Forsooth, A Tooth!*

*TM James

Ben's been going through some miserable teething for a good 5 months or so, and drooling for even longer than that. The process has seemed much more painful for him than for Rachel, and more protracted, too. Rachel cut her first tooth at 7 1/2 months, and Ben is a little over 9 1/2 now.

But last night as I was feeding him, he started to bite a little, and I put my finger in his mouth to open it. As I did that, I could feel something rough in there. I felt around a little more and, sure enough, there was a tooth! It's just peeking above the surface, but I was so happy to finally have one break through.

I told him "You have a tooth! What a big boy!" and he got such a proud little smile on his face. I have to believe he knew just what I was talking about and was feeling pretty big himself.

So we're finally on our way into the world of teeth, and we're hoping future arrivals are heralded with much less fanfare. No pictures yet (good luck trying to get a photo with him sticking in his fingers constantly or pushing his tongue forward), but we'll post some when we can get them.