Ouch

We have a teether on our hands.

Each day, babies at Roo's daycare have an "Infant Daily Contact Sheet" sent home with them. It lists when they ate, what they ate and how much, when their diaper changes were and what was in them, when and how long their naps were, and some comments on what they did during the day. Today, unfortunately, Roo had a "rough" day. I'm glad I dropped off some Baby Orajel and teething rings this morning; apparently he was chewing on his hand all day, couldn't nap well, and was generally miserable. There is a big whitish bump on his lower left gum. My poor little lad. When I got him home, I dosed him up with Infant Tylenol and gave him extra cuddles. His eyes had that droopy red-rimmedness that can only mean he was completely, totally worn out. Despite it all, though, he was relatively good-natured and even let me give him his bath (he missed it last night due to crabbiness). He is such a brave, sweet little boy.

I can't imagine what he's going to look like with a tooth! I also have no idea how long it's going to take to erupt. Most babies don't get their first tooth until, on average, 7 months. Wow, I hope it doesn't take a couple of months to pop through.

Speaking of ouch -- my upper back has been killing me for more than a week now. I've stopped carrying the infant car seat into and out of daycare, as of this morning. But I still have to carry it out to the car in the morning, and back into the house in the evening -- that is, unless I can find a more convenient place to park Andrew while I'm finishing getting ready or unpacking...he seems to enjoy watching me do both. Perhaps his bouncy seat? Although that lives upstairs, for when I shower and get ready for work; bringing it downstairs each morning and up each evening is just another chore to remember. What to do??? Such are the great quandaries of my life these days.

Oh, and there are yet more scary articles about Bisphenol A in the news of late. I'm going to just suck it up and buy some glass bottles this weekend and be done with the worrying.

Still on the fence about starting with cereal. He's doing perfectly well with breast milk. It's not like he's waking up to eat every 2 hours in the night, and half the time at daycare he sleeps through one of his 3 scheduled feedings, so I know he's getting enough calories. Then again, in some cultures the appearance of the first tooth is a signal that it's time to start "solid" foods. On the other other hand, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting until at least 6 months of age before starting "solids," to reduce the potential risk of food allergies, although my pediatrician told me last week that the AAP is now backing off that statement slightly. I think I'll just follow my instincts on this one, and my instincts say that he's not quite ready. After all, "solids" reduce the amount of breast milk he takes in, and he's still only a wee 4 months old, so I'm sure he could still benefit from a Boob-Juice-Only diet. And maybe if he starts seeming ravenous to the point that I can't satisfy him with nursing alone, then I'll be ready, with soft-bite spoon and organic-whole-grain-brown-rice-baby-cereal in hand!