spent quite a while in Kelly's lap, playing with toys and looking around, before he started to fuss again - and only then because it was naptime. I'm happy to see him starting to relax over there. We all know how wonderful Kelly is and it's high time Colin caught on!!