It's Hard Being a Baby, Sometimes

Eva is teething.

She's ten months old now, which is at the far end of the curve for first teeth. Babies half her age look up at me and smile their gap-toothed "real people" grins, but Eva's smile is still charmingly infantile. Her face hasn't yet begun the changes that come along with a maturing jaw.

Furthermore, ever since we finally got the hang of breastfeeding, it's been a sweet, gummy ride into the sunset. Other mothers have been nibbled, chomped, and downright maimed as they've continued on their nursing journey, but I've been blissfully pain-free. (Well, for the most part, anyway. It turns out that with some force behind it, a toothless bite actually is pretty uncomfortable.)

I wish I could say it's been easy for Eva, but it's like her mouth has suddenly spouted a row of tiny volcanoes, and they're all spitting and grumbling and thinking about erupting. Nothing's popped through yet, but the edge of one tooth has on her bottom gums has been teasing us for about four days now. The tooth next to that is a tad behind but considering making an appearance, and there's an upper tooth suddenly so prominent I wonder how I missed it. When do these things rise up like that? In the night? They're like gnomes, or mushrooms-- tiny little sproutlings seeking warmth and moisture and, in the case of the gnomes, sensory delights.

It gives me much joy when I think about what she'll experience with those teeth. The satisfaction of shearing off corn on the cob...the challenge of biting into a too-tall sandwich...the gooey twang of Starburst. They'll probably be the source of many woes, too, especially if she has cavities or needs braces or has to have her wisdom teeth pulled.

And now, she's experiencing the first. Her mouth hurts, and she's cranky, and her nose and salivary glands have teamed up to produce an mixture of drooly snot so alarming that strangers, though they try to hide it, recoil a little when they lean in close. "Oh, what an adorable...*shudder*...baby."

Poor Eva. I'm sorry it's rough right now. Is it terrible for me to admit that I'm enjoying your clinginess? It's been hard to catch up with you since you started crawling, and it's so nice to feel your head on my shoulder, for however brief a time.

And I really, really hope you sleep well tonight, because I have to get up at 4:45 am again tomorrow to make it to boot camp!