Molar!

Sorry, no chemistry this time...

The first of RC's one year molars has FINALLY cut through. Her poor gums have been swollen and working on these for months! As of this afternoon, we saw 2-3 points of exit on the lower right molar. I think we first felt it a couple of days ago.

(She's been really good about making it easy for us to see them. At this point, we can ask to see her teeth and we're greeted with an open-mouthed "Aaaaaahhhhh". Of course, one drawback to this is that when she's done, we have to respect it. She was nice enough to let us look; we have to be nice enough to get out of the way when she gets tired.)

We can see the lower left and feel the texture through the gum. We can also see the beginnings of white on the two upper molars. We're hoping they're not too far behind.

Then we have canines and 2 years and then the long wait for all of 'em to fall out. Seems almost anti-climactic that way. Oh well, at least we might be done with getting new teeth before she starts losing them.

Adventures with "baby"

While we were in Fukuoka, I decided RC needed a baby doll. She loves the one that she got for Christmas, but we've left that at Grandma's (Meemaw) house in Phoenix. She plays with the one at gym every time we go. Most importantly, she was obsessed with Fyoire's "baby" and wanted to hold it which was NOT a good idea.

Given that, we stopped at Toys R Us. I spent *forever* in the baby doll aisle. They have an amazing selection of dolls for the younger girls here. In the states, I had real problems finding more than one or two that were good for a one year old.

She now has a Popo-chan. There are dozens of styles to choose from. We got the one pictured because it was a) good for 1 and up and b) she liked the bunny mittens. I was impressed with how many of them were labeled from age 1. This doll can really grow up with her. We also brought home a summer outfit, pajamas, and a feeding set (bib, spoon, onigiri and squid). I got a watch for the doll, too, but it's for 3 and up (couldn't find the age until I got back to the hotel) so she'll have to wait. The best part was that that one was on clearance (probably 40% off).

Anyway...she loves the doll. The first day at the hotel, she was carrying her around, cuddling with her, trying to teach her to walk (baby wak, wak, wak - while dragging her along upright on the floor), giving baby (well, the floor) water to drink. It was pretty cute.

When we got home and she learned there were more outfits, she was thrilled. Baby puts on her PJs before bed and usually has to get dressed when RC wakes up. She's spent the past few days in bed, but she's still asked about only not when we're home. RC feeds her, when RC isn't busy spitting the onigiri ball as far as she can across the room. We have some troubles convincing RC that the baby's clothes, bib, etc won't fit her. She gets very frustrated when she can't get the bib on her neck or the shoes on her toes.

The other day, RC decided that baby needed a diaper. She got one of hers and tried diligently to get it on. Unfortunately, she's not 100% sure how these things work and it didn't get finished. She also wants to dress the baby in RC's clothes. They're a touch big.

I have found a couple of places closer to home that sell the accessories so we'll see how she continues to go with the doll and ponder accessories for birthday and Christmas. Age 2 opens up lots of things, including diapers that will fit the baby. She's already seen the carrier for the baby ("hohsey" as the baby is being carried on the child's back), but usually decides that she doesn't want to carry her baby like that. I hope she continues to enjoy the doll, but it's a gamble...like all things with a toddler.

"Here's a llama, there's a llama"

(First off, I'd like to say how happy I am that the gods of pop culture and Google programming have come together to allow that to be the first link in a search for "llama" saving me from page upon page of useful information on the species when all I wanted was to get that stupid song out of my head.)

Ryanne went to the Nagasaki Bio Park today. She had a blast. She is convinced the best part of the WHOLE thing is the llamas.

We had a bit of a debate as we viewed the llamas.

RC (spotting the one at the entrance): HOHSEY!
Me: Nooo...that's a llama.
RC: Hohsey?
Me: Llama
RC: Mama?!
Me: Llama

Lather, rinse, repeat...

It took the 3rd sighting before she stopped addressing them as horses, but boy was I confused when she started yelling "mama" at the 4th before I saw it. She is obsessed enough that we had to stop at every single llama so we could pet, hug and air kiss them as I told her, again, that she couldn't ride them. I don't think they knew what to do with my overaffectionate little girl.

She now has a little llama - he's apparently the Bio Park mascot of sorts. She played with it on the train ride home. He ran up and down the windowsill. "MammaMammaMammaMamma - wunwunwunwun" She apparently saw FAR more active llamas than I. I only saw the ones that just sat there in the heat and rested.

Toddler perception is truly amusing, I mean amazing.

Weird Science (A Chemistry Quiz)

This one's going to get ugly. I will try to label the parts that aren't for the squeamish, but consider yourself warned.

I have a chemistry predicament. It's stumped Chrys and me (and Fyoire, Chrys' sister that's visiting us). Luckily, I also have friends that teach chemistry and like weird problems, sometimes both in one person (oooo). I'm hoping one of them can help me.

RC is sick. She woke up yesterday with a bit of a fever and a really runny nose. It progressed into a really bad fever. Today, it was just a runny nose and a lot of cranky pants. I digress...

Yesterday, she woke up and nursed. It was maybe 6:30ish when that happened. Around 8am, we went to breakfast and she didn't eat anything. Around 8:30am, we dropped Chrys off at work. RC had been sucking on his finger, trying to go to sleep. At this point, she was tired, she wanted consolation and she was left in the back seat alone.

RC started screaming. Fyoire and I couldn't do anything to stop her. She screamed a lot. She gasped for air.

*This is where you want to stop if you have a weak stomach. Look for more '*' to see where to start again: She threw up. Repeatedly. It wasn't that much liquid, but she heaved a ton and it sounded very unpleasant. We got her home and I went back to clean her up. I saw bunches of mucous (from the runny nose) and some curdled milk. To get all of the unpleasantness out of the way, I'm guessing she threw up stomach acid (evidenced by the curdles of semi-digested milk), breastmilk, and phlegm. Why this is relevant will be obvious later.

*OK...I'm done for now: I got her out of the seat and looked at her shorts and they were bleached. I was a little disappointed. They're cute: short, fitting, baby blue with a little drawstring. They now had two huge bleach marks on them.

Alas, there was nothing I could do. I took her inside, stripped her down and put her in new clothes. The shorts went into the laundry basket.

Today, I pulled them out to wash them. I looked at the mark. It was big, pure white in the middle, complete with the hints of purplish-pink at the edge that come when you incompletely bleach something blue. Into the laundry they went. Ruined shorts are good for when she needs to get dirty. They needed to be clean.

Imagine my astonishment when I pulled them out of the laundry and they were perfect. They were all blue. They look as if nothing has happened. I should have taken pictures because I don't believe it. I certainly don't understand it.

And that, dear friends, is my question. How on earth does that combination of liquids combine to form a bleaching agent, much less one that's only temporary? I know I'm not nuts. Fyoire saw it, too. I'm confused. We're confused. Help...