We Have a Tooth!

For some time now, we've been anticipating the arrival of Rachel's first tooth. Much drooling and intense biting told us it would be happening soon, but then she's been drooling for months. So at times it seemed like we would never actually see a tooth appear.

We were able to feel the sharpness of the tooth coming through a few days ago, but it was hard to see if it was actually above the surface. For some reason, Rachel didn't feel like sitting still and letting her parents stick their fingers in her mouth, moving her tongue around and trying to see her lower gum.

Last night, we were able to see the little tooth, sitting there just above the surface. I'm not sure how long a tooth takes to come in fully, but it's definitely well on its way now. Hopefully any future teeth will be a little easier on her, as I've read that once they've had a tooth or two come in, they're familiar with the sensations and tend to be less upset by them.

I wonder how long it takes for more to start arriving? I guess I'd better get back to reading What to Expect the First Year!

At Times Life is Pure Joy

I have a mug somewhere that has Snoopy dancing on it and that quote. The problem with that quote is that it means sometimes life is not pure joy. Tonight had its moments. I say this not to embarass my daughter, but to warn others who would be dad. Sometimes, things are a little on the gross side.

Sound of Music

Over the weekend, Rachel was dedicated to God at Lake. Instead of baptizing babies, at our church, we dedicate them. We pledge to raise them up in a godly way, teach them about Jesus and then at some later point in time when they are old enough, they will accept Jesus for themselves and be baptized.

So, as you can imagine, this is a huge deal. So Rachel's grandmother and other grandmother and grandfather were all in town. I don't know if all the attention had anything to do with it, or if it was just a very fortunate timing thing, but Rachel's taken a turn for the talking. Not real words yet, but we swear that sometimes she's trying to repeat back sounds like "Mama" and "Dada" and "OK" and "Quack" So much fun, so precious. You live with a small child for so many months and you think occasionally about what they might someday sound like but then when they start talking, it's reason all over again to well up with tears. She especially loves talking to her rubber ducks and the plush "very hungry caterpillar(sp?)" that that Steve and Adrea bought her.

No, Really, I'm Crying Because I Have Allergies

In My Daughter's Eyes
Artist: Martina McBride

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
Gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about
It's hangin' on when your heart has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daugter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see
How happy she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes

Baby Chatter

Dr. No

The pre-baby research suggested that Dr. Brown was a good deal, that they helped babies eat without getting gas. And being named after Marty McFly's good friend Dr. Emmett Brown, what could go wrong? But seriously, "Dr." suggests that it's better and to be trusted.

But we're going to give away our Dr. Brown bottles and buy some more Advent bottles. I guess we've been fortunate to have a baby who hasn't had major troubles with gas.

But the bottles are not worth the trouble. They have a lot more parts to clean, lots more parts to assemble and when we try to mix formula, we have all kinds of trouble with them leaking all over us.

Baby Depot? Please, no.

We've been to Baby Depot a few times, even bought a couple of smaller items. But we cannot understand why anyone would register there. Baby Depot's return policy is horrible. Once they have your money, you are not getting it back. Period. If something doesn't work, or you buy the wrong thing, or someone buys you something as a gift and you want to return it, you may, but all you get is a flimsy shopping card with the amount credited loaded onto it that you can then use to buy something else. We've had to return things twice, once because an outfit had a stain on it not visible until we got it home and once because we bought the wrong refills for something. Fine, no big deal. But buy a highchair, playard or swing there? No, thanks.

Baby's Day In

Today was a work holiday for me, but not for Lori. And the rule is 'if you are home and not sick on your deathbed, then the baby stays home, too.' Daycare is the necessary evil that should be avoided at all costs, but I wish we could avoid the cost of daycare. Or at least be put on a "pay as you go" plan so that we're only charged for the days she's in daycare. Better yet, reimbursed for all the days we have to stay home with her because she's sick from something she caught at daycare. (Her pediatrician says that there is some good in the daycare colds, builds up her immunity sooner.)

Anyhow, Rachel and I had a very nice day. Because it was pretty much cry free. I decided that I would break up the day into blocks of time. It was originally because I wanted to play Sim City 4 that I got for Christmas and if I don't set a timer, I can waste entire days with that game. I tried to stay in bed but after Lori left for work, I could not get back to sleep. Despite the fact that Rachel had us up much of last night. (We've started solid foods and the organic peas apparently did not agree with her. It was a few days ago and she's still working through it. Thank me, I've spared you the details. Now I hate peas, but I did the pinky-dip taste test on these things and they did taste like peas, and sweeter than I had expected. She seemed to like eating them -- not as much as she enjoyed green beans -- but it's not a food we'll try giving her again for a few months.)

So I got up and started doing stuff around the house. When she got up, I fed her some formula and put her in her swing and let her watch Bear. Half an hour later, I put her in her high chair and gave her different toys. Then another half an hour passed and I moved her to a blanket on the floor with other toys (the kid's not going to need any new toys after Christmas until her birthday). And then another half hour in the bassinette and then she was fussy and we read that babies are usually ready for a nap two hours after they wake up, so it was into the crib where she only cried for a little bit. During all of this time, I was able to do chores near her and interact with her. Then she napped for two hours. Then she woke up, had some more to eat and we did the 30 minute blocks of time thing again and as we approached the end of the second hour, sure enough, she got fussy, so back into the crib she went and back to sleep without too much trouble.

So, maybe I'm on to something. Maybe by keeping track of the time and by keeping her occupied by changing the venue and toy selection before she had a chance to get bored allowed me to have a cry-free day.