tooth

Yes, its official, Eddie is teething! He has been acting fussier at times, sometimes even at the breast, which is rare. Sometimes it seems like all he wants to do is suck on something and other times he throws down his toy or teether and seems to want nothing in his mouth. So yesterday when I put my finger in his mouth and felt something sort of sharp on the lower right side I was glad to finally have an explanation for some of his odd behavior. And then while he was whining with his mouth opened, I noticed the first tooth still lingering below the surface, but seemingly ready to break through skin. Luckily it has not troubled him too bad and has not affected his sleep at all.

A quick update on sleep. His naps are in no way on a schedule...sometimes he has only 2 long naps (2-3 hrs ea.) a day, sometimes he has 4 short ones (1 hr. ea.). We just sort of play it by ear and put him down when he shows his drowsy signs, but in general he still cannot stay awake longer than for a 2 hour window. He is sleeping very well at night, waking up only twice throughout the night to eat. Recently he has been babbling a lot while in his crib and for the last few nights when he wakes up the second time, around 2 or 3 a.m., he has a hard time falling back to sleep even if he seems to fall asleep on the boob. He just keeps making noises and talking. So it requires a couple interventions or a diaper change to get him to calm down and go back to bed. He is also rolling over a lot now in his crib during the night and during naps, which is frustrating because he cannot seem to fall asleep on his back so when he rolls over onto his back he wakes up and starts talking. Oh well, all of this seems so minor compared to the challenges we faced when he was colicky and when we first started sleep training. He still cries 80% of the time before going to sleep, but 90% of the time it is more like moaning or whining and not the full out wailing...it's almost like he needs to make those noises in order to fall asleep. The most stressful is the 10% of the time when he does still wail and it seems to always be when we have people over or we are going out and leaving him with a babysitter (happened both times when both grandmas babysat). He is a smart boy, it's as if he knows we are leaving and it upsets him. And when we have people over it's as if he wants to be up and socialize with us. Although it still stresses me out that he cries, I have to remind myself that a) he's a baby and babies cry, and b) he cries because he loves us and wants to be with us, but c) sleep is important and we need to allow him the opportunity to sleep.