A Friend For A Tooth

We have struggled for months with my son's eczema.  I've invested many dollars in supposed cures and none of them have worked even a little, yet we have smeared them on several times a day while crossing our fingers and hopping on one foot, and chanting secret words in the hopes that one day, it will all come together and his face will be 'pretty' once again.  All for naught.  His pediatrician recommended that we try Curel's hand cream, a 99 cent purchase I made at a grocery store, and within a week his face is looking 100% better.  For less than a dollar.  Hurray!  I am, of course, upset that I have spent and wasted so much money for nothing up to this point, on the advice of a different pediatrician, but I'll just have to get over that.  His eczema is by no means gone but there is marked improvement and that gives us hope.

For about a month my son has been growing his first tooth.  It broke the skin after a doozy of a couple of days filled with screaming and fussiness and general exasperation on the part of his parents.  We were much relieved when it finally made an appearance and things settled down to a more manageable level of noise.  The past couple of weeks have been spent feeling it, rubbing it, and watching its slow upward progress as it makes its presence more apparent.  Speculation abounded on when its neighbor, tooth number two, would join its trail blazing brethren.

The wait is over!  Tooth Number Two has arrived, and none too soon.  The crankiness was turned up a notch over this past weekend and not much sleep has been had, but thankfully it was all for a good reason and not just my child being moody and hard to deal with.  Last night in particular was the stuff that terrible parenting type movies are made of.  Ruckus cried and fussed long into the night, and refused the comforts of his father in spite of the fact that Mom had to get up and greet the world today.  So I'm greeting the world on four hours sleep.  Sure, faces are a little blurry at this level of sleep deprivation but I know that this too shall pass.  At least until the next two teeth decide to make an appearance.  I'm not sure if I should hope for one at a time in order or two at once next time to get the torture over with more quickly!  Regardless, the first tooth now has a friend and we will all (hopefully) sleep a little easier tonight.

Missed It

The smell of his skin after a bath.  The softness of his hands as he slaps my face, batting my mouth and nose indiscriminately, completely unaware that he may be causing pain or annoyance.  The screeching for the heavens which makes that weird ringing noise between your ears, circling your brain and eliminating all thought.  The stiffening of his back and limbs when resisting my efforts to contain him, showing his independence already at such a young age.  I think to myself that the next few years will be rough, this child is already stubborn and strong willed.

How will I handle what is to come, the defiance combined with the strength and coordination to carry out his wants and desires?

How does one convince a wild animal to be tame?

Ruckus will be six months old in two days.  He sits on his own, chews on everything within reach, smiles, babbles, and eats cereals and fruits and vegetables with delight and a hearty appetite.  His first tooth made an appearance two weeks ago and he can't seem to leave it alone for more than an hour, chewing his hands and drooling like a faucet. 

I love him.  I love it all and miss him the minute I walk out the door, every single day.  My arms feel empty as I carry my purse in to work, and I am missing a sloppy kiss from a certain charmer right this minute.  I sit and wonder if he is sleeping right now, is he giggling at some silly thing the dog has done, is he rattling the glasses in the cabinet with his screams of delight?

I will dial the telephone and talk to his dad, my husband who has set his own life aside to care for our tiny man.  Soon he will pass the phone to our baby and I will chatter in his ear, asking him to be good for his dad, and I will tell him that I love him and miss him so much.  He will smile and mouth the phone until I am done and I will make it through this day.

Eight more hours and I will be home.  I will hold his hand and tell him about my day, tell him how much I missed him, kiss his cheek.  He will yank on my hair and slap my face and I will smile, and be happy.