Teething Again

After almost a year of not dealing with the teething issue, Nicholas is once again cutting teeth.  He felt warm last night and we were hoping that it wasn't going to be another round of fever virus like he had recently.  Then today he has hardly eaten a thing (except for freezer pops that feel so good on those gums) and he didn't nap well at all and is having a hard time sleeping tonight.  Of course he is drooling like crazy too.  My wish is that this time will be similar to the others and he can knock out multiple teeth at once.  We aren't sure which ones or how many he is working on, but just pray that it goes by quickly. 

It's weird to experience this again after such a long period of time (in baby world).  I almost went searching for teething rings, but since it has been so long I honestly don't know where they are.  It breaks my heart to see a genuinely happy toddler be miserable all day long (for the most part).  Our efforts to keep him happy included watching Toy Story 2 and 3 and old videos of himself (which he got a real kick out of).         

Rock-a-bye Baby

Last night Nicholas woke up after being asleep for a few hours.  We think his teeth are bothering him -as they have been for awhile and continue to cut through (he is up to at least 14 now).  I have to say that I LOVE rocking Nicholas at night.  Granted I probably wouldn't say this if it was a nightly occurrence, but I also know (in the immortal words of Brad Paisley) "it won't be like this for long..." because before I know it he will be too big to snuggle up with mama and his blankie in the chair.  When I rock him in the la-z-boy, his feet almost dangle off the chair because he's getting so long.  I just savor these moments so much!

Now with that said, I pray that the rest of these teeth break thru soon because Nicholas has not been eating hardly anything.  Hopefully once these next few come in, he will be done with the pain and constant drooling for quite a while.   

Finally another tooth

Nicholas' last teething episode was in February, so needless to say we have been wondering when that next tooth was going to pop out.  Every time he was the least bit cranky (which really isn't all that often) I would say "maybe he's teething".  Yesterday, Nicholas only napped about 1.5 hours and was extremely cranky.  This time I thought it was just due to the lack of sleep, until I saw this morning that his bottom left tooth had popped.  Luckily he slept really well last night (around 7:30pm to 7:00am). 

His latest development is pointing at everything.  It is the cutest thing!  Mimi has even taught him to point at your nose when you ask him where it is.  It's still hard to believe that his birthday is next Saturday!  All  the invitations have been sent and we are planning to have an awesome Birthday/Memorial Day weekend, which will include having his pictures taken at Portrait Innovations.  It will be interesting to see how this picture session compares to his last one when he was three months old and just learning to hold his head up.  

The weaning process seems to be going really well.  Nicholas hasn't seemed to notice a difference in the milk and I'm very happy to only pump once a day now.  Luckily we had our bonus frozen stash to help supplement. 

I'm so very thankful that everything has happened as it has...  Nicholas has not really been sick at all, the nursing went really well, he sleeps and eats really well.  I just thank God every day for our little guy and how blessed we are!

The most horrible sound...

is that of your 8 month old grinding his teeth!!  And it is loud too!  I know this is (hopefully) just a phase since all those teeth have come in, but ugh this is not a fun phase!  Hearing that noise makes us cringe every time.  We try not to overreact so we don't inadvertantly encourge him to continue doing this, but it's hard not to react.  Our friends the Spanicks and Perrys can attest from hanging out the other night, that this is a horrible, horrible sound.  Oh please let this one pass quickly!!

Three for one deal

Things are looking up for Nicholas as this past week three more of his top teeth cut through. Since this happened he seems to be back to his happy-go-lucky self and is sleeping much better at night.

I can't help but smile every time he smiles. Even with his crooked freshly popped teeth, he is just the cutest thing ever! (In my totally unbiased motherly opinion). He has started sticking out his tongue like a lizard (my guess is he's trying to figure out what is going on with his gums).

It just seems that his cuteness grows by the day. Here are some recent pics that we just love...

Who doesn't love naked babies?!?



Daddy and Nicholas "talking". They love it!


Bundled up! Bring on Spring!

Another Tooth

After much anticipation, Nicholas now has another tooth that has popped through. It is one of his top central incisors and from what I can see the other one won't be far behind. Nicholas has been sleeping better recently, so hopefully the worst of the teething process (for these teeth) is behind him.

We started "lunch" with Nicholas this week and of course he is enjoying it as he does all baby food. We are also introducing water out of a sippy cup. Nicholas hasn't quite mastered the sippy cup, but it seems that he enjoys water (when we take the filter off the cup and he is able to get water more easily).

I would post a picture, but you wouldn't be able to see the tooth. We'll make sure to get some good pics once it has fully popped through.

Say Cheese!

Last night, while celebrating my friend Elizabeth's birthday, we felt a little something in Nicholas' mouth. Then this morning we could really feel and see both of his bottom central incisors. According to his baby book, he is right on schedule for this. I'm really going to miss those gummy grins! Also, we believe Nicholas is entering the early stages of crawling in that he has started to stick his butt up in the air and pull his legs underneath. For now he is content rolling over in order to get anywhere.

Apparently Nicholas has brought daddy and the Crimson Tide luck since they are headed to the National Championship in Pasadena. Daddy says it's only fitting since they also went the year he was born.

I finally ordered our Christmas cards. Hopefully I can get them, address them and send back out before Christmas gets here. We had contemplated putting the following picture in the card because we both thought it was too funny, but in the end I decided to go with the traditional Christmas sweater/Christmas tree pic.

What else can break on us?

It seems that things tend to occur in threes. Our three recently were things breaking down. First my car had belt issues (which luckily Pop was able to fix), our microwave of less than a year is no longer working and finally our heat/AC went out this week. Luckily the weather was pretty mild this week and we only went about a day and a half before our replacement was installed and running.

Several nights this week were bad due to Nicholas cutting two teeth. Thanks to my friend Dawn's advice on purchasing Hylands tablets, which helped a few nights. However, one night nothing seemed to do the trick. Finally Gabe decided to drive him around Leeds/Moody to see if that would help. Of course it worked and he was able to transition Nicholas from the car seat to the crib without him waking up. He was out... Again I think this is one of those rights to parenthood that everyone must go through because I can't tell you how many stories I've heard where a ride in the car helped calm a baby down. We can definitely attest to this.

Razzle Dazzle!

Just this past week Nicholas has discovered how to razz - basically he makes wet razzing noises and makes little bubbles. He seems to do it constantly (at least when his hands are not in his mouth). He has also started to grab his feet. I'm sure it won't be long before he tries to stick those in his mouth along with everything else.



Recently he has been rather fussy around bedtime and I'm wondering if it has to do with those bottom teeth he is cutting. Any recommendations on how to deal with a fussy teething baby are greatly appreciated!