Today was probably one of the hardest days with Cate I've had in awhile (and there were definitely some rough ones in those early weeks). For the last month or so, Cate has been drooling like crazy and lovin' it when you rub her gums or give her something rough to chew on (like a burp cloth or a toy that has some kind of texture to it). The pediatrician told us a couple of weeks ago that teeth can take up to two months or more to push through, but that Cate could definitely be feeling something inside her gums now. So maybe that was her issue today. All I know is that she woke up at 2 am and while she settled back down pretty quickly, it was just the beginning.
From 8:30 this morning on, Cate just wanted to be held. Nothing seemed to please her or entertain her. She'd nap for 20 minutes at a time and then wake up screaming. We tried an arbitrary drive (I had stuff I needed to take to Goodwill anyway) and that didn't work (with gas being as high as it is, I give her about 10 minutes and if she's not asleep, we go home). It was way too hot this afternoon for a walk. And cranky as she was, I wasn't brave enough to head to the mall to walk around when the littlest thing might set her off. So we hunkered down at home and I tried my best to keep a smile on my face as I rocked and bounced and snuggled with Cate- desperate to help her settle down. I am blessed to have a baby to rock and bounce and snuggle with no matter how grouchy she is.
Thankfully, Eric has some flexibility in his job and could sense my growing distress when he came home for lunch and later called to check in. He came home about an hour early to give me a break so I could work on the packet for the distance course I'm taking (I'm about 75% done at this point...yay). He managed to handle Cate and her grumpiness with lots of grace and even made dinner in the process. After it cooled off in the evening, we headed up to UDF for some soft serve, the library to return some things (where we promptly checked out more things...mostly CDs- they had the new-ish BNL and Arctic Monkeys), and Blockbuster to take back The Bucket List.
While I'm not a fan of medicating Cate when she doesn't need it, my mom did remind me that one dose of Tylenol won't hurt after the day she's had. It could be her teeth, but she could also have a headache. She's been having some tummy issues lately (we've been introduced to the wonderful world of infant suppositories since her digestive system is slowly getting used to cereal and baby food), so maybe she had some gas pain as well. She fought going to bed tooth and nail, but Eric once again came to the rescue and hung in there with her while I took a shower. We may be in for a long night...but we wouldn't trade it for anything.
~Melody :-)
(Cate in her daddy's hat a couple of days ago)
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