The Throes of Teething

Dear Pea,
So, now, we are really in it.  You are clearly uncomfortable much of the time, rubbing your mouth, chewing anything reachable. We've tried a number of things frozen, hoping that maybe the cold would ease your discomfort, but you don't like anything cold.  Frozen spoons, frozen teething toys, frozen banana-it all makes  you more frustrated.  You do like your teething toys at room temperature, though, so we stick with that. You have also been wanting to nurse more frequently, you dive at my shirt, sometimes nursing sitting up-little hits of elixir while you're playing seem to keep you comfortable for longer stretches.  I'll be drinking more chamomile tea and of course I consulted our acupuncturists for remedies and ordered you some good stuff.  I suspect that more than one tooth is on it's way; you gave no sign of discomfort when your first tooth peeked out.

Six month stats

Dear Pea,
So, as you know, you are an amazing flirt: you can turn on the charm in an instant and now know what a camera is and what face to make for it. 

 

this is your new version of smiling, especially for the camera: nose scruntched, mouth open.

What I didn't realize is that you also can give the DIRTIEST looks imaginable.  Wow, your poor pediatrician.  You were happily sitting on the table, shaking your rattle and crinkling (okay, eating) the tissue paper when in came the doctor and made you lay down.  You're not so into laying down these days.  You started fussing, so the doctor figured we might as well do the shot now instead of having to comfort you twice. (I have invented my own vaccination schedule, which is basically spacing everything out a LOT.  Instead of you getting three shots at each appointment, you get one shot.  At 6 months, the schedule says you should be completing your third booster of all the recommended vaccines-you were in fact getting your first booster of one of them). She swiped your leg with the alcohol prep pad as your fussing escalated into crying.  She prepped the needle as you fidgeted and squirmed, trying to sit up again.  In went the needle and BOOM-you screamed and shot her what can only be described as a murderous look.  I picked you up and tried to comfort you, but you kept looking back at the doctor and glaring.  Once you felt that the doctor was sufficiently aware of your displeasure, you calmed right down and resumed playing with her rattle.

Sweet Pea, you have gained 2 and a half pounds in two months, putting you in the 63rd percentile for weight at 16lbs, 13 oz.  You continue to be on the very tall end, now in the 101st percentile (!!!) at 27.8 inches. Your head has grown well, bringing you up to the 34th percentile at 42 cm in circumference. Your constant desire to stand is an indicator of your strength and appropriate weight and shouldn't be discouraged. 

You cut your first tooth the morning of your doctor's appointment. I was shocked and heard it before I saw it or felt it.  You were "drinking" water out of my glass (as always) and I heard a PING instead of the regular gnawing sound.  Huh?  I ran my finger along your gum and there it was: sharp ridges protruding from your lower left side gum.  You gave no indication of discomfort; I really wasn't expecting to see any teeth for a few months since Daddy and I were so late with ours.  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised-you have your fingers or something in your mouth constantly (as evidenced by the photos). But you haven't been cranky or fussy or feverish at all.  So, here we go, another way that you continue to surprise and amaze me.

"Eating"

Dear Pea,
Well, six months is the general time frame for babies to start eating, so we figured we'd give you some food.  We started with egg yolk-I fried it in a little butter and put it on a plate in front of you.  Of course, you grabbed at it and immediately put it in your mouth, as you do with everything.  And then...hmmm.  You looked at both Daddy and me so quizzically.  You played with it in your mouth, spitting it out, mashing it up in your fists, more in the mouth, more spitting.  After about 10 minutes, we took it away and wiped you down.

The next day, avocado. And a bath!

After two days of this ceremonious feeding, I realized that you aren't really going to eat anything yet.  You're still equally interested in the food as the container it is in, so I stopped with the And Now You Shall Eat This idea I had in my head.  SO, now, we just give you some of what we're eating.  I've steamed carrot sticks special for you, so if we're snacking on raw carrots, you get the soft ones.  This is actually the first food you ate, as evidenced by the carrots in your poop later that afternoon.  You've had some of my breakfast broccoli, and that was your favorite so far.  It was steamed, and I think you liked the structure of the stalk-easy to hold, fun to have in your mouth and juicy-you sucked on it for quite a while.  

broccoli all over your face and neck. You're wearing a shirt that says "eat more kale" but you still haven't actually tried kale yet

 

bananas and avocado

So, the food thing is very fun and very messy.  You're getting more interested in what I'm eating all the time, but are still equally happy eating the container that food is in as the actual food. 

