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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Teeth on Time

Well it has finally happened! There were many of us who were skeptical this day would ever arrive. Some of us starting to wonder, would my youngest son be the side act at a Circus? The Toothless Wonder! He will gum you to pieces!"

My first son, Little Dude, received his bottom front two teeth in the same day at four months old. We were honestly baffled because he had no teething symptoms. The only give away was a lot of drooling, but often babies will show signs of teething before popping a tiny ninja knife. (If you have not had your hand in a baby's mouth, whether they have one tooth or ten, they will leave your hand looking like it just had a brief encounter with a pocket sized Great White Shark.) It was an exciting day when the Little Dude popped not one but two teeth at such a young age and with such ease. I thought that the drama of teething had to be a myth because this was a walk in the park.Silly, naive, newbie mom I was. My first mistake was thinking you can compare your children.

Our second Drama Llama, Littlest Dude, has been as different from his older llama brother in every possible way. He was born three weeks early and decided it was time to get rolling...and quick! We showed up to the Labor and Delivery room and I was already 3 cms dilated. I couldn't even get that far after nine hours of drug induced labor at 39 weeks with my oldest son!

Once that cutie entered the world, in an amazing minute and a half versus my first sons 34 hour labor complete with two hours or labor, the differences didn't stop there. He was quiet, calm, easy-going, and peaceful. He was also blond! The two boys had very similar faces but it was clear that Drama Llama #2 was going to be a whole different show.

You would think I had learned my lesson, that my boys were so different from each other and should not be compared to one another. However, there is apparently something I suffer from called "Newbie versus Newer Baby Comparison". Newbie mothers have their things, second time mothers have theirs.

As soon as my Littlest Dude hit four months, I eagerly searched his month when he woke up in the morning, before and after naps, and before bedtime. He was drooling so much I thought we should get a hot tub because all that drool would fill it up for sure. My husband said no, silly practical husbands.

Months five and six passed in the same manor and I was starting to grow worried. I was convinced this little baby of mine would grow into a man and find the woman of his dreams. She would be sweet, beautiful, loving, and caring. She would be the daughter I never had. They would become engaged and my new daughter in law would invite me to help plan their extravagant wedding. That's when I would have to break the shameful news; my son would have to eat baby food at their wedding and this would be more than his beautiful bride to be could handle. The wedding would be cancelled, my son would be heartbroken, and all because of his teeth! (A moms imagination can run wild when left unattended...)

With two days looming before his seventh month birthday, it looked like we had averted his wedding crisis. I was cleaning his gums with his special Elmo baby tooth and gum cleaner and rubbing them down before bed when something quite sharp poked me. I ran over it again and again. It had finally happened!! My little boy had become a man. OK, even I can't get quite that carried away here but he finally did have a tooth and I was thrilled! He even squeezed it in while he was still six months old.

My oldest son was in the nursery with me "helping" to put his baby brother to bed. Both of us started a new dance called "The Baby Has a Tooth Dance". It looks exactly how it sounds so be grateful you were not there. My husband came up the stairs to see what exciting event had caused us to break out in song and dance (although I am thinking he is finally figuring out now much sets it off). I think he too wishes he had not seen Little Dude and I busting a move to Littlest Dude's new tooth accomplishment.

Part of me was happy knowing his body is doing what it should be and I don't have to wonder if something is wrong. The other part of me learned a lesson that they really are two different little boys. Little Dude didn't get his first tooth early and Littlest Dude didn't get his first tooth late. They each got their first tooth exactly when they were supposed to. On their own time.

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