Catch Up

I feel a little out of touch with everyone lately! It’s been a busy week or two and I have had a lot going on both with Christmas related stuff and my teething son, so I’d like to just catch up for a bit.

Avery and I have been working together to get his teeth in and I like to think we’re working as a team. Teething is a part of parenthood I was fully unaware of before having a child and it took me by surprise. I didn’t know that there were long periods of time (sometimes over a month at a time) when your child goes through deep pain that is very hard for them to deal with. During this time the parent has a unquenchable desire to sooth the child and do anything to take away the pain. Sometimes a tooth will come through without any struggle but sometimes it takes weeks.

The key to surviving these hard times is thinking of each tooth as a feat of valor. Your child is the superhero, and you are the side kick. Your job is to help them achieve the great task. This way you don’t get as frustrated with lack of sleep, extra couch time and dealing with a sometimes inconsolable baby and when the tooth pops through, you find yourself unbelievably proud of your child.

As Avery’s side kick I have learned a few tricks that help him conquer his trials. One of them is make sure he is home for the many random and potentially REALLY long naps (which is one bonus of teething seasons), to give him occasional numbing gel (Tylenol and Ibuprofen don’t seem to do the trick at all) and also feeding him the correct foods that make his mouth feel good. Things like dry cheerios, cold liquids and apples.

He will double fist anything.

The cutest thing about teething is the extra snuggle time and the hilarious behavior. For example, while eating these apples between the couch and coffee table, he would occasionally lean forward, rest his head on the couch and close his eyes.

However much teething time is a struggle, it brings about so many awesome things. Aside from the general bonding that just happens from so much snuggle, nursing and quiet time, new teeth means new abilities. With teeth a child learns how to speak easier, eat more foods and most of all, his smile just gets better and better!

The other things that are going on around here aside from muchos time at home with little buddy are food……and Christmas! Saturday we spend Christmas shopping and brunching. We stopped by a few stores and then the Blue Bird Bistro to get some food. I had a gift card from my birthday and it was really quaint! I went with breakfast, eggs Benedict.

Blue Bird takes pride in serving local and organic ingredients and the food was truly delicious. Simple, well executed and very tasty. Shane did lunch and got a seared salmon fillet with veggies and rice.

It was amazing. They seared the outside and left the inside completely raw (as Shane requested). All the sauces were homemade and definitely unique…in the best possible way.

Avery had pita with hummus. Truly a boy after his own mother’s heart!

I swear, he has the best lashes ever.

And now we move on to more food….yesterday we had friends over and I made tacos.

I am extremely in love with tacos. I put out about a million options out there but put beans, sour cream, onions, olives, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, and hot sauce. My mouth is salivating out of control right now.

Then, this morning Avery and I shared a yogurt mess with Greek yogurt, raw oats, honey and a little dollop of strawberry preserves.

I put the preserves on there to include some sweet flavors in each of Avery’s bites because Greek yogurt can get pretty tart for for a little kid. hehe.He took it like a champ.

Later in the morning we split a bagel too but the real yummy came in mid afternoon when I finally ate lunch….veggielicious.

Lettuce and carrot salad with cucumbers and cream cheese (drizzled with my salad dressing) and a few slices of gouda cheese. Also, a grapefruit with honey on the side. It’s sort of a pregnant lady meal. It was amazing all the same.

One thing not enough people mention is that when you’re pregnant all food, most especially food you love) tastes better than it ever has or ever will for the rest of your life. It’s a very unique perk that I fully enjoy.

And so that’s what’s been going on around here. Enjoying and hating the teething, loving Christmas and eating good food when I feel good. I can’t complain much:)

Question: Do any of you mama’s out there struggle keeping a positive attitude during teething? It took me a few bouts to get the better hang of having a good outlook on it.