Teething

Desi-boo is teething. I am so not ready for this yet. He is only 4 1/2 months old! And it may take a while before they pop out, but who knows. Simon didn't get his first tooth until he was over a year-old, which I really enjoyed since I breastfed him til he was over a year old and I didn't have to deal with the whole nursing and teeth thing. One of the joys of Desi teething is that he has been nursing almost non-stop around the clock for the past couple of days. That is great if I have nothing to do, but not-so-great if I want to go run errands, or go on a date alone with my husband, or go to work. Yep, none of those things are happening this week. Instead, I am sitting on the couch nursing this baby constantly and showering very late in the day while baby screams in the bouncy seat just so I can be clean. Oh, what, I forgot to mention didn't I... That's right, if he isn't nursing he wants to be held. And not just anyone will do. Only mom will do. Hooray! (Note the many layers of sarcasm in this post.)
Last night Steve was holding Desmond while I was stuffing diaper inserts into diapers so Steve wouldn't have to deal with it while I was at work- the diapers would be all ready for him. The whole time Steve was holding Desi, he was rocking, bouncing, shhhing, swaying, patting, etc., and Desi just sat there screaming and staring at me, he would track me around the room, staring into my soul and crying. It was a very painful three minutes, and heartbreaking.
Don't get me wrong, I love holding my baby, and cuddling him, and nursing him, but I also love getting other things done too, especially when I am actually in the mood for doing other things like picking up the living room and cooking meals for my family for Valentine's Day. Meals like our breakfast (and by breakfast I mean lunch, it was at 1 that we ate our bacon, little Kari's little-a eggs, pigs in a blanket, and fruit) this morning with it's little heart-shaped pieces of fruit, and the dinner I want to make tonight for my husband with little heart-shaped roasted potatoes. It's gonna be soo cute, if it actually happens. Which at this rate, is probably not going to happen.
But anyways, teething- yikes. When he isn't nursing he is chomping on whatever he can get his hands onto and get into his mouth. And it doesn't feel like front teeth are coming in, its all jaggedy further back, like canines and molars are starting to come in. Ouch, poor little baby.

Mister Fussy Butt

I'VE CREATED A MONSTER!!
Not really, but sometimes it sure does feel like it. Simon hates to be alone, and he hates not being held. Yesterday I had him propped up on the couch so he could watch me while I was doing stuff, and the second I walked out of the room he started screaming. The past few days he has been extremely fussy. I don't know what his deal is. I am praying that it is just being gassy and that it has been caused by all of the triple ginger snaps I have been eating, and am going to cut out of my diet today to see if it helps. I went and bought a sling a couple of days ago and wore him around in it yesterday. He screamed as I was getting him in it, but as soon as he got settled he fell asleep and stayed that way for a couple hours. I was able to have him in it while I got some things done around the house.
Bedtime last night was particularly bad. I had fed Simon out in the living room and then went into the bedroom to change his diaper and go to bed, Steve was in bed asleep. As soon as we walk into the bedroom he starts screaming, soI took him into the bathroom to soothe him, he calms down, so we go back into the bedroom and I put him on the changing table to change his diaper and he just started screaming and would not be soothed. After what felt like an eternity I got him to calm down a little bit but not entirely, and managed to hold him while I changed into my pjs with just minimal fussing. We hopped into bed and after bouncing him up and down a lot he calmed down but was still wide awake, so I kept him with me and fell asleep.
It is now several hours after I started writing this blog and today has gone by much better and included many naps for Simon which is pretty unusual. I hoping it was a combination of the ginger snaps and maybe he just doesn't sleep enough and that makes him cranky. He usually doesn't sleep very much throughout the day which I think is unusual for newborns, I know his cousin is almost always asleep and rarely awake, and Simon is the opposite. I shouldn't complain too much though, during the night he goes to bed at midnight wakes up around 3 or 4 and again at like 7 or 8, so he sleeps really well at night. I think I am going need to invest in a bouncy seat though, whenever he is fussy the fastest way to calm him down is by bouncing him, so maybe a bouncy seat is the thing I need to be able to get things done during the day.
Anyways, I am very glad to report today has gone better in the fussing department, he has been pretty good, and his fussing is normally about two hours after his last meal so today fussing has just meant "feed me" instead of the stuff from yesterday where he was just unsoothable. Also, yesterday we started a little thing Steve's mom told us to try when he is fussy. If he has eaten, has a clean diaper, and still won't be soothed put him down for 10 minutes, let him cry, and then pick him up and calm down for 2 minutes. Didn't work so well last night, or maybe it did since he has been good today? Who knows, but if anyone has any suggestions on calming a baby down let me know, I am open for advice, and it doesn't mean I have to take it, but there are some times where I think to myself when he is crying that I will try anything!!