His mother's son.

Since Reed's birthday, around the beginning of December, we've been working on getting Reed on a regular sleep schedule so that mommy doesn't want to throw baby out into the front yard when he just wants to play at two a.m. We've also been starting the weening process because we just think it's time. Both have been going remarkably well. Most nights I sleep all night long. This is AMAZING because I had forgotten what it was like not to dread the nighttime, not to dread getting into bed because I would just get too damn comfortable and then have to get up for anywhere from one to four hours just when I got into a really deep sleep, just when I got really warm and comfortable, just when I started to dream about eating nachos and online shopping at the same time with no regrets or limits whatsoever. These days I can get into bed and look forward to a full night's sleep, to not getting up until roughly six the next morning, AND IT IS GOOD.

The weening seems to be okay too. Before Reed turned one, we gave him however many bottles a day that he wanted. He usually had about four, one with each meal and then one at bedtime. We started by cutting down to just two, one after breakfast and one at bedtime. For the first few days, he didn't seem to notice any difference at all. After that, he would ask for a "nana" several times a day, and we would just give him water or milk in a sippy cup. This WAS NOT WHAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR, but we toughed it out. After a week or so, he didn't seem to miss the daytime bottles much. We figure we'll give him a good, long while to get used to this part, the two bottles, before we move on to cutting down to just one bottle at bedtime, and then to complete shut-down, end-of-the-world, no-turning-back-we're-for-it-now mode and attempt to survive without giving the child any bottles at all. I think we'll be okay, if "okay" means being being hit in the head with a bouncing tigger repeatedly until we finally shuffle off this mortal coil and Reed can go get himself a damn bottle.

Next will be potty training, which I am a little nervous about because I know NOTHING about it whatsoever. I mean I got nothing. I know that when I first met Jason, Kane, and Jude (Kane was six and Jude was three), they would often all three go to the bathroom together and have "races" to see who could pee the fastest. What I'm telling you is that they would all pee at the same time, in the same toilet, and whoever finished first won. All that sounds like to me is having to change your clothes because you got sprayed, but whatever works. That actually continued for about a year or so after I met them. I guess you've got to reinforce, right? So I suppose that's how it'll go with Reed, when he gets just a little older; there will be four boys running to bathroom to race. But I can tell you that REED WILL WIN EVERY TIME if he got any of my genes whatsoever, because when you have to pee this often, you learn to get in and get out, you know what I mean?