Tooth

This time I think it is really, truly, actually happening! Though I have been waiting and wondering for months now, it seems like it is actually going to happen.

Joel is getting a tooth.

I don't know why that makes me absurdly happy, but it does.

I don't know why, but one thing that bothered me was the thought that Joel might die without a single tooth. It isn't really rational, I suppose, but these things can sometimes become supremely important and let me tell you

WHEN MY BOY GOES, I WANT IT TO BE WITH AT LEAST ONE TOOTH!!!!! I just didn't want him to die toothless!!

I feel like we have just won a small lottery. There is a tooth, I can feel the sharp edge, and the gum there is a bit "larger" than the other side. It is on the bottom, one of the front ones.

Maybe this sounds crazy, but it does seem like a victory! In just a few weeks, it will be out and it will be too late for him to die toothless! Ha Ha Ha! It is funny, but I feel I have won a battle with an enemy!

Of course, God willing, he might get a lovely full set of teeth yet. We don't really know how long we have with him.

And he can't EAT with it, of course!

So why all the joy? I suppose that what it really feels like is that he has passed out of infancy and into toddlerdom. He can not do any of the regular toddler things. No "toddling." No words. No stacking blocks, or any of those things. When did my baby turn into a toddler? Nothing ever changes for us. We are in the same place we were last year at this time, only HAPPIER. (don't get me wrong, REALLY grateful for that.) Still, as a mom... He has made no progress in holding up his head, he is not any closer to sitting, he is still just in the babbling phase, he still doesn't reach out for toys... Well, feeling you are in the same place a year later doesn't exactly feel great.

But today I am sure that something has changed! There is a TOOTH coming out! YAAAAAY Joel!!!