John noticed April's first tooth last week. I think it's her lower left cuspid.

I can't help noting the differences between April and Michael when he was going through the same stages as a Baby.

April loves to eat, but Michael never really has cared to eat as a pastime. John was the one who finally got him to eat his first jar of sweet potatoes...at the age of 9 months. Yes, we tried for months to feed him with a spoon.

April, on the other hand, had no problem taking her first bites of spoon-fed food at the age of 5 months. No problem at all. She pulled the bowl toward her when she decided John wasn't holding it close enough, and she buried her face in the bowl.

That was May 07. I know it looks like John shoved the bowl in her face, but she was truly the one in control. She couldn't eat that unflavored baby oatmeal fast enough.

And she's always been interested in everything we older people are eating. I was leery of introducing solids to her because I thought babies needed teeth for that. But she reeeeeeeally wanted what we were having, so as I gradually gave in, she proved to me that babies don't need teeth to eat. She just gums everything to death. Her first finger food was steamed peas. That's a safe one to start with.

That was August 07.

Gradually we gave in when she made those big doey brown eyes at us for our pizza, spaghetti, bread, cookies & donuts (gasp!). Now that she's gotten used to finger foods she refuses to be spoon fed. So I've gradually been introducing her to spoon-feeding herself. I think she gets it, as long as the food is thick and stays on the spoon when she brandishes it around.

That was Dec 07, a few weeks ago.

Another difference between the kids I've noticed is that April has always loved to play with her age-appropriate toys the way they're intended. Michael as a baby just sort of held toys, looked at them, but didn't really play with them. We spent oodles of money on toys for him and he preferred to play with people! That was fine though. There's nothing wrong with being a people person!

April likes to put things in containers and take them out, over and over. That's a classic milestone I've read about but Michael never really exhibited.

Getting dressed: Michael has always been a wet noodle or a busybody. He's never really helped to offer an arm for a sleeve or a leg for pants, or steady his foot for a shoe. Now that he's four, he's finally getting dressed on his own, with a few minor adjustments necessary afterwards.

April, for several months, has usually offered an arm for a sleeve and a leg for pants and her foot for a sock & shoe. How much easier it is to dress a child who's cooperative!

But both babies have been resistant at the sight of a diaper. Since they learned to roll over, crawl, walk, and run, they love to evade that diaper.

I think one of these days some toy company should come out with a doll that runs away and screams whenever a child tries to take care of it. Now that would be a realistic introduction to parenting.