The Emergence of Chompers

So our 10 month old has a whopping three teeth... two on the bottom and one on the top and we think he is working on getting a molar. The only reason we think this is because when you have to brush his teeth he takes your finger and shoves it to the back of his mouth and chomps down not once, not twice but repeatedly. With each bite increasing with intensity every time.

He is like a little piranha, with less teeth of course. The pain of your finger being bitten down on though is so intense it feels like your finger is being slammed in a car door over and over again. You fight back the tears as he looks up at you with a sense of satisfaction in his eyes at the relief of the tooth and gum pain that has been nagging him all day.

He is so cute about it too... when he sees the brush on your index finger he gets all excited clapping his hands and squealing as he rushes over to you. And the entire time-well besides fighting back the tears-I am singing that song from Grease... Brusha, Brusha, Brusha.

The funniest thing is the toothpaste is called Grins and Giggles... my question is for who? It certainly isn't for the person brushing his teeth. Ha ha ha. Seriously though... I am glad he is so excited about his dental hygiene. Let's just hope that stays with him throughout his life.

My only wish would be for the company to make the toothbrush that fits on your finger a little tougher. Maybe take a page from the police dog trainers who wear the sleeve so they cannot feel the dogs teeth as they try to rip their arm out of the socket. Ah the emergence of chompers... motherhood is awesome!

Me Man; You Mom... The World's Littlest Man Feeling Some Growing Pains

This weekend me, Lil E, and Mama K joined some friends at an outdoor book festival.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect...in the car.  As soon as we hit the asphalt the southern sun was hot enough to cause a baby boom.  Hey, it was a book festival I need to sound prophetic or is it poetic?  No matter.  Lil E started crawling at 6 months and he now prefers to try and walk at 10 months.  That's made hima little difficult to deal with in public lately because he doesn't want to be strapped in a chair or held for any extended amount of time.  With all of that being said, there is no way to allow him to crawl the streets of the big city leaving a trail of drool behind him.  What to do?  What to do?  Well, here's what works with him, it's everyone's favorite four letter word: Food!  That's right, carry a little finger food and he's entertained for as long as it takes him to inhale, throw, drop, or wearit!  At no point will anything work better than food-toys lose their luster in seconds, funny faces quickly become annoying, formula and water are a temporary fix at best, attention from strangers is typical, people watching can be a small diversion.  But nothing, and I mean nothing, rivals the double fisting of a Gerber cheese doodle!    

Where is the Sandman?

I think his bag ran out of dust in our household... can you order more online somewhere? I will buy him some and have it delivered here to the house. I will even put it under our pillows for him, all he has to do is sprinkle it on us... no biggie!

We are at the stage in our house where our lil guy sleeps through the night for a couple of weeks solid and then the next couple of weeks he wakes up and either wants food or is restless. Those darn teeth do it every time too...

I just wish there was some consistency to his night wakings... I mean is there not a way that he can put an appointment on my outlook calendar and have it sent to my blackberry so I would be prepared and sleep extra the days leading up to the sleepless nights? Does this ever improve and was I in total denial thinking he would be sleeping through the night every night by now?

Okay let me just clarify though... his bedtime is anytime between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. It really depends on the amount of naps he has had at daycare. So he sleeps at least 6 hours before waking up lately and sometimes he sleeps 8 or more hours. What is the deal Mr. Sandman... what is the deal?

Mentor in Chief

Okay... so maybe someone can explain to me why it is so disgraceful for the President to address our children on the first day of school. Are you kidding me... parents actually pulled their kids from school just so they wouldn't have to watch the speech on TV? I sure wish I could have opted out of the horrible rendition of Hamlet I saw in High School...

What is this teaching our youth... that if you don't want to study something or listen to another point of view that you can just opt out of doing so? That is the most ridiculous thing and sends the wrong message in this day and age when role models are hard enough to find. And don't get me started on the parents of these children who opposed the schools showing our Commander in Chief speak to the youth of the nation. What is the big frikin deal and so what if he repeated the same message parents have been giving to their kids all summer long or at least in the last week or so. We all know that kids allow some things their parents say to go in one ear and out of the other... let someone else get through to them.

In my opinion if he turns just one child's life around or makes them think about a decision from a different viewpoint, then he has accomplished his goal. Kids need hope and a belief that what they think does matter and they should have a responsibility and say in what happens in their lives.

