Nearly two weeks have passed again since the last blog entry. How did we let that happen? So, here are two weeks' worth of stories and happenings around our rambunctious household.

Most noteworthy and deserving of its own entry, I suppose, was today's checkup on Baby 2.0. Everything is "perfect," as the doctor said after addressing every item on her checklist. Weight gain is perfect, tummy measurement is perfect, Baby's heartbeat is perfect (145-155 beats per minute), and I got a lovely prick in the finger to check iron levels - perfect. We were looking forward to hearing that heartbeat most of all and it immediately came through loud and clear the second she placed the doppler on my belly. We have the Big Ultrasound next Wednesday so we'll hopefully be able to refer to Baby Girl or Baby Boy by Thanksgiving!

Yesterday, Gavin's pants fell off. Fell off ... while he was wearing them! I glanced over and he's standing there with his jeans at his ankles. A quick shake of each foot and they were off completely. Should I mention that these are size 12-18 month pants and Gavin is 22 months old? Gavin has no rear end and he certainly didn't get that trait from my genes! Daddy always says he's like, "a frog stood up and put on a pair of pants." Most of the time, Gavin wears cloth diapers which provide ample posterior padding and keep his pants up. Occasionally, like yesterday, he leaves the house wearing a disposable that is much thinner. He really needs two pants collections - one to wear with cloth diapers and one to wear with sposies. Until we have enough money to supply him with a double pants wardrobe, maybe we'll just invest in a belt.

Speaking of diapers, Gavin has reached the take-off-my-own-diaper phase. If he's only wearing a diaper, he'll take it off. When changing his diaper, we have to pull his pants back up as soon as possible because he'll immediately peel the velcro open with a sly grin on his face. As long as he has pants on over his diaper, this isn't a problem although, as previously mentioned, it isn't always easy even keeping pants on!

Gavin has become quite fastidious. At random times throughout the day, he walks into the kitchen and reaches up for the sink. He used to do this whenever he was thirsty because his cups are usually drying on a towel laying on the counter. Now, he just wants to wash his hands. I don't know where he gets these hand-washing urges from because they never occur before or after he's eaten or when he otherwise has obviously dirty hands. It's always at completely random times. I pull over a dining chair, he crawls up, and leans over to let the water fall over his hands. He doesn't quite have the scrubbing part down yet, but it's very promising that he loves washing his hands so much!

A little rain has never stopped a Highsmith from playing outside!

Gavin still doesn't speak words. I fail to mention this in his monthly updates anymore because it would become redundant month after month and I suppose I'm a little worried about people judging him. It doesn't bother us one iota that he doesn't speak words yet because he exhibits every other sign of understanding communication and hearing, but I'm still fully expecting his doctor to recommend a speak therapist when he goes to his two-year check-up in January and I'm fine with this. Life might be a little easier if he could speak some words, but he still communicates very well with us, especially "yes" and "no." He says, "uh-oh," at the correct times (whenever Mommy is being a klutz or anything falls to the ground) and says "mmm" a lot when he eats, but no actual words like "Mommy" or "Daddy." And he says, "da" (I swear he's just saying "yes" in Russian), "ga", "ba" ... all sorts of sounds ... all ... the ... time. He never stops "talking" all day long and he has the cutest little voice. I want to bottle it up and preserve it forever!

Speaking of topics avoided in recent months, Gavin still doesn't eat a varied selection of food, either. His day consists of a cereal bar for breakfast (he tired of oatmeal months ago), a cup of milk during our morning walk, buttered toast around mid-morning, yogurt and graham cracker-and-peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, a banana and milk in the afternoon, applesauce and pancakes for dinner, and then more milk while he's read his bedtime stories. He also loves chocolate milk and Nutella on crackers, but we limit those. He would eat an entire box of cereal bars every day if we let him - they are by far his favorite food. Until his diet expands, we focus on making the foods he does eat as nutritious as possible. That means only Earth's Best cereal bars - they have twice the vitamins and minerals as their Gerber counterparts. His pancakes are homemade from scratch with whole wheat flour and applesauce substituted for butter. Almost everything he eats is organic - milk, unsweetened applesauce, yogurt, peanut butter... We have an organic-only policy in our house for all dairy products and fruits and veggies with thin skins. We've learned that forcing food into his mouth has absolutely no positive effect, so we'll continue putting new foods on his plate and over-act about how yummy our food is, hoping that someday he'll want to eat more of the foods we do.

It seems that most second-born children are very calm and easy-going babies (Jeff is a second-born. Need I say more?) and I'm beginning to see that this is ingrained even before birth. Of course, from birth, second-borns have to share Mommy and Daddy's time with brother or sister so they never have their parents complete attention. But even now, Mommy can't rest on the couch for the evening when "that's what her body is telling her to do" because big brother needs a play mate and a bath. Mommy doesn't say, "that box is too heavy to lift," like she did when pregnant with number one because, even though he's more than the 25-pound lifting limit imposed by the doctor, she simply has to pick up and carry around 26-pound big brother countless times every day. In short, Mommy can't baby herself like she did while pregnant the first time if there is a toddler in the house. So, Version 2.0 is already becoming more mellow by the day. I can just feel it!

Gavin and I went to Petsmart yesterday for the first time. It's officially his new favorite store. There were dogs for adoption outside on the sidewalk, and birds and fish inside. He was smiling so big that his cheeks required two zip codes instead of their usual one. There were no kitties, though, so I told him the truth: Cats are the most awesome pet available so they were already taken, but no one wants a loud, stinky dog or boring fish or birds so those were still available. You see, we feel that the truth must be told at all times. We're taking him to an aquarium by the beach for his second birthday. I'm even more exciting now than I was before. He is going to have the time of his life!

Gavin has been going through another adjustment period. Daddy started a part-time job at REI several weeks ago and has trained a couple nights a week for the past few weeks. Gavin seems to have noticed that Daddy isn't around all the time like he used to be so it's been a little hard especially since he became such a Daddy's boy during Mommy's first trimester when she was so boring! He's fine when Daddy's gone, but the actual process of leaving and the tears when Daddy finally comes home have been difficult.

Waving bye-bye to Daddy as heads off to work.