Last weekend I took the terrible trio to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, which is a pretty magnificent place. We go there quite a bit. Its a cheap date - only 8 bucks! They've got a huge tank full of all types of the local sea life, and at 10:30 on Saturdays divers swim around in there and put on a show for the kiddies. These boys love it. Every time, Gavin wants me to go in there and help the divers. He says "You can have a diver suit, daddy. Just like a diver!" And every time, I suggest to him that he might like to swim in there with the sharks. He looks at me wide eyed, gets a little panicky, and we quickly move on to see the octopus.

The aquarium is great. When you first walk in, you're greeted by a huge (and very realistic) stuffed alligator with mouth agape. Very intimidating, but apparently not to a 2 year old. See photo! My favorite part is the Cape Fear Conservatory which is like a huge greenhouse filled with all the local reptiles, birds and fish that live around here. The harmless critters are allowed to just roam freely, while the more lethal variety are obviously penned up. Gavin and Garrett love the alligators, who mostly just float motionless. Bodie is content just to study his brothers as they gawk at the animals.

Here's Gavin asking a silly question "Who's in the water?" He's funny with his questions. He knows I love to hear him ask questions, but he usually asks a strange one that he already knows the answer to. Its a funny little quirk of his. So I'll give him a silly answer, like "Those are big green beans in that water." Then he gets serious: "NO daddy. Those are NOT green beans. They are alligators." For a boy with autism, this kind of dialogue marks a great milestone in his development. I am just so glad he can interact with me in a meaningful way. An even better question came this morning. I was making breakfast and had the eggs sitting on the counter. He came up and looked at the eggs and asked "What is inside the eggs?" I told him yellow yolks are inside. Then he asked "Who put the yellow yolks in the eggs?" He really knocked my socks off with that one! I told him chickens make the eggs. He said "Yes. They do that at the farm." ...NICE! I love these conversations.

It's ironic that the best part of the aquarium visits for these kids is the bridge over the little turtle pond. They spend a good 20 minutes there every time just looking down at the native turtles, oohing and ahhing. You would think after seeing all the exotic sea creatures, a few little box turtles would seem pretty mundane. Not to Gavin and Garrett. They've become expert turtle watchers, counting turtles and labeling each as "big or little". Important stuff! Somebody has to keep track of those turtles. I would love for these guys to grow up to be marine biologists someday. They've got a good start!

This year we went downtown to the "Battleship Easter Egg Hunt" at the Cape Fear River. It was fun, but the boys were a little disappointed that it wasn't actually on the Battleship. I was too. Above is a picture of their disappointed faces. It should have been called "In the Vicinity of the Battleship Easter Egg Hunt." There's a big grassy lawn adjacent to the USS North Carolina that  was filled with activities, games and a big Egg Hunt Course divided up by age groups. I was pretty excited before we got there. I had envisioned eggs all across the deck of that gargantuan ship, in the turrets and in the ends of the huge 16 inch guns. No such luck. The boys had a good time anyhow.

In other news, baby Bodie's top 5 teeth (mentioned in the previous post) are all in, but he has just 2 on the bottom still. He's a much happier baby now that the teething has paused. He's showing his little mischievous personality with those teeth, biting the spoon with a little grin and not letting go when Sara's trying to feed him. He gets a real kick out of that.

He's also sitting up on his own. Actually, he's been sitting up for a couple months, I've just forgotten to blog about it. I hate that these little milestones come to pass without the fanfare that hailed our first son's achievements. We are just as excited, and I want Bodie to know that. It's also very relieving to see him develop normally without any autistic tendencies.

 Sitting up on your own is a pretty big deal to a 6 month old! Think about it - your whole life's perspective of the world is improved dramatically. You go from laying flat on your back or tummy, confined to a very limited view, to a much more commanding presence and perspective. Now that he can sit up he's greatly aware of his surroundings and happier for it. He's exploring and lunging at everything that comes within reach. I'm sure once he figures out he can get off his rump and onto hands and knees, it'll be off to the races. Our poor cat will have to go into seclusion. I know he's gonna go right for her as soon as he figures out how to crawl. Bodie loves that cat, but she is tortured by the mere thought of one of these kids touching her. (See Kids & Cats post Aug 2008) A crawling baby will also mean we have to re-check all of our babyproofing around here. That day isn't here yet...

Bodie is getting 5 teeth all at once! His whole top grill is coming in. At first, just the two canines on top were showing, and he looked like a little Dracula. So cool! We were going to call him "The Count". We could've gotten him a little black cape and done some great shots for a Halloween Snugfits promotion, but its too late now. These teeth are just busting out all over.

Needless to say, he's pretty ticked off about the whole thing. He's usually a great little happy bug, but not these days. He doesn't want anything to do with food unless it's cold and squishy, like pineapple chunks or cantaloupe. Plus, he gets a fever along with it, about every two or three days. When Gavin and Garrett were teething, they got mild fevers with every new tooth, so that isn't new to us. The only thing that we found really helped with Bodie's brothers' teeth were teething tablets. They're sold at Walgreens, and can help ease the pain a little, but I don't think anything can make a kid content when he has five teeth coming in all at once. That oragel stuff is a waste of money. It just makes them drool even worse. We tried that stuff with Gavin, and I remember he just had this confused/angry look on his face. Like "Why can't I feel my mouth?"
Oh yes - and popsicles help too, if you want a sticky but somewhat satisfied baby. I don't think there is any perfect answer for helping your baby through this harrowing experience.

Bodie is also grinding his new teeth. A lot. It is a godawful sound. He really seems to enjoy it so we just let it go on. He's trying out his new teeth, I guess. It probably feels pretty good! He makes the funniest faces when he's chomping. He looks like a little Popeye! I tried to catch some good pictures of this yesterday when it was warm outside. He loves to be outside, too. Probably because it's so big, and there's no ceiling. When he's outside, he just looks around at everything like he's witnessing a miracle. Its so awesome to watch. Taking him outside to roll around on a blanket is great distraction from the teething pain.

To ask Bodie, I think he would tell you he just wants to be held, and to chomp on my finger. Youch! His mouth is like a pair of vice grips sometimes. I give him a wet washcloth to bite while I hold him, but it doesn't last long. He takes it in his hand, shakes it, bites it, throws it down in disgust, and bites me. Oh well. This too shall pass.