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I've been neglecting my duties as a blogger lately. I haven't been feeling very chatty and I made the mistake of looking at some posts from when Ben was 6-8 months old, to compare what I was writing about him. The actual reading of the posts wasn't a mistake, because I got to experience the awe all over again of just how much Sam looks like Ben. If it wasn't for the hair colors I wouldn't be able to tell their baby pictures apart. No, the mistake was seeing that I used to post FIVE TO SIX TIMES A WEEK! These days I feel good if I make that many posts in a month. It kind of makes me want to smack my past self for feeling like I had no time for anything.

So, here's a semi-stream of consciousness post about what we've been doing. This week Sam's been teething and it sucks as much as it ever did. The boy who's been sleeping through the night perfectly for months has been waking up at odd hours all week. We really can't get mad at him since, like I said, he's been sleeping through the night perfectly for months and at this point in his life Ben wasn't even sleeping through the night PERIOD, BUT... it's still no fun waking up at 1:15am and then again at 5:45am.

Ben has been in day camp for 5 weeks and today was his last day. He already knew a bunch of the kids there, so he had a lot of fun. Today when I told him it was the last day he asked, "Now does school start?" He was a bit disappointed that he still has a month before school. Even though the idea of him being home all day, every day is daunting now that I'm not used to it, I'm also glad he's not in camp all summer. He obviously loves doing organized activities like that, but I think it's good to just have unorganized (or as unorganized as I can be) fun, too. We'll see how I feel next week.

I'm looking forward to this weekend because I'm unintentionally having a kid-free Saturday. I have Zumba from 9-10am, then I have a glass-blowing class from 12-4pm and then I'm meeting some friends for dinner and a movie at 5:15pm. All three things just fell together on the same day. Normally I don't like a day that's that full, but I've been feeling very trapped in the house lately, so the idea of being out so much is exciting.

Sam isn't crawling yet, but I'm hoping he starts soon. It's funny, because all the things I sort of dreaded with Ben - crawling, walking, climbing, potty training, giving up naps - I'm actually looking forward to with Sam. I've seen how all those milestones made my life easier and I can't wait for my life to be easier again. At least physically. As the physical labor goes down, the mental and emotional labor goes up, but I'm better at that stuff. And while Ben is still in the terrible threes (worse than the twos by a long shot), I keep catching small glimpses that he might start calming down a bit when he's four. He still usually freaks out when he doesn't get his way, but occasionally he'll just accept what I say and move on. And he's starting to be able to delay gratification, which means now it sometimes WORKS when I say, "If you're a good boy in the store you can have a Popsicle when we get home." A little bit of logic is starting to seep into his brain, which is AMAZING. It's natural for an adult to want to use logic with a child, but they just don't get it when they're so young. To be able to utilize it is amazing. And even though he technically "doesn't nap" anymore, he stills put himself down for a nap a few times a week. He'll even tell me, "I'm tired so I'm going to take a nap during Quiet Time." It's actually easier to get him to take a nap now that he "doesn't nap." Sometimes his maturity astounds me, and I try to remember those times when he collapses in a heap of whining and crying because he doesn't want to brush his teeth.

Well, I think that's enough rambling for today. Have a good weekend!

I couldn't come up with anything remotely clever pertaining to teeth that I hadn't already used

Sam's first tooth popped through! No photographic evidence yet, as you can barely see it, but it's definitely there. The thing about baby teeth is that they're SHARP. He can't eat Cheerio's yet, but he could slice the flesh right off my finger with no problem.

The thing about teething is that IT SUCKS. Sam hasn't been quite as grumpy as when he was sick, which is good, but he still hasn't been his normal charming self. Charming people don't consistently wake up before 6am. Or, if they do, they don't force you to get up and make them breakfast. They make you breakfast. And bring it to you. At a reasonable hour. My mantra these days is, "It's a phase. It's a phase. It's a phase."

Blargh.

So far 2011 has not been kind. It's not its fault, really. How can an arbitrary block of time be blamed for germs infecting our systems? Still, shaking my fist at something helps my mood a tiny bit. But it doesn't help me breath at night. *sigh*

Ben and I have had a cold almost all year, which has led to some bad, bad sleep. And we all know how well I do with bad sleep. Really, Ben's had a cold(s) for about a month and this morning he woke up with a fever so Heath took him to the doctor. She thought he might have weak bronchitis, based on his coughing, so they came home with antibiotics in tow. I feel so bad when he's coughing because there's just nothing I can do to help.

On top of this, he's also getting his two year molars which has made him a joy to be around. At least this time we know it's teething for sure, because he told us his teeth hurt without any prompting. And that is why toddlers kick babies' asses all the way.

Pearly whites

*knocks furiously on wood*

*throws salt over her shoulder*

*uncrosses every part of her body*

I think we might be done with teething.

*glances around to make sure the Tooth Fairy isn't laughing at her naivety*

Ben went through a big growth spurt this spring/early summer, which was accompanied by teeth brushing madness. Every morning and evening it was like Wrestlemania trying to get the toothbrush in his mouth for even five seconds, when we'd never had that problem before. However, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. For a couple weeks now he's been brushing like a champ. So rather than the oncoming Terrible Twos, I actually think brushing his teeth was hurting him, which is why he was being so disagreeable. I only wish we could know these things as they're happening.

