Molar bears

The teething monster has returned. Actually, considering that she is working on her molars this time, it's not as bad as I expected. Her first molar (lower left) appeared before we even realized she was teething. It's so weird to see such a big tooth in her mouth. When she's smiling really big (or crying), it looks like she's got a wad of chewing gum in there.

All of her other teeth so far have come in symmetrical pairs, and this time is no exception. These past few days we've been able to see molar #2 (lower right) rearing its big, irregularly shaped ugly head. This morning, she woke up exceptionally early - a sure sign of teething troubles. Instead of the usual 6:45/7am wakeup time (blessedly later than her previous 6am wakeup), she was awake and crying at 5:45am. Desperate to get some more sleep, we brought her to bed with us and just cuddled, albiet awake, for another 45 minutes (amazingly).

While waiting for her usual breakfast of oatmeal with raisins, Evelyn wanted only to be in my arms, forgoing the usual attempt to wreak havoc in the living room first. I sat on the kitchen stool by the ipod with Evelyn wrapped around me on my lap, head against my chest, thumb in its usual position in her mouth. We were listening to music while John prepared the oatmeal, when he noticed that her eyes were closed -- she'd fallen back asleep. She did this exact thing once before; not knowing that she'd fallen asleep, I took her shifting around to mean that she wanted to get down, and without looking at her, I put her on the cold kitchen floor where she remained lying, totally asleep. Both times, I put her back in her crib before she even had a chance to eat breakfast.

It must be a really weird feeling, having these giant things erupting in your mouth, and not being able to fully understand what's going on or communicate effectively about it. It's tough being a kid sometimes.... but at least she got to take a nap before starting her day!