on teething

I have read that teeth come in 4's...4 at a time every 4 months. And so far Eddie is getting in 2 teeth - the 2 bottom incisors. He is handling it all quite well. I have heard that drooling somehow helps them cope with the pain and/or alleviate the pain, and he drools a lot so maybe that is true. He does like to have something in his mouth at all times. Sometimes he seems to prefer something hard, like a wooden toy or hard plastic and we have a couple teethers that we put in the fridge (or outside in the snow - we had 4 days recently where we were without a refrigerator and so we put stuff outside - it was fun in an old school sort of way to grab my orange juice from out of the snow!). Sometimes he seems to want something soft and plush. And sometimes he likes to gum on human hands and fingers - his own and those of whomever is holding him. His fussiness is really not that bad - nothing like his 3 months of colic - but occasionally if nothing seems to soothe him we give him a homeopathic medicine made by Boiron called "Camilia" which is comprised of Chamomile and two other herbs/roots that help with pain and "minor digestive disorders associated with teething." As most of you know, I am sort of a freak about giving medicines to Eddie - actually we haven't given him anything yet, not even the TriViSol vitamins, mainly because I am opposed to a lot of the preservatives and artificial flavorings and sugars added. But this stuff seems okay - I tasted it, and it literally tastes like water that has been mildly sweetened. We have some of the Tylenol for infants stashed away in the linen closet in case he develops a fever or something, but we haven't had to use it yet, knock on wood. My philosophy has been, if he is sleeping well, then he cannot be in major pain and therefore we shouldn't give him any medicine unnecessarily. And he is sleeping well...at least by our standards. He still wakes up 2 times per night to eat, but everything that I have read indicates that this is normal and can continue until he is 8 or 9 months. He hasn't refused to breastfeed, which is something I read that babies can do when they teeth because the pain is so bad - he might actually be eating more because he uses the nipple to soothe. He has been spitting up a lot more than usual...not sure if it is because he is overeating or getting jostled around more during play or associated with teething or what, but it seemed to taper off today with only one episode when it landed on his pants and on the floor (the past few days that has happened multiple times).

In general though the fact that two teeth are erupting through his pink gums doesn't seem to phase him. He is the happiest he has ever been these days, laughing multiple times a day and smiling all the time, and at everyone that he encounters. The other night he laughed hysterically at his rubber duckie during his bath. He laughed so much that he was throwing his head back! Tonight we tried to replicate what we did to get him to laugh so hard again, but he seemed to just want to relax in the tub after a long day. Me too...I think I mentioned this on the blog already, but we retired his baby tub and now he solely takes baths in the adult tub with his Mom. And his Dad entertains him with a water show. It is pretty hilarious. We would post photos and videos on the blog, but they would have to be R rated due to my nudity...and little Eddie's ;) Maybe I will don a swimsuit soon so that we can show off Eddie's stellar swimming skills and the fun he has with splishing and splashing.