Six Months Old!!!

Dear Pea, 

I can't believe it, but here you are, six months old.  

You are starting to grow your real hair-it's blondish reddish brown and spiking up softly all over your head.  You are trying to crawl, spinning in slow circles when on your belly, tentatively moving forwards at times. You still scoot backwards often and you tend to scoot right off your mat and onto the floor and seem to always want to taste the floor-my reflexes have gotten quite fast and I can (most of the time) slip my hand between your tongue and the floor in time.  Though sometimes I miss. Sorry, baby, you've eaten the floor on a few occasions. 

You've tasted some fruit and, today, egg yolks.  It's so funny when you "eat" because all it seems to do it whet your appetite for breast milk.  Today you eagerly dug into your plate of egg yolk, happily bringing it to your mouth. And then, bleh.  You played with it, but weren't really in to doing much else.  You offered it to me, which was very sweet, and once you felt you'd explored all the pieces of egg enough, you reached for my shirt to signal it was nursing time.

You have recently earned the nickname "Monkey", mostly due to a monkeyish noise you make.  I can't describe it, it's a closed mouth soft grunt type of thing.  You have also started to make a soft noise that sounds like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith: "ahhhhhh, wah!" It's not loud, but it definitely sounds like you're warming up your vocal chords. 

Last week we went to ride on a carousel with two other babies and mamas.  The other babes, both boys, were placed sturdily atop horses that wouldn't move and seemed pretty unsure of the whole thing.  You rode the horse that went up and down and loved it.

Wedding and acupuncture

Dear Pea,
You seem to have inherited your spirit grandmother's personality.  You LOVE an adventure and you LOVE being social.  Last weekend we flew to Cincinnati to celebrate the impending marriage of some very special friends. Usually you are no fan of riding in the car, but the cab to the airport was different.  You knew it was different and you happily sat in your car seat all the way to the airport.  Once at the airport, you greeted fellow passengers, flirted with the TSA agents and passed security with flying colors.  You were a trooper the entire flight, smiling at everyone on board, then settling in for a nap that lasted from take off to landing. 

We bring ear plugs for our fellow passengers, just in case, but no one takes us up on them.  And for the flight out, there was no need: the only peeping you did was happy babbling.

Everything that day was fine with you and fun for you.  You were very happy in the hotel room, at the celebration, at breakfast the next morning, in the rental car...you love an adventure.  You cried a little bit on the flight home because you weren't happy sitting down, but once I was able to walk around the cabin, you settled right down and fell asleep.

 Ready for a party!!

Once we got home to NYC, however, you had had enough.  You did not want to be in the car on the way home and you fought your nap even though you were exhausted, finally falling asleep at 3:30pm and sleeping pretty much until Monday morning at 6am. 

Monday (yesterday) you were pretty zonked, too. You took all of your regular naps, but extended them out at least 30 minutes.  In the afternoon, I took you for your first acupuncture appointment.  You enjoyed this, too!  I learned how to give you gua sha, how to massage your back when you get another fever, what points to tap when you start teething and how to treat tummy ills.  You were patient with us poking and prodding you and thoroughly enjoyed eating the gua sha tools and Legos.

Next up: eating real food! It's coming soon, Sweet Pea! You have nibbled apples, bananas and peaches and now it's time for real food: eggs, beef and roe.  YUM!

First fever

Dear Pea,
You got sick this week! It was so sad. Uncle Rossy was actually the one who noticed your fever; it's been so humid lately that we've been sweating together most days, but Uncle Ross patted your head and said "she feels warm."  Out came the thermometer which you weren't too psyched to have under your arm.  I'm not sure it worked correctly, but we did get a reading of 99.5. I called Dr. T, who told me it's normal to get a fever with a cold and that if it went above 101, to make an appointment.  You had the fever on and off for about 24 hours, but it never seemed to climb and you never seemed too terribly uncomfortable.  Again, I breathed a sigh of relief that no one suggested medication to lower your temperature.  We know that fevers serve a purpose and your body has wisdom that should be respected most of the time.

