I miss my happy boy. I miss sleep. It seems like our days are a cycle of comfort nursing, pooping, pain management, and TRYING to get someone to take a nap and failing. Yesterday it took sometimes an hour to get him to sleep and then he would only sleep for twenty minutes. I know I am supposed to be finding these sleep windows but I feel like teething turns on all of the lights and covers the windows and makes you stare at day-glow.
Oh and the other day I tried baby ora-gel on W’s gums only I missed his gums and ended up landing the berry flavored goop on his tongue and I can totally tell that a numb tongue blew his mind but I was so freaked out about over doing it that I didn’t try again.
Mother is trying to get W to nap right this very minute. She sings “oreo” to him over and over and over and over and of course it works. I suck at naps. Seriously. I am in the era of running on empty.
Thankfully I educated myself in how to work a french press coffee pot that I have had for years (& never used but purchased because doesn’t everyone own a french press?) and after three mornings of trial and error I have found my perfect ratio of coffee and steeping time. (7tbs ground coffee, 32 ounces of almost boiling water, 7 minutes steep)
There are also banana nut muffins in the oven (from a “just add water” mix, don’t get too excited).
GM is having a birthday this week and sometimes when I think about that I cry a little and I can’t figure out why. I think it is because she really has no idea. Mother went to visit her yesterday evening and brought a cat. Yes a cat. (Mother has 4 cats that I make ask her to keep happily contained in her living quarters as on any given day one of them is bound to have a bowel issue.)
So she brought in the easiest cat to wrangle, a long lean machine named Earl. Mother says the visit went well enough but that GM didn’t really understand what the cat was or how one would interact with it. GM is also making a sort of guttural sound on every exhale. She has been doing this for days and we are not sure if this is an issue or another moment where something goes wonky and the cast just throws up their hands and exclaim, ‘Well that’s Alzheimer’s!” and the studio audience laughs.
So it is her birthday in two days. She will be 88. The 88 is also the name of one of my favorite bands.
I am going to make chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and the head nurse is going to allow us to smuggle in a candle that we can only have lit in her room. And Mother and I are sort of struggling with how to celebrate. We have a few little gift ideas but really we just want to make her feel special, maybe even make her remember what a Birthday celebration feels like.
I keep asking her if she wants a pony which she finds hysterical. Which is why I ask her. Because hearing her laugh is a thread that is so connected to the fabric of who she still is to her core.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s great, happy birthday.
It’s rare to hear my grandmother laugh, but my little girl can manage it (when she isn’t stressing her out by running around).
Hello, little teeth! You are so cute.
Elizabeth HATES the taste of the oragel. She looks at me like “seriously, woman? This again? How dare you?” But it does help. Sometimes a lot.
I’m sure you will come up with just the right birthday celebration for your grandmother.
The oragel stuff is hard to get on the right spot, but it wont hurt him if it slides elsewhere.
Not everyone owns a french press. Some of us don’t even own a regular coffee pot. D:
Hope GM’s Birthday is a happy one.
I’m sorry, this is a hard week for you. I don’t have any solutions, but I’m listening.
Throw out the nap schedule until those teeth come in all the way. No point in even trying, or beating yourself up about it. Teething is hell.
He can have a numb tongue, promise. I have always bought the Orajel that comes in q-tip form. You snap one end and then you can apply it to the gums. Seems to work easier than the regular liquid stuff.
How about buying GM a mini stuffed pony for her birthday? Hoping you all have a nice celebration.
Itty bitty baby teeth, ahhh. Much cuter than the work they require to get there. We are in tooth h-e-double-hockey-sticks (HELL) over here. We have one kind of through the gums. (And at what point do you mark “first tooth” in his baby book, because it sure as hell does not happen on one day?) And the second must be close behind because he’s still uber upset.
::
Happy birthday, GM. I know you will find the perfect thing for her big day. 88 is a great, round, even, palindrome-ical brithday to be.
OH, and we didn’t even bother with the orajel, it freaks me out on ME, let alone my bayyyybeeee. BUT we are in LOVE with the teething tablets, have you tried them? They require no expertise and seriously provide instant relief, which is nice at midnight, 2am, 4am… you get the picture. They don’t work for everyone, but fortunately they do for B.
Hope you and W get some sleep soon. I hope that you find something too that helps him be a bit more comfortable.
I think the cupcake for GM’s birthday and a little party of sorts sounds great. It’s so hard when they don’t remember so much of their life.
I am praying with all my being that Amelia is teething. Seriously, praying.
Try the Orajel Baby teething swabs http://www.diapers.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?productid=5950&site=CI&cm_mmc=cse-_-googlebase-_-health_safety-_-DL-003&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=DL-003 These are hollow qtip type things that are filled with orajel. It makes it so you can apply the orajel exactly where you want it. I used them with Joey and Gabe and they were wonderful.
Hylands teething tablet saved my life. I swear! Well it sure felt like it at the time. They have a soothing agent in them that will help W be calm and hopefully sleep longer than 20 minutes. I recommended them to my cousin and her daughter slept through the night for the first time in her life.
I really hope that your birthday “party” for GM goes well. I can’t imagine how hard it is to see her the way she is now. And boo to no naps and teething pain. Don’t you wish you could just take the pain from him. I always wished that I could take the pain for my kids, or snap my fingers and make it go away!
holy shit, how did your sweet boy grow 2 teeth already!! poor guy! and poor you guys. yikes! happy happy birthday to GM, amazing!!
ah, the joys of teething. we have two too!
(you know the evils of orajel, right? it hardens the gums with use, which makes the gums more painful for teeth to go through, etc, etc. my pediatrician said to only use if needing to put something on so they’ll eat or something like that)
88. Happy birthday to GM!!!
(and again, sorry for being so absent. I so do not want to be like that, especially with you!)
Hello! Delurking though I am an avid reader!
Try Hylands Teething Tabs for W.. They are all natural and work WONDERS! They melt instantly after you put them under their tongues and help a lot. Also just a warning about the orajel. I have read about it numbing their little throats if too much is used and can hinder breathing! I don’t want to scare you but it terrified me to the point that I won’t use it anymore. Also my pedi told me if used too much it can actually make it harder for teeth to come through. Again, try the teething tabs, they ROCK!
Teething tablets. Seriously. Best thing that ever happened to me. Target and CVS, Walgreens have them. Also, try the Ora-Jel in the q-tips. They help with applying it where you want. Also a lifesaver. But I’d check into those teething tablets if I were you.
Good luck,
Amanda
Cool story indeed. My boss has been seeking for this info.