This is Eva when she was little... really little. She was 6 weeks old and had only just barely regained her birth weight. She scared me then that she wasn't going to be healthy, or that she would be behind in her milestones.
6 weeks old at Daddy's graduation!
She's not behind at all.
I took this picture on Monday, and isn't she cute! She'll be 5 months old next Thursday, and when we went to the pediatrician for her 4 month checkup he went through the basic battery of questions.
Dr. F: Is she laughing?
Me: Yes... not on command or anything, but she laughs.
Dr. F: Does she coo and goo?
Me: More like screeching or a wookie mating call, but yes, she talks.
Dr. F: Does she push up when she's on her belly?
Me: Just like an army guy.
Dr. F: Does she roll over?
Me: Yes. She started rolling over from tummy to back in late June, and she's been rolling from back to tummy (only to her right, though), for the last couple of weeks.
Dr. F: Well, that's way ahead of the curve on rolling. She's doing great. Do you have any questions for me?
Me: Yeah, what's up with all the drool? Is she teething?
Dr. F: Probably not. Most babies get their teeth between 7 and 10 months, give or take 4 months.
Me (silently): What the heck? Give or take 4 months. Basically you have no idea when she'll get teeth?... wait... he's still talking.
Dr. F (continuing): They like to chew and gnaw on everything, suck on their fists, pick up things from the floor and chew on them.... blah blah... safety stuff... blah blah... don't let her eat random stuff... (learned that one from her cousin Ryan, he likes tin foil, watch batteries, and long walks on the beach)... blah blah... don't leave her unattended on high surfaces...
Anyway, he went on for a while (and don't worry, I was listening, but it doesn't really apply to this blog post).
What he didn't do was look in her mouth.
Even if he did, he may not have seen what we can feel... hard, knobby, ouchy things. I started wondering if she was teething a while back when she started biting. You know what I mean. She bites her toys and things, but I don't really care about that. I care about when she bites ME! And I'm not talking about biting my fingers. You get the idea.
Anyway, the last few days she hasn't been sleeping well. I used to have this great sleeper for a baby. 8 or 9 hours at night, and 2 or 3 naps somewhere between 1 and 3 hours each.
Not anymore!
She wakes up at least once a night, whether to fuss or feed, it doesn't matter. I'm awake, it's usually sometime between midnight and 4 am sometime, and I'd rather be sleeping. And her naps during the day are usually 30 minutes to an hour if she's by herself in her swing (never flat on her back in her bassinet), and maybe 2 hours if I'm holding her.
I thought it was all related to this crazy cough she so selflessly shared with me (went well with my broken toe, and my ingrown toenail last week. I was going to dedicate an entire blog post to the worst week ever, but that will have to wait). I thought that was what it was until I was at the store today. Eva was fussing in her carseat in the cart and I pulled up next to her in my electric granny cart (thanks to the toes on my left foot) and started playing with her and she took my finger into her mouth and bit me. Not too hard, but hard enough that I thought I'd feel her gums a little to see if anything was going on.
Here's her gums, can you see any tooth buds? By the way, Getting a picture of a 5 month old's gums is harder than you think.
What I felt was hard, knobby, ouchy things. And as soon as I starting pushing on her gums, she chewed on my finger all the more. Please tell me my baby isn't teething! I love her gummy little smile! I love that even when she does bite me, she has no chance of drawing blood.... teeth could change that.
Then again... I love that she's getting bigger. It's bittersweet. She's not my tiny baby anymore who I could hold endlessly (because she was tiny, and she slept all the time, and she wasn't nearly as strong as she is now). But it's also so nice to see her learn new things, and really become a little person all her own. She has her quirks (she twirls her hair like Uncle Mark, she likes to suck on her thumb and first finger, and she frequently squeals and squeaks and gurgles) and she has things that make me crazy (screeching nonstop, the constant drooling, not sleeping) but she's mine and she's amazing.
Two little white nubby teeth under her gums!
Outlined, just in case you couldn't see them.
Here's a cute picture of Eva in her overalls. She looks so grown up.
