On the Cutting Edge

My baby is all grown up.

Well, okay, not quite. However, as milestones go, we have hit on a biggie - the first tooth. Even as I write this, that little piece of hard bone is pushing its way through my baby's gum, the trigger for a mini-adventure for both baby and me (Daddy also, but he'll have to write his own blog).

For Wesley, the adventure includes a haze of confusion and pain - more like confusion on where this pain is coming from. He knows to gnaw, and it does it very well, as his fingers and my nipples will attest. Thankfully, he's not a screamer (yet); rather, he cries genuine cries that produce genuine tears. This is where my adventure comes in. I get to wade into the waters of "How do I comfort my baby and get him through his little adventure with as little trauma as possible?". That protective instinct in me just wants to reach in and magically erase all future teeth from existence. No teeth, no pain. But, since that's neither rational nor practical, I have to go with my other instincts and rock and sing; rub his gums; apply vanilla extract (a great old home remedy that actually works); provide chew toys, cold teething rings and washcloths; and administer baby tylenol whenever the need is the greatest.

The good news is this tooth should be in within the next few days. The bad news? There are how many more teeth to go? Oh, well. I guess there's something to those growing pains after all.