That Bites Man!

So we are teething now. Fun times. No really. At first I thought she had a cold and then Mom says you know teething will make her nose stuffy from all the increased blood flow. I says but she is only two months and usually it doesn't start till four months. But the cold didn't seem to get better. So I asked Katie to put her fingers in my child's mouth and sure enough there are two, maybe four teeth trying to make an appearance.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics "Teething usually starts during these months. The two front teeth (central incisors), either upper or lower, usually appear first, followed by the opposite front teeth. The first molars come in next, followed by the canines or eyeteeth." Thanks folks she is getting molars and at two months. I suppose this is pay back for sleeping through the night. Oh right she isn't doing that any more. Since this whole teeth thing started she is fussy at around 1 am. She doesn't actually want to eat. We waste quite a bit of formula at that hour. She just is grumpy and wants attention. Again I quote the AAP "Teething occasionally may cause mild irritability, crying, a low-grade temperature (but not over 101 degrees Fahrenheit or 38.3 degrees Celsius), excessive drooling, and a desire to chew on something hard." Has anyone ever had a baby that did not get grumpy when teething??? Occasionally my foot.

So what to do about it? Well she is too little to keep a teething ring in her mouth. Katie says rub her gums. I guess that means I will have to wash off the hot glue from ribbon making. Fun times. Also she is starting to be grumpy out of the house now too, which she never did before. Does it sound like I am complaining? Yes. Deal with it. You can ignore me if you so choose. If only we could take Mary Poppins with us everywhere. Maybe I should get a portable DVD player. Do they make baby iPods? They should. She is obsessed with Julie Andrews and she dislikes Muse. Oh baby I hope you can grow out of that. After watching Mary Poppins obsessively as a child my cousin Sarah decided she too wanted to have a tea party on the ceiling. Solution: hang from the chandelier with a cup.

At least I have found ways of cheering her up. I now know all the lyrics to "Spoon Full of Sugar" and now that she smiles and laughs she can be distracted with funny faces. She can go from pouty tears to giggles in like .6 seconds. Crazy baby. She will also spend a good two hours a day in her gym. I am not sure she will ever roll over. When she is on her stomach she is too preoccupied with going forward. She also wants to stand all the time now. Any time you hold her she pushes herself up into a standing position. This was both adorable and impressive a month ago. Now it is just irritating. My infant is already over cuddling. Not fair. Glad I stayed home this year or I would have missed that phase all together.

And now my closing thoughts (I'm talking to you Larry Cohan). I was getting concerned about her hearing. I know she can hear but she won't respond to sounds. She also wasn't making eye contact with me very often. At her two month doctor's appointment I brought this up with the doctor. She examines her and says "Ok so there is a difference between hearing and listening." Great, I don't know anyone with a listening problem. Also she makes eye contact with anyone new. It turns out she has just seen me and I am no longer interesting. The doctor says "It is a bit early for a baby to have an attention problem but I think we are going to need to keep an eye out for it." Pat just rolled his eyes. Apple doesn't fall very far from the tree.