"The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things...."

Since Michael was three months old, Clark and I have thought he was teething. Excessive drooling, a few fevers, some yuckier-than-normal diapers... but then we'd take a look at his gums and see nothing but the usual shape. No bulges, no white peaking through... nothing. So, we'd move on.

Well, the time is here.

Tuesday I was desperately trying to figure out what was wrong with Michael. Normally he only has 2, maybe 3, #2 diapers in a day. It was maybe one o'clock, and he had hit four. I just didn't understand. The day carried on, Clark took Michael for a while to give me a break, and then he brought him back and went to work.

Around dinner time, I noticed the teeth.
(I promise we weren't torturing him to get this pic!)

I read that it's most common for the bottom two front teeth to come in first, but as always Michael is breaking the trend and his top two are coming in.

It didn't seem to be that bad.

Wednesday we went on our scheduled date, although I must say I felt a little more protective/paranoid than normal. I trust our babysitter whole heartedly, but I know Michael. I just knew nothing she did was going to make him happy.

He didn't eat. He didn't want to do anything. Only watching Mickey Mouse Club on her iPhone seemed to calm him down. When we got home, it only took an hour before he went right to sleep.

For me, teething didn't seem that bad. Michael was just pooping a little more than normal, maybe not napping quite as well, but come bed time he'd just sleep on through.

Until last night.

Last night Michael was hot to touch. As in, I didn't want any covers because it felt like coals were cuddling up beside me. He had a little baby Motrin before going to bed, but in the wee hours of the morning he woke up with an awful cry.

Truly. Awful.

Poor Michael was in such pain and nothing would comfort him. No feeding, no pacifier, nothing.

On went the hallway light. Clark crawled out of bed and got Michael a little more Motrin, the thermometer, and a new diaper.

Fever: 101.

Diaper: #1 and #2

Motrin: Devoured (after a little coaxing)

He woke up again somewhere around 6:30am, but I knew he wasn't ready to get up because of the way he would keep putting his head down and closing his eyes, sitting up, and then repeating.

Fever: 100

Diaper: #1

Motrin: Not given

He finally feel back asleep and slept in until 9:45am. No joke. It felt like Saturday, or a holiday, or a day out of 1,000 that never happens. I can't remember the last time we, let alone I, slept past 8am.

So, now he's down for a nap and I'm saying a prayer that he takes a good one, because I think we'll only be able to have one good nap today, or an absolutely dreadful night (which we may have, anyway).

Might I just say, too, that two out of the four diapers he had today (that is, #2 diapers) have been the most disgusting things since his birth. He hasn't had diapers this runny since I don't know when. It's not exactly fair to compare, since in the beginning we weren't using Rumparooz, but cloth diapers with poop like this... it just isn't fun to clean.

Have any teething stories or helpful remedies? This mama is ALL ears!
(Picture from today.)

Normally I do Michael's monthly updates. And for a while there were blogs about his sleeping, his eating, and so forth. But lately it feels like he's developing so quickly I barely have a second to write something before something else happens.

So, even though he's going to be 10 MONTHS OLD in a matter of days (well, eight days), I thought I'd go ahead and share some things in hopes that I'll still have some to share come next week.

It seems we've hit another wall when it comes to Michael's sleeping. For a while we had nap time down to a schedule (finally). Two and a half hours after he woke up, Michael would take what I call a "power nap". It'd be less than an hour. Even if it was fifty-five minutes, it was still less than an hour. Then in the afternoon he'd take a true nap, anywhere from an hour to two and a half hours long.

Then we hit a wall.

All of a sudden Michael was sleeping in until 9am, napping at random times (and by that I mean three to four 30 minute naps here and there), and not going to bed until 9pm or even ten o'clock at night, no matter what we did.

I don't know why I'm speaking in the past tense, because that's how it is now.

Maybe it's because he's more active. I mean, he's pulling himself up. He's cruising some of our furniture. Attempting to climb over/through furniture.


He's even taking a couple of naps in his crib... which could be causing part of the problem. Who knows. All of a sudden, we've hit another point of sleep regression.

Let me tell you, it's taking a toll on mommy and daddy as well.

Michael is also eating "real people food". His new favorite thing? Tuna. Good grief he loves tuna. Put it on his tray in front of him and he'll be a happy camper... until it's gone.
Oh, and he gets it all over himself.

His next favorite thing? Strawberries.

Maybe summertime makes us all crave fresh fruit, berries especially. But if Michael won't eat anything else you offer him, he will eat strawberries (even over tuna).

He also loves "combinations". Avocado + sweet potatoes. Peach + carrots. Mango + carrots. Sweet potato + applesauce. Basically he'll eat anything as long as you mix it with something sweet.

Last but not least, Michael loves to be outside. Half of the time he won't go down for a nap until we've been outside. He loves his stroller now. He loves the pool. He loves sitting in the grass. He loves the park. He loves it all. Even when it's 90 outside... he loves it.