The Sprayberries

The Parents Who Cried Tooth

[jd] 8 January 2007

Well, it finally happened. We had our suspicions that Cayden was teething when he was sent home from daycare last week with a mild fever and no symptoms of being actually ill. Then he cried from 3pm until bedtime on Sunday, only stopping if I let him chew on a dried apple ring. This is the only chewy teething device he shows an interest in, which is unfortunate. Dried apple rings have a lovely spongy yet firm texture and a pleasant taste. All the qualities of an excellent teether, until it gets soft enough to break or the baby gets so excited he sucks the whole thing into his mouth and down his throat. Which means it is a great teether, if a parent is staring at you with an anti-choking device (i.e. my finger) at the ready THE ENTIRE TIME. Despite the relatively unpleasant experience of having me stick my finger down his throat to extricate apple chunks, Cayden happily chewed away for over an hour. Despite all these symptoms, Sunday night there was still no tooth. Apparently he got all his angst about the process out that day though, because he was thoroughly cheerful Monday and Tuesday. I thought we had yet again mistakenly assumed his crankiness meant teething, and it was only by accident that I discovered his brandy-new tooth last night (he was complaining about the car seat and I was shoving my knuckle into his mouth so it made funny noises when he cries, because that usually stops him crying). Another milestone of childhood achieved, which is exciting and sad all at once. I love watching him change so rapidly, but it is a little bittersweet to think that in no time he will be bumming 20$ and the car keys off me.