The average cold lasts a week.  You are almost all the way better.  You started sneezing on Monday, got the fever on Tuesday and today, Saturday, all that is left is some crustiness by your nose.  I can't remember if it's Chinese medicine, or Western medicine, or Mother Wisdom that says that fevers and colds appear during times of developmental spurts. Whatever the source, it's true for you.  You are sitting up now, unassisted, while grabbing at toys in front of you.  You are scooting more quickly on your belly, traveling in reverse almost anytime you are on the floor.  You rolled over from your back to your belly Thursday and again a couple more times yesterday. You have discovered the higher end of your vocal range and enjoy screaming and shrieking when the moment feels right, which is almost always.  You intentionally grab what you want, transfer hands like it's nothing and direct everything into your mouth.  That handmade mobile that it took you two months to notice?  Yesterday you grabbed one of the hearts, plucked it off it's fishing line and put it in your mouth before I even realized what had happened.  You are growing in leaps and bounds, in comprehension and mobility.  The cold seemed to launch your forward.  And it was such a nice way for Daddy and me to practice having you be sick-nothing serious, you weren't too miserable and we now know we can handle a fever and a cranky Pea. And we know the pediatrician calls back FAST.

Daddy's girl

Dear Pea,
Last night you wouldn't let your daddy go to sleep.  You kept pulling at his shirt and babbling in his ear.  It got to be later and later, and still you were mesmerized with him. He kept trying to sleep, but you were so engaging and so cute that he ended up staying up with you until you settled down enough to go to sleep.  You say da! and dada a lot these days, but not to him, yet.  But I know it's coming soon. I keep saying Dada is your first word, but Daddy waves it off, knowing you haven't really connected it yet. 

When Daddy comes home from work, your face lights up. He has a special game that as far as I can tell involves simply poking you all over that you think is HILARIOUS. When I poke you, you'll sometimes give me a consolatory smile, but you love this game with Daddy.  Though you will laugh when I tickle you, so I've got that going for me, which is nice. It's been a very sweet evolution, this special Daddy appreciation.  A few weeks ago, you would cry when he held you.  This is far better.

In developmental news, this past week has seen you sitting up unassisted for longer stretches of time-sometimes a minute or two before toppling over or, more recently, sort of falling forward and ending up in the crawling position.  You are never happy to find yourself in that position, but it's sure exciting to watch you get there.  You are also doing a sort of a scoot or rotation or something.  I can't quite tell how exactly you're moving, but you are.  This morning I put you down on your activity mat for some tummy time and you ended up with your entire body off of the mat.  It wasn't a crawl, it was more of a push and pull motion with both your arms and legs.  You will also sometimes start with your head pointing north and wind up with it pointing south.  It appears effortless, save for your constant chatter when you do this.  You roll over from your belly to your back very occasionally, maybe once a week or so.  

You chatter a TON, lots of dadadas, but other sounds, too.  Almost all the consonants and definitely the vowels.  The family lore is that I started speaking at 6 months: bye bye, mama and dada used in the correct context.  You may be on track for that, we'll see.  No pressure, little Pea-we're still simply awe inspired that you're here at all and don't really care who's schedule you're on except your own.  (Though I admit I am a little obsessed with having you crawl before you walk as this is said to foster right brain/left brain communication and be beneficial for proprioception.)

The other thing last week brought was MANY socializing opportunities  I am trading personal training with another mama and you had fun with her little one while we exercised-you were very interested in her ear, but not willing to let go of your foot to check it out closer.

We had a little happy hour party with some other mamas and us grown ups decided it would be fun to put you all on the couch to take a picture. You loved this: all five mamas waving and yelling peek a boo and and trying to get all the babies to look one direction.  Most of the other babes were a bit confused or bewildered, but you took it in stride. Yes, that's you on the far left, smiling at all of us crazy mamas.

And finally, your Uncle Rossy is here visiting.  He invented a game with you where he brings you closer and farther away from the big mirror, which you love.  He also brought a ukelele and plays it for you. You love this, too! You grab the strings and try to eat it if he's close enough and sit mesmerized if he's across the room.