Oh yeah, one more thing...

If you have kiddos who will still be too little to voice their opinion re: Halloween costumes next year, be sure to hit the kiddie clothing stores Sunday/Monday for great-quality costumes at rock-bottom prices. Wow, guess my inner car salesman emerged there for a second!

I bought the girls' costumes at Gymboree the day after Halloween last year and paid $7.00 each, and this fall we have the cutest ballerina and butterfly on the block. :-)

And if your peanut still doesn't have a costume for tomorrow, some stores have already marked down their costumes considerably. We were at Children's Place yesterday and they had their infant costumes marked down to $6.99.

Just wanted to let you know. Hope your Halloween is spooktacular--sorry, had to stick that in there--and that your little gobblins have a great time!

Now, about those frozen bananas...

The girls have certainly taken their good old time with this teething business. The first pearly white to make an appearance, in Evie's mouth for anyone who's interested, didn't show up 'til just before their first birthday. Camie's first tooth finally came in when she was 14-months-old. And to date, they only have four teeth each--two up and two down, right up front.

I guess it's not uncommon, my brother was late to get his teeth, too, and our wonderful pediatrician, Dr. I., assures us he's never had to send a child to kindergarten with dentures, so I'm really not concerned. But when they do have a bout of teething, it seems like I'm always taken off guard. It takes a day or two of tracking symptoms, soothing crabby babies and wiping runny noses and drooly chins before I put two and two together and realize I'd better figure out a way to help them feel better. Mom of the Year, I know.

So, after dealing with the saddest babies in Loveland for the past three days, it finally dawned on me last night that there are some big teeth on the way. Camie seems to be having the toughest time with it, and woke up at 1:30 a.m. after her baby ibuprofen had worn off. Thankfully, she settled back down without too much fuss, but the whole situation reignited my search for a teething remedy that doesn't require medication. Meds certainly have their place and are a wonderful option when the girls are really hurting, but I've tried my best to keep things "natural" during these first 18 months and I'm always on the lookout for new, homemade/homeopathic ideas and alternatives.

Dr. I. has recommended wetting and freezing baby washcloths for them to chew on in order to numb their raw little gums, which is a great idea, but all I could think of was how cold their hands would get and how quickly they'd lose interest in chewing on flavorless cotton. So, after some hard thinking and a few test runs in the kitchen, I think I've zeroed in on a solution--frozen bananas.

It's a pretty straightforward process, all you'll need are some bananas and a mesh baby feeder, these are the kind we have: http://nuby.com/products/tableware/5360.aspx.

• First, I cut the bananas into pieces that will fit into the mesh baggies length-wise.

• Then, I separate the pieces into thirds by pushing my finger into the top of each piece and pulling apart the banana's three natural segments.

• Finally, put the pieces in the freezer.

I know, it's an extremely complicated process, I'll try to keep it simpler in the future. :-) Once the bananas are frozen solid, I put a piece in each of their Nibblers--thereby eliminating any choking concerns and keeping their little hands toasty warm--and let them go to town. Just refill the feeder as necessary. This morning was our first run with these banana pops and, as you can see from the pictures, they were a huge success.

I'm sure you can freeze whatever kind of fruit your baby likes the best, I'm going to experiment with clementines later today. If something unexpected happens, I'll let you know.

Well, I guess that's all I've got. If you have a teething soother idea, please feel free to share it below. In the meantime, I'm off to play with the Peanuts! Hope you have a great weekend!

A 2:00 a.m. Ephiany

I've followed a myriad of blogs during the last couple of years for their entertainment and educational value, but joining the blogging world really didn't appeal to me. I never managed to keep a diary going for more than a few days at a stretch, and though I'm a writer by trade, my abilities have always leaned in a decidedly corporate direction. The great American novel has yet to flow from my brain, but give me a bag of potato chips that needs some descriptive copy and the muses strike, creativity pouring forth from my fingertips! Yep, the life of a marketing copywriter can certainly be a glamorous one. :-)

But when my 18-month-old daughter, Camie--half of the Evie and Camie duo--started crying at 1:30 this morning thanks to the mouth-full of molars tearing through her poor little gums, I decided I knew where I fit in this blog-happy world.

Motherhood has been the realization of my purpose in life. I know, that phrase is one of the most trite, overused clichés ever uttered--ranking up there with "thinking outside the box" and "throwing someone under the bus." But for me, it's the absolute truth. I've been forcibly mothering everyone around me since my brother was born in 1980--that's nearly 30 years of preparation (sorry, Dave!). So when my sweet little peanuts were born a year-and-a-half ago, it was a huge relief to finally understand exactly why I was put on this Earth. I've always loved to cook, so now I make Fig Newtons and can tomato sauce for my girls. My obsessive nature has been a weighty burden I've struggled with for most of my life, but now that I'm a mom, I put my neurotic tendencies to work creating packing checklists for when we travel with the girls and figuring out which diaper sale will get me the best per-diaper cost! And I've always had a strange love of doing laundry, which strikes many people as odd, but now it all makes sense, given that I live with two full-time, expert dribbler/piddler/spillers.

Before we go any further, I should probably I mention my tendency to be a bit long-winded. :-)

Anyway, what I realized at 2 o'clock this morning while freezing bananas for my teethers to gnaw on the next time the molars strike (more on that to come), was that I really like figuring out "Mom Stuff"--the tricks of the trade that make my life easier and, most importantly, make my daughters' lives better. So here begins the weblog of the Tricky Peanut. As I come across awesome tips, recipes and Web sites--and yes, they will be AWESOME!--that make mommying easier and life happier for my kiddos, I'll post the info here, rather than spamming my friends and posting items on facebook that 95% of my connections could care less about.

If you're among the 5% who are interested in such info, I really hope my blogging experiment benefits you and your little one(s). I am a firm believer that as moms, we should share our knowledge with each other so we are not left to stumble our way through this greatest responsibility of life alone. I'll do my best to eliminate any hint of preachiness or judgement-passing in my postings and I hope you'll do the same for me. I'm no professional and the information I'll share is just what I think will work for my girls and might work for your kiddos. If you disagree--unless I've completely taken leave of my senses and begin advocating toddler knife juggling--I really don't want to hear about it. Hmmm... was that too harsh? Well, even if it was, it stays. :-)

So, as I prepare to sign off and stumble back to bed, please to enjoy, Tricky Peanut!