This teething thing is really rough. The toughest part of all is that they start teething sometimes weeks/months before a tooth has any intention of showing its pearly little head. Noah is having a terrible time of it, and I feel so awful for not being able to comfort him more.

He fusses nearly all day. He isn’t eating quite the way he normally does. He wants to nap much more than usual. He isn’t comforted easily. I finally just broke down and gave him some Tylenol today. He was absolutely angelic after that. I know he is teething because he has no other weird symptoms, no fevers. He ravenously tries to put things in his mouth and is relieved by chewing on cold toys. He loves frozen banana slices put into his mesh feeder (this thing is soooo awesome). If you too are going through the teething frenzy, try the mesh feeder~ watermelon, baby cookies, grapes, bananas, peaches, and frozen juice. I pour some apple juice into a ice tray and pop out a few cubes to go into the feeder. Bella STILL uses hers for the juice ice cubes! Yummy frozen treat!

Teething is rougher with some babes, I guess. Austin breezed right through it, even getting his first tooth at 3 months of age. He just drooled like a faucet. Bella was a little grumpy right as the teeth emerged and mostly struggled only with the canine teeth. But Noah? He’s getting hit hard, and I am waiting to see 4 teeth emerge at once any day now the way this is going. But, I see no signs of teeth. Please tell me they are coming soon! Please?

Anyhow, good news is that he is finally sleeping through the night in his own bed. Yes, I have had 5 whole, entire nights of uninterrupted BELLY SLEEP! I forgot I was a belly sleeper until recently. I have either been nursing a baby or pregnant with a baby for nearly 3 years and haven’t had a really awesome belly snooze since then. Yes, it’s the little things that make us mommas so happy.

Lastly, Nooskers, Let’s get those stubborn teeth to come out. Tomorrow at the latest (ha). Push those bad boys out, K? Own ‘em. Boss ‘em. Tell ‘em who the Chief is. You’re The Man, Nooskers! GGRrrr!

And a video of Nooskers showing everyone just how CrAzY he can get when his gums are hurtin’. (Yes, I have lost my voice AGAIN. Vitamin C, Echinacea, Garlic, Emergen-C do nothing for these vocal pipes. Dang-it.)

Sunday, January 28, 2007

As you probably already know, breastfeeding babies who are teething are also notorious for biting their mothers while nursing– only because biting is what they do during this stage. Noah has been biting me to near tears for the last month. I take it away from him and strongly say, “No Noah. No biting.” I wait a moment, and then allow him to nurse again.

The boobie biting is not at all the “funny stuff” y’all. It is the stuff tears are made of!

What’s IS funny is how closely your children listen to you, just when you are too nieve and think they are too little to understand or just never listen. Bella has blurted out “fuck” in the middle of a playdate with other preschoolers. Yes, she listens. She is a sponge. So for every curse word out of our mouths– 25 crunches. I’m sure the other preschool mothers think we are rednecks. Just because I’m southern and my favorite word is “Y’all” doesn’t mean I’m a redneck. But, alas, this isn’t the funny stuff either.

Today we sat on the couch, having a quiet moment before we put the kiddos down for their naps. Bella says her Baby is tired. She grabs the baby (a glow worm) and says, “Nursy time.” She pulls up her shirt, puts the baby up to her chest, and starts “nursing” her baby as she rocks back and forth. Just like a real mommy! Just like me! She watches and observes how I engage with Noah and she is learning from me! This made Jeremy and I both start laughing quietly (as not to make her feel self-concious). But the funny part? As she nursed her doll and we watched, she made me get up and leave from my laughter when she busted out a “Oh, no, Baby! No BITING!”

We caught this picture later tonight when she fed her baby again before bedtime…

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Bella has been talking in intelligent sentences for a while now. She makes witty and observant comments about the world around her. She counts to ten and I have no idea how she learned to. This rather sudden change in Bella’s vocabulary and interactions lead to the following conversation over coffee this morning:

Me to Jeremy: Baby, I think we have a Prodigy child. I’m not kidding! What are we going to do when the Press finds out about this? 

Jeremy: Your Prodigy is over there in the corner picking boogers. Why don’t we not worry about the Press for now and just get her a tissue.” 

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Lastly on the funny stuff:

A 75+ year old neighbor (who has NEVER even said hello or waved to us before) randomly came strolling by our house today “to chat”. Jeremy is outside cutting some crown molding for our living room. The old man asks what Jeremy is doing to the inside of the house. The old guy inquires whether we filed for a permit with the City to build our work shed in our back yard (last summer’s project). Jeremy said no. He said, “Well, some of the neighbors have been talking about that. We already researched whether you filed for a permit. We think you should tear your shed down and start over again after you file for the permit to build.”

