Pig - 18 months (almost)

So Miss Pig is teething....A..LOT. It seemed like overnight she went from having 4 little tic tacs in front to a full chomping rack of pearly whites. Poor thing is probably wondering what she did during her short little existence on this earth to deserve this. For awhile we weren't sure what was up. She would wake up screaming and yelling and work herself into hysterics. It coincided with the birth of Moo so we thought that perhaps she was reacting to the change, in particular her father's attention being diverted to this strange new little bundle. As she loves her daddy more than anyone else in the whole wide world, I suggested that K pay especial attention to her, to assure her that she wasn't being replaced. After that, we had two good nights of sleep so...thought we, issue solved. But of course, it came back.


So then we started thinking it's the molars and incisors. Her mouth is likely just one big open sore. She's been fighting sleep big time. We know she's tired, she'll dose off readily but then wake up screaming her head off. Other symptoms, irritability (usually reasonable, she's been yelling if she doesn't get her way), decreased appetite (our little eater usually has three squares, snacks and 25 ounces of milk, these days we're lucky to get two meals in her and it's gotta to be soft, pureed stuff), and chewing (she's been chewing on everything, her wooden puzzle pieces, her fists, her clothes, us). To help her with the discomfort we've been giving her some baby Motrin on the really bad days. *Deep breath* She's got 12 toofers so far, which leaves us with 8 more to go...let us pray.

It probably doesn't help that in addition to the above, we had to find a substitute daycare provider while Mrs. V. cares for her ailing husband. It started off as a week but now it looks like it'll be a month before Mrs. V. opens her doors again. We were lucky to find D to look after Pig during this time. She feeds the kids breakfast, lunch and snack so that helps in the mornings, does not believe in candy incentives and only allows 1 hour of tv in the morning. I'm starting to think it'd be nice if we could switch from Mrs. V. to D. Unfortunately, D already has 7 kids and we'd need someone who could take Moo as well in July.

While nighttime is rough, Miss Pig by day, continues to delight us with her antics. She imitates everything we do. She has started trying to moisturize her face. This is likely the result of her coming into the bathroom as I was conducting my skincare regimen and stared for awhile, filing the image away in her little rolodex-like brain. Problem is, she's rubbing anything onto her face. The other day, she came down the stairs, her face glistening like she had spent the night dancing at Studio 54. Turns out she managed to get some A&D ointment when her dad was changing her diaper and spread it all over her face.


Miss Pig is an incredibly social little thing. She could be a Walmart greeter really. She says hello to women, men, children, animals..if it's moving about, Miss Pig wants to know it. An introvert myself, I'd prayed for a happy, confident child...damn, were my prayers answered. She loves giving kisses and hugs.

Other developmental milestones: she's running around like crazy, she can put together her farmyard wooden puzzle, she likes to match possessions to owners so for example, she'll grab shoes from the closet and take them to whoever they belong too, she can point to parts on her face (e.g. eyes, nose, mouth), she loves dancing and adjusts her dancing to the tempo of the music, she knows that Moo is the baby and when she hears him cry she'll say "baby!"