Dentalizations
A wonderful/terrible thing has happened.
Miles has his first tooth.
Denny found it this morning, and he came to let me feel for myself. It is definitely there—a pointy little sucker. When I felt it, tears sprang to my eyes, and not because he bit me. I told Denny it’s like a tiny little version of him going off to college. I’m glad he has teeth and everything (because seriously, I’m not going to puree his food forever, especially after his very rude rejection of the garbanzo beans I worked so hard on), but I miss my gummy little baby.
He’s been handling it pretty well so far; in fact, he’s slept really well the last few nights. Let’s hope that continues. He was kind of fussy tonight, but we gave him some Tylenol, Hyland’s Teething Tablets, this crazy vibrating teething toy from Aunt Shannon, and some frozen apple chunks in his mesh chewy bag. Among all those methods, he managed to stay more or less content.
I find myself feeling a little envious of the pregnant women I know (Angie, Kate, Melissa), because they’re going to have genuinely tiny little babies soon. Then, on the other hand, I remember how I mentioned to Denny just this morning that a 7.5-month-old is a lot more fun to hang out with than a one-month-old.
I guess every stage has its ups and downs. Teething is a down, but laughing at my jokes is an up. My jokes are much less complex than they used to be—there are a lot of doofy noises involved—but it’s nice to have a receptive audience.
I had a similar reaction when my kid sprouted his first teeth a few months ago. It wasn’t that I had a problem with him biting me or anything, but he’ll never be completely toothless again! (At least, I hope not.) My baby’s growing up! And now, I think those little bitty teeth are just so darn cute.
I’ll always remember Ava’s first tooth, mostly because she had chicken pox at the same time she cut it. Sounds like you and Denny did all the right things for Miles; I’m sure he appreciated it!
So did you skip the chicken pox vaccine, or did she come down with it before the vaccine was scheduled (that sounds right, considering the timeframe)? We’ve been doing all the vaccines on schedule, but we’re trying to be thoughtful about it at least. Chicken pox is one I’ve heard is a good one to skip if you’re going to skip any; apparently the immunity often wears off, and the person ends up getting it at a later age, when the disease is much milder than if he/she’d just gotten it as a kid (or in Ava’s case, as a baby).
Leah would likely have the definitive reply, but my recollection is that Ava got the pox at daycare before we even had a chance to get her any vaccine. We were a bit miffed, because someone had clearly sent their kid (from an older class) to school with an active case of chicken pox in direct contravention of daycare policy. Grrr. Such is the world of daycare. The upside was that Ava was too little to really know what was going on, and she and I got to take Aveeno baths together for a while, which was nice. My skin had never been so silky as it was that week….