I haven't been able to get a great look into his mouth, but looking at the baby teeth chart in his baby book, I think he has them all in. This is cause for celebration because TEETHING SUCKS. The kid won't remember it, but I'll carry the emotional scars for the rest of my life. And I remember when I got my adult teeth and I don't recall it being all that painful. Maybe I blocked it out?

Now all we need to do is get his final round of shots (for a while) at his two year appointment and we'll be done with big, painful things that are necessary (for a while). Then it's on to potty training. Ugh.

TEETH!

After five months of no progress on the teething front, Ben finally has some new teeth! Three molars have popped through his gums and I can see another one under there getting ready. I cannot wait for all his teeth to be in. Teething SUCKS and don't let anyone tell you different.

Bad Blogger! Bad!

I apologize for the lack of content lately. It's been a stressful few weeks in the Borders household for a number of reasons, not the least of which is TEETHING. Ben has some molars coming in and they're taking their sweet ol' time getting here. In the meantime this means lots of drooling and chewing on things and lots of restless nights. Heath has been taking the brunt of the bad nights, sleeping with Ben in the guest room because I cannot do more than drowse when I'm in bed with Ben.

We're also in transition from two naps to one. Holy crap do I hate transition times. It throws the whole routine out of wack and I thrive on my routine. We'd been doing the two nap thing for at least seven months when about two weeks ago Ben decided that was for suckers. Now I never know what I'm going to get. Sometimes he takes two naps, sometimes only one. Sometimes he takes one 30 minute nap and then a two hour nap. Sometimes it's two 90 minute naps. Sometimes it's one one-hour nap, which are the days I have the urge to e-mail all my friends without kids and talk about the positive aspects of sterilization. Spending 13+ hours with a toddler and having only one break long enough to shower and maybe eat lunch is crazy making.

So, those two situations don't exactly put me in the blogging frame of mind. However, things seem to be calming down a bit (fingers crossed). Hopefully Ben's teeth will pop through soon and I'll think of some more funny things to write about.

Bink-ified

Yesterday Ben came down with his second cold in a month. Like the first one, it doesn't seem to be too bad, just a stuffy nose and some coughing and sneezing. But, combined with teething pain, it makes sleeping very difficult. For everyone.

Heath put Ben to bed last night around 8, as usual, but he didn't go down easily. He woke up two or three times before 9:30 and I just knew it was going to be a bad night. I wish I wasn't right all the time.

The problem is the binky. He's become completely dependent on it to fall asleep. In some ways that's good, because most of the time when he wakes up at night I can just pop it back in his mouth and he's asleep again. However, when his nose is stuffed up, it poses a problem. Mainly in the fact that he can't BREATH.

I tried to get him to sleep without it last night and I was successful. I just would've had to hold him in the rocking chair all night. I was having major flashbacks, though. Rocking him in my arms at 2 am, feeling triumphant when he fell asleep and then feeling utter despair when, immediately upon his head hitting the mattress, his eyes popped open. Eventually I brought him into our bed, because I wouldn't get any sleep if I didn't. As it was I got very little. I did get to witness Ben sucking on the binky, pulling it out to breath and then putting it back in. We have raised a binky addict.

Teething sucks

The subject says it all. It's been a tough week in our house. Ben got his two bottom teeth a week ago. I don't know if his top two are coming in now or what, but he's been sleeping badly and yelping in his sleep and the crabbiness has increased significantly. I have no idea why the top two would be so much worse, because the bottom two weren't that bad.

Poor Uncle Ian and Aunt Bekah had to bear the brunt of it last night. They baby-sat while we went to trivia and apparently Ben was screaming a good deal of the night. Even while eating, which is unusual.

Of course, the great fear is that it's not related to teething and it's something else entirely. I feel so bad that he's in pain and can't tell me what's wrong. I might have to make a worried new mother call to the doctor tomorrow.

Kiss Army

Ben has started a new thing which at once is both cute and painful. I'll pick him up and then he'll kiss me. But he doesn't know how to properly kiss yet, so basically he just licks my cheek or chin. When I realized he wasn't just doing it because he was hungry and had become a zombie baby who was trying to eat my face off, I was very touched. "My baby boy wants to kiss me!!!" Cue the warming of my heart.

However (isn't there always a "however"?), to get leverage for this "kiss," and to bring his face close to mine, he has to grab something. And the only things within grabbing distance are things on my body. I never realized how much loose skin I have on my neck or how very much it can hurt when tiny fingers dig into my scalp and pull my hair.

And now that he has teeth, there's a whole new dimension to the kiss. Not only do I get a face full of slobber, but I also get very tiny, but very sharp points in my chin. Still, baby kiss!

Chomp, chomp

Last night we discovered Ben has a tooth! Heath was in the kitchen feeding Ben rice cereal when he yelled, "Come in here!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Just come in here!"

So I walked in there and he told me to look at Ben's gums. And there it was, a tiny bit of white sticking out of the pink. We were both excited, so we kissed Ben and congratulated him on his great achievement. He seemed unimpressed and more concerned with why Heath wasn't feeding him anymore.

Then this morning I noticed that he actually has not one, but TWO teeth coming in on the bottom. My little boy can grow teeth! I'm so proud!