Baby Teeth

Wearing Summer Dresses

Just the other day, I was thinking about how benign-sounding the term baby teeth is. It almost sounds adorable. In fact, I find the term to be quite deceiving ...

Our toddler sprouted her first teeth at 6 months of age, but started teething by 3 months old. And as evidenced by her swollen gums and hyper-salivation, our second daughter has already begun the teething process. Unfortunately her symptoms have been accompanied by irritability and difficult feedings.  So much so that I have been tempted, on a few occasions this week, to introduce to her the dreaded pacifier. Up until now, she had been such a calm baby.

 I have offered our baby a number of different teething devices, both chilled and room-temperature, but to no avail. I also offered her a clean finger, which she briefly sucked on. In the end, after fussing and crying (actually wailing is perhaps a better description) for a few minutes, she nurses herself to sleep. This has occurred several times a day, every day, for the last week. As with her sister, this will likely be a long, drawn-out process. Our only reprieve will come when those first teeth make their appearance, and before the next set of teeth (as they do seem to come in pairs).

Coincidentally, our toddler is also currently teething. She too, is hyper-salivating. So much so that I have been changing her saliva-soaked shirts several times a day. She seems to be aware that something is going on with her teeth and she often sticks her fingers in her mouth on opposite sides, as if to massage her swollen gums. Thankfully her primary teeth are almost all in. Because the only thing worse than one irritable child is two!

The Bottle Battle

Our toddler insisted on putting them on her little sister!

When our first baby was three weeks old, I introduced the bottle to her. It contained pumped breast milk, and she devoured it. Thereafter, every evening, I would give my breasts a break while my husband fed her a bottle of pumped milk.

I returned to work part-time when she was four months old, and whichever family member was watching her had no difficulty feeding her in my absence. In fact, she enjoyed bottled milk so much that now, more than 10 months after I weaned her, she insists on a bottle of (thankfully cow's) milk to fall asleep.

Things went a little differently with our second baby. She was so calm, and did not suck my breasts to excess, so I found no reason to hand her over for a daily bottle-feeding session. On the few occasions that someone else tried to bottle feed her while I ran some errands, things did not go that well. However, I was gone briefly, and left only after an extended nursing session, so I was not overly concerned.

By mid April, we decided to clamp down. We would try to bottle-feed her daily as to prepare for my return to part-time work in June. Things did not go very smoothly. We had experimented with four different bottles until we realized that it had little to do with the brand of bottle. Our little one simply wanted a warm breast, not a cold plastic nipple, and she knew if she complained enough, she would get it!

I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't be very productive at work; I imagined my husband bringing our starving baby to my workplace for feeding sessions every three hours! However, after much persistence on our part, we finally had some success this past week. Our baby would only accept bottled milk from her father, and on condition that I was out of the house. Additionally, the milk had to be on the warm side. While she has yet to drink an entire bottle, she came close on two occasions this week. Much to my relief! 

Playing with her sunglasses!

3 Months Old

Turned 3 months old on May 11th
Weighs 7.06 kg (over 15 pounds)
Measures 63 cm in length
Wears 6-9 month clothing
Smiles a lot
Rarely cries
Doesn't require a pacifier
Slept 7 hours in a row two nights ago for the first time!
Her mother returns to work 2 days per week in one month...
Now if she would only drink from a bottle, she would be the perfect baby!

First Haircut

Before:the mullet

When our first child was only a few months old, I suspected that her first haircut would be a long ways away.

This last week, my prediction came true...She was born with scant brown hair, most of which fell out by the time she was 4 months old. By 12 months of age, she still did not  have enough hair to brush. A few months ago, suggestions to cut her "mullet" started coming in. She still did not have a lot of hair, but she had a few long strands at the back. 

I resisted cutting her hair mostly because it looked rather cute when put up in a ponytail, or two small pigtails. However, for several months now, coinciding with her increased assertiveness, she refused to let me coif her hair.

So one day last week, I decided to trim the "rat's tail" as my husband referred to it. She was bathing at the time, one of her favourite activities, and did not take notice the scissors. While far from a professional job, I think it looks rather nice. I may not be able to put it up in pigtails anymore, but at least I will stop fielding questions about her mullet!

After: mullet-no-more

Baby #2: Bald &  chubby