And I don't want to hear about the lesson plan anymore... there are plenty of local governments that have essay contests for your kids to enter where they can be Mayor for the day if they are chosen as the contest winner. What is so wrong with getting the youth involved in making the world (their world) a better place? We all know if you are invested in something then you cherish it more. What are conservative republicans so damn afraid of... that the youth of today will actually think for themselves and question authority... what is so wrong with that.

They really think the President was trying to indoctrinate the youth of today... they are giving the President a lot of credit all the while making themselves look unstable and closed-minded. How can you look your child in the eye and tell them the things that he spoke to them about today is a wrong message.

Parents should want their children to be individuals and think for themselves and not believe everything they are told or read on the internet. They should question why things are the way they are and "just because that is how it has always been" is not an acceptable answer to every question.

Boy I hope someone saves this for when our son gets older and questions authority (us). Children should be able to look at all the sides of a situation and decide for themselves what the correct approach to take is...

Calming the Baby Beast while Appeasing the Natives

So I know everyone has had this happen to them... you are either the patron or the parent cringing when a child (yours or someone else's) decides to get rowdy at a restaurant. What do you do? As a parent you look around for the nearest thing to cram in your child's mouth... as a patron you could do one of two things... accept it as a child being a child or shoot daggers from your eyes at the irresponsible parents right?

Well in my opinion responsibility lies on everyone involved... everyone needs to be respectful.

Patrons: Now I know you have gone out to enjoy yourself... but there are times that you need to realize a child is going to be a child. When music is playing in a restaurant... they are going to want to sing along and make noises possibly louder than the music... lighten up and by all means don't shoot looks at the parents who are probably already slinking in their seats because they know the daggers are coming and looking for an exit strategy that is more complicated than the one for Iraq.

Parents: Yes you know you should take your child out of the restaurant when they start acting up... but when is the best time to do that? What if they are just enjoying themselves and squealing in delight or throwing a fit and inconsolable? The first scenario seems like a time to stay put while the second seems to be get it to go and get the heck out of dodge. There is also the tendency to stay put just to tick off the patrons who have been disrespectful to you... but I guess it is in the eye of the beholder.

So here is the story... yesterday we went to a book festival and while there decided to eat at a local diner which let me just tell you had four tables occupied and the diner was pretty big. This neighborhood is known for its family (gay and straight) friendliness, well I guess we must have caught them on a bad day. When we walked in with our stroller... eyes rolled so hard they nearly rolled right out of their sockets. They looked at us like "oh lord here comes the lesbians and their new age family..." So anyway as we pushed tables and chairs out of the way to get to a table in the back that was as far away from people as possible, the waiter finally came up to us to ask us what we wanted to drink. We gave him our drink orders and then after four times of him impatiently coming by to get our order he stopped coming until we had to get his attention. He obviously doesn't have children... when going to a restaurant you have to get the children settled first. We had to feed the baby beast who was hot and thirsty from the day.

Anyway... so we finally had time to look at the menu and place our order. The waiter was still not amused with us in the least bit! I still had no idea what I wanted and just randomly picked what first caught my eye... luckily it was a good choice. It is hard for me not to get frazzled when people are staring and looking cross at me because of what noises he may or may not be making. I need to get over that too...

So we all were sitting at the table and lil guy started squealing and this guy who was sitting by himself eating kept shooting us the daggers because we were not quieting him down. Which we were... we had toys for him and his paci, but I had forgotten the puffs he loves so much. Anyway he decided to do it again and I took him out because frankly I was tired of being shot sideways glances by the guy eating by himself. The problem is too, that our lil guy wants to be on the go constantly... there is no strapping him in anymore. I knew that once our food arrived, he would be fine. The kid loves food!

But I took him outside and we stood there for about two minutes and our food was there. We headed back in and just as I expected pancakes and french fries were just what he needed. There was not another peep out of him... I learned some very valuable lessons yesterday. Go and buy some sugar free lollipops like my mom has been telling me to do and DON'T FORGET THE PUFFS!!!!

The other thing is that people need to relax and enjoy the joys in life whether it is their ten month old son squealing or the man who wants to enjoy his breakfast in peace... but whatever it is respect those around you and treat them with kindness.