The Better to Bite You With

We have big news around here -- Molly is cutting her very first tooth! She's been drooling and chewing on everything within reach (especially her fingers) for a few weeks now, and although I was suspicious, I thought it was probably too early for teeth. Apparently I was wrong! At a hair over 5 months old (or 3 1/2 months adjusted!), Molly's lower right incisor is just starting to break through. She's been extra fussy for the last week or two and has reverted to waking up every three hours (at least) at night. I was afraid her reflux might be acting up, but checked her gums anyway. Yesterday I thought I felt a hard spot on her lower gums, but thought I was just imagining things. When I felt again today, there was a sharp little tooth starting to poke through. Oh no! My littlest baby is growing up too fast!

Max got his first tooth at 8 1/2 months (5 1/2 adjusted) and I thought he started teething on the early side (especially for a preemie). I guess Molly has decided that having all of her meals at the milk wagon every day is getting a little old and she's gearing up to move on to bigger and better things. I won't start her on cereal for a while yet -- she has to be sitting up and showing an interest in food first, but a tooth is definite a step in that direction. Although (so far) Max was much more pathetic when he was teething, Molly is having a bit of a rough time today. Poor little girl. :(

In other Molly news, our little chunk is really packing on the pounds. I weighed her on the bathroom scale last night and she weighed in at a whopping 17 1/2 pounds! She's quickly growing out of her 3-6 month clothes, so I'll need to start stocking up on some more 6-9 month outfits (darn, more baby clothes shopping ;). Molly's favorite new sound is a very loud "AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHCK," and she rewards anyone who stops to talk with her with lots of big smiles and giggles. She likes to hang out with her people and totally knows when you leave the room (even if she's sound asleep) and yells until someone comes and gets her. Molly's fairly stubborn in the eating department as well (although you wouldn't know it to look at her) -- she's pretty much decided that she only likes to eat at Mom's and won't have much to do with her bottles.

As for the rest of us, we aren't doing anything as exciting as cutting teeth. We've all recovered from the horrible stomach flu and Max has returned to his regularly scheduled diapers (thank goodness!). I took Max to his first swim class last weekend, expecting him to have a total blast in the pool (he loved swimming in our little pool this summer). To my surprise, he was NOT into the whole swim class thing and spent most of the class whining. At one point, I asked him what he wanted and he said "up" and then said the made-up words he uses when he asks to watch a Baby Einstein. Apparently, the boy wanted to get the heck out of the pool and go home and sit in front of the tube! Hopefully we'll have a better class this weekend.