* Since his grandma Didi’s visit, Tristan has been using plates very well. Instead of setting up his high chair tray somewhere, we set his plate on a bookshelf in the dining room that he can reach comfortably. Until his recent lessons, he used to be compelled to flip plates over.. now he seems to be able to resist the urge while food is on them. Anyway, we are REALLY pleased about this. It’s one giant step from babyhood to childhood that I’ve been looking forward to.

* I think Tristan’s working on those two year molars on top of the nasty canines. I definitely saw outlines of these molars while Tristan was screaming mid-nap. I didn’t stick my finger in his mouth to find out, though. I’ll do that later on, when he’s not nearly so pissed off.

* Tristan the punkass really needs to quit eating wood chips. I’d let it go and let the behavior go extinct, since we’re just talking freaking tiny mashed up WOOD CHIPS here, but he routinely picks up and examines things I think are likely choking hazards from the same pile. So far mouth sweeps have revealed only wood chips that I was unlikely to even see again in the poop. I suppose age 3 is when we trust our children not to choke themselves on dumb shit, so that’s why we have that distinct cutoff point for small parts in toys.

* I had a successful game of peekaboo going with Tristan and one of his playgroup buddies, Hugo. I’m always excited to see multiple children playing together in some fashion. I also have hopes that other children will be able to engage him through peekaboo and chase as they all start initiating the play more.