HHHHHAAA! Ha, hah, haaaa! Now THAT is some funny shit, Y’all!

What-EVER, Old Man! The shed was expensive (we aren’t rich people) and it was hard work (for Jeremy).The problem isn’t our shed. Why really cares about a little old shed? The problem is the older, gossipy curmudgeons in this neighborhood who want to bully and dominate the young families. No Sir! Obstinance and stubborness are no match for youth and vigor here, my Friend. Bugger off, and go share THAT with your old friends at your next Bingo game.

We will pay a fine, we will file for a permit, etc. But I can tell you, my Internet Friends, we will not be tearing down any sheds in the near future. No. If the old man wants to tear it down, I’d pay to watch. Now that would be some funny stuff…

I’m sorry, y’all. I’m just not motivated. I’m feeling slumpy. I haven’t much to say, so I haven’t posted in awhile.

But I’m going skiing tomorrow! So maybe I’ll have something to write about then! I’ve been going to the gym, hanging out with other stay-at-home moms, and making delicious meals. I’ve been able to put Noah to bed every night at 8 pm, wide awake, and he falls asleep by himself. I do cheat though. I bring him to bed with me when I go so that I don’t have to answer midnight calls on the other side of the house. I’m not good about getting up in the night. I’ll eventually get to a place where I’ll just leave him in his bed all night. It’s time for that, but neither of us are very motivated to implement sleeping separately. Cuddling is good for the soul!

We’ve been dreaming about home remodeling. The great part about renovating is that we don’t have to pay anyone to do it– Jeremy is “The Man”. We increased our home value by 35,000 just by putting in 8,000 in materials last year! So, when we have the money (not right now) we’ll be adding a master bathroom, building a deck, landscaping & yard play area, getting a woodstove, painting the exterior, and replacing windows (not in order of importance, but in order of my preference). I’d like to finish these projects in the next 2-3 years. That’s a reasonable goal I think. Obviously, the need for windows and a woodstove will come first. Bummer, those aren’t the fun things.

Here’s the deck I want (Ummmm, I’ll take the awning, the friends, AND the mojitos in the picture too, please). The kid’s play area (but not that fancy). The woodstove. Something like this for the bathroom.

Oh, while we’re dreaming: Summer is coming. In 4 months. Zzzzzzzz. 

Anyhow, I might like my body more by then. Maybe not as much as I like these models’ bodies, but whatever. Shoosh, this is my dream, ok? So, in this dream I might need this. This will definitely keep me driven towards toning the old mommy body. This please. And this. But don’t forget this, k? It perks boobs, they say. And let me tell ya, the boobs could use some perkin’ after 3 babies. Giving props where props are due, these items are all from www.victoriassecret.com .

Dreaming is good for the soul. And it gives me something to talk about, cause I’m all bore these days. What’s on the top of your “wish” (not need) list?

We had a pretty good Saturday. We had plans to drive to a neighboring town to go wood stove shopping but got about 4 inches of snow last night. We decided to use that as an excuse to be lazy today. We started the day with a yummy breakfast of eggs, grits, bacon, and biscuits with honey. (No, the diet isn’t working out, but really? Who cares! Food is delicious!) Noah is learning to love baby food, but prefers bananas. In fact, he hates most anything else.

We doodled around the house for the rest of the morning and then decided to go to the Recreation Center. We loaded up into the car and waited for Jeremy to come out. Just as he closed the front door, the entire roof of snow fell on his head. He was a pretty good sport about it, I really get grumpy when that happens.

The kids all love the Rec Center.  I don’t really like how cold the pool water is (it’s really not cold at all, I’m just a Woos.), so I tend to be a hot tub hog. Austin monkeyed around, Bella played with her Papa, Noah did what he does best (looking cute), and Jeremy was busy being the hottest dad on the planet.

There was also the heavy, squishy diaper problem. The Rec Center was out of swimmer diapers, so we let Noah sit in the water for a few minutes with just his diaper on. This was the result of that silly idea. Noah doesn’t seem to mind that his parents are goof balls.

The rest of the day was lazy and enjoyable– lunch, nap, dinner, lounging, playing, and we watched Little Miss Sunshine.

I love lazy Saturdays.

Saturday, January 20, 2007