Toothed:
1. (in most vertebrates) one of the hard bodies or processes usually attached in a row to each jaw, serving for the prehension and mastication of food, as weapons of attack or defense, etc., and in mammals typically composed chiefly of dentin surrounding a sensitive pulp and covered on the crown with enamel.
So my favorite little Mammal is now among the toothed. He has yet to use aforementioned tooth as a weapon or defense (and consider yourselves warned, there will MOST CERTAINLY be a post about that when he does) , but he is getting quite good at using it for the mastication of food. Woot Woot. My gummy wonder-kid is morphing into an actual person right in front of my eyes.
The process of attaining the tooth was not so much fun. We got to welcome diarrhea, slight fever, and an overwhelmingly generalized malaise to the household on Luke's behalf. We also got to experience a bout of teething induced anorexia, as trying to get food or liquid into the kid was apparently torturous to Luke. The poor kid was standing around yesterday, clinging to the coffee table and crying, then when we would look at him he would start laughing, then segway right back into crying.........again and again and again. I got to see exactly what living with a pregnant me has been like for Nate lately! Poor Nate. Someone buy the guy a bottle of scotch.
It was so sad to see my easy going and good natured kiddo trying to be his normal self.....but failing. Pretty much anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I am one of the least patient people on earth. Not proud, but it's a fact. One of the things that always worried me about becoming a Mom was this crazy level of patience that my Mom, and other Moms I have seen seemed to have. I was terrified that I would be as impatient with the baby as I often time am with myself, with my computer, with the Dog, with repetition, with innocent strangers who walk too slowly in the airport or any public space, etc etc..........But I am shocked and thrilled to say that somehow I have patience with this child. It literally amazes me. Instead of getting frustrated or crazy from his fussiness, all I can think about is how my poor guy is hurting. I know I am waxing sentimental right now, and please understand that this is not intended to be a pat on the back to myself, this is simply me expressing my shock at how much Mama's love their babies. The endless diarrhea (and resulting clothing changes and laundry), the spitting up, the gross teething snot and drool.....the refusal to eat, the baby anxiety......somehow just makes me love him more.
I had a big revelation/breakthrough yesterday. Usually I do my food shopping on Mondays, with Luke. I strap him into the Bjorn and away we would go........until recently when my ever expanding belly started getting in the way ~ I can no longer use the bjorn. So the past few weeks I have been just putting Luke in the shopping cart seat. He loves it, for about the first 8 aisles. I do a lot of dancing around, singing, coming up with relatively safe things to let him chew on/play with etc.....generally I look like a fool but it keeps the kid happy until we get to the last few aisles. Then some shrieks usually start. By the time I unload the contents of the cart (working around my belly) while keeping Luke from stage diving out of the cart, then get the bags back into the cart, from the cart to the car, from the car to the house, and from the bags to the fridge, I am usually utterly miserable. I'm cranky just reading about it.
Anyway, my breakthrough came yesterday, when I realized that I have a HUSBAND! Who just happens to be Luke's DAD! Sooooo, I went off to the grocery store solo, while Luke and Nate hung out at the house. I am entirely embarrassed to admit how wonderful it was. I took my time. I even THOUGHT a few times! I lingered in front of the produce, actually able to THINK about what I wanted and needed for the week! I didn't sing one stupid made up song out loud! I didn't break a sweat! I am usually so busy trying to do everything on my own that I don't do a good job of asking for help. I have a new retreat, its called the grocery store. I think that I'm going to really milk this and start driving to Wegman's to prolong my experience. And if you see me at the grocery store starting off into space in the veggie aisle, please don't disturb me, its as close to meditation as I get these days.
