mother of the year

...will not be going to me this time.

I'm not sure, but I think Abby might have the very beginnings of a tooth coming in.  Either that or she just has a very tiny sharp white spot on her gum for no reason at all.  I'm going to ask our ped to look at it on Tuesday when we go back.

Until then, I started re-looking at the signs of teething babies.  She doesn't seem overly bothered by this little invader, but at the same time, she's very drooly, she's been waking up more during her naps, she's been fussier lately, and she's been chomping down on her hands like they were going out of style.  As an aside- several of my friends with kids have noted how their child has a preference for what fingers they like to suck on.  I don't know if Abby will change, but so far she has shown a clear preference for only her left index finger.  She just hooks it around her lip and nom nom nom.  Sometimes she adds the middle finger as well - but most of the time, she's a pointer finger chewer. 

I decided that I would try one of the gum soothing tricks I had read about and see if it was something Abs liked or didn't like.  So I went and got a small baby washcloth (we have tons, most of which we've never used) I dipped the end in water and froze it.  When it was frozen, I gave it to Abby so she could suck on the cold part.  Its supposed to help them soothe their sore and teething gums.  But as it was Abby's first time with something icy - I was interested to see her reaction. 

So I give it to her and of course it instantly goes to her mouth.  It doesn't take her long for her eyes to get big and for to give me this look that says "what IS this?"  I spend the next 5 mins or so helping her hold the cloth and rubbing her gums with it.  All the while she keeps giving me this crazy look.  It was actually kinda funny I thought.  After a bit, she starts wrinkling her nose and smacking her lips and one eyebrow is raised and she's still staring at me with that face.  Finally, I decide that she doesn't really like it and I take the cloth back.  

That's when I notice something odd.  The cloth is really slippery.  My first thought was that she just drool soaked it to that point, but upon further inspection - it was soapy.  Ooops. I thought I had taken a rag that had never been used, but apparently not!  Suddenly, all of those "are you crazy?" looks make sense.  The poor girl just got her mouth rinsed out with soap for no reason at all. 

Fail.

While I'm on a roll, I'll also confess that while Abby was super fussy in the evening, I totally used the TV as a babysitter.  I plopped her in her swing, pointed her at the TV and turned on baby einstein.  I love and hate that it works so well. She was completely entranced for the whole 30 mins.  Of course, its probably better than the two law & order episodes we watched together earlier in the day.  

Today is supposed to be warm, and tomorrow is supposed to be in the 80s!  I have every intention of spending as much time outdoors as possible....and taking pictures.  Which I still need to upload.