Little Teething Girl

Noa cried after I put her down so I went in to check and her cheeks were this pink! I've learned that happens when babies teethe. There's just so much blood flowing into their cheeks to help those little teeth along, or at least that is how I like to imagine it.

I'll post a picture of the finished smile soon!

Breastfeeding Mommas: Be Careful of Mother's Day Massages!

It was my gift certificate from last year, and I wanted to use it up before it expired. So I went and laid down on my belly for an hour. It was a lovely massage. I felt very pampered and a little smushed. Two days later I have the beginning of mastitis! My milk duct is clogged and I feel like I have the flu.

So, the moral of the story is to use your massage gift certificate before it expires, but lie on your side and not your belly!

 And if you do get mastitis, La Leche League has some helpful stuff to say.

happier breastfeeding times ~

First Trip to the Dentist!

I was much more nervous than Isaac was. He was even excited about going hours before we left. Usually, before his nap, we sit on the rocking chair and he puts his head on my shoulder, requesting songs. This time he only moaned, "Go to the dentist!!", over and over again. I finally had to put him down and let him put himself to bed.

I'm not scared of the dentist! I'm happy to be here!

We were called into the examination room by a dental assistant Isaac later called, "A very nice man." The assistant showed him how to brush monkey teeth!

What big teeth you have, Mr. Monkey!

We didn't have to wait very long for Isaac's new dentist, Dr. Ruby Gelman (the best pediatric dentist ever). We both loved her. She was so sweet with him, so patient and steady, and very good at making the chair go up and down! She gave him cool sunglasses to wear, and time to inspect her bright purple latex gloves and the little dental mirror used for counting his teeth (16 of em!). She even polished his teeth with strawberry tooth polish, an activity she said she hardly ever gets to do with kids this young, but that Isaac was a star.

She also said his teeth looked great and that we should keep on doing whatever it is we are doing. Which, in case you are wondering is not very much juice, maybe once a day mixed with water for breakfast, and not much dried sticky fruit. He had been a raisin addict before, but I heard that they are the worst for kids teeth because they are sticky and get caught in the crevasses. He eats big meals and doesn't snack much. We brush just with water and she said that was fine. Her son is almost 3 and she still just uses water for him.

Then Isaac was able to pick out lots of toys (a whole dinosaur herd!), put them in a little bag shaped like a purple tooth, and we were outa there. Oh boy, I was so relieved.

Relieved momma, and Isaac, showin' of the teeth.

Those of you in NY, find Dr Ruby Gelman here ~

The Kid Has a Cold

"Take booger out of nose!" says Isaac.
"I wish I could!" says mommy.

I just put an atlas, a book on winged migration, and one more slender volume under his crib mattress to prop his head up a bit. I'm hoping that tonight won't be as bad as last night. Or maybe he'll just get extra smart from paranormal osmosis!

Poor guy :(

Scooter Fever, How to be on the Lookout

Uh-oh, he looks pretty happy.

I've wondered when Isaac would catch Scooter fever. It's a virus, and it can spread like lightning from one sweet talkin', quick turnin' 5 year old, to one big eyed toddler with a simple suggestion:

"C'mon, I'll pull you!"

It happened today, just a few hours ago in the handball court across the street.
Keep your ears open for, "Sootoo!", "Sootoo!" If you hear that, it means they just caught it.

Tooth Brushin' Blues

This article from the NY Times has got me worried!
Preschoolers in Surgery for a Mouthful of Cavities 

The many personalities of teeth!

I'm feeling very remiss. Every night I try to brush his small chompers, but to a frustratingly sad outcome. Isaac clamps his little mouth shut, and all my cajoling is to no avail. I've tried brushing my own teeth to get him to want to copy. I've tried singing silly tooth brushing songs. I've tried letting him use my or his daddy's toothbrushes, which are way more exciting than his own.

I get a few swipes if we're lucky. And he loves the little brushes as nifty little objects, but much prefers to do my teeth (much too roughly), or the surface of the bathtub, rather than his own.

Ok, so the Times has given me a kick in the pants. Tonight, we brush!

Little Guy is a Whopping 9 Months Old!

Isaac's 9 month birthday means many things:
He's been without as long as he was within! This gives me a funny feeling, but I'm trying not to focus on it.
He can feed himself (melty puffs, advises the pediatrician)
Plank poses and bottom up in the air maneuvers. Maybe even crawling!
Because of the aforementioned maneuvers, he may slim down, ("all those baby rolls, they will just melt away!" they say) but seeing is believing, I say.

The good times before all the shots

It also means the 9 month pediatrician appointment.
He has a new one: A tall, upright, South African-accented doctor. I think I like him, but I am not completely positive. He seems very smart, friendly, silly, and he was the pediatrician for The Dave Mathew's Band's kids. I know this because there was a plaque in his office, dedicated to him, from when their record sold a lot of copies. This gives me confidence in that "ooh, he treated famous people!" sort of way.  I liked how he was with Isaac, he gave him a tongue depressor to play with!
I didn't like how he shushed my worries about metals going into Isaac's small *plunchy thighs. And he wants us to give him baby vitamins in a dropper that "taste vile, but that's okay because babies don't really taste, its more about texture." (Is that true?  I thought some had taste-buds in their cheeks!) Not so good, since Jeremy and I are not vitamin takers. 
The thing is, when Isaac looks at me with his huge brown 9 month old eyes, it drives me nuts. I don't want them to be deficient in anything, that's for sure.
At 9 months, I feel I must make the right decisions, but I'm not sure what they are!

*Plunchy is a word I made up to describe my cat Goose, meaning delightfully squish-able.