(Week 28, Day 3-5)

It’s Coming! It’s Coming! Today after work and school, Maddy grabbed my husband’s hand and started sucking away at it, and he responded with a “Look at that!”. I let Maddy take my hand and she immediately put it in her mouth, and there was a new sensation on her lower gums - a hard, sharp object starting poke through - her first tooth! You can’t quite see it yet, but you can certainly feel it! And thus far, there has been no drastic change in behavior - no diaper rash, fussiness, etc. Just pure Maddy joy and a whole lot of putting everything in her mouth, which isn't exactly a break from the norm.

There are so many things happening with Maddy’s development these days, it’s hard to keep up. She’s teething, she’s so close to crawling that we are days, not weeks, away, and she’s firmly in the world of solids. This is opening up all sorts of new and fun opportunities and challenges. It’s exciting to think about introducing her to new kinds of foods, starting her down a healthy track, and the whole idea of making homemade food for her is very appealing. The idea of my little girl getting teeth and moving from gummy grins to an actual toothy smile is crazy to me, but terribly exciting. And crawling. Don’t even get me started. She is already fairly mobile - scooting and rolling everywhere. When she starts crawling - watch out, there will be no stopping her!

And then there are the challenges. Now on top of washing bottles, freezing and storing milk, and all the coordination that comes with pumping, there are solids to think of - what should we introduce next? Where am I going to find time to make food? Once she has teeth, when does the biting start? When should we start brushing her teeth? Once crawling starts, how often should I wash my floors? What about childproofing the house - how can we make sure she doesn't get into something? And how am I going to find time in the day to do ALL this STUFF??

As with every new stage, there are feelings of excitement, nervousness, and frustration. I know we’ll figure it out, just as Maddy figures out how to get her legs under her and moving in the right direction. Have children is truly a lesson in change management - ready or night, the change is coming, the platform is burning, and soon, it will be time to jump!