Parenthood is full of surprises. After I had Ainsley, I felt like I was on a battle field dodging one bullet after another. There was always something that threatened Ainsley's mood whether it was sleeping, eating or diapering. After 3 months I was starting to feel good. We had developed a routine, I thought I knew her pretty well and then the teething started.
I didn't know it was teething at first. Ainsley would go through fussy periods for no reason and we didn't know why. She didn't have any of the 'usual' teething signs. She didn't put anything in her mouth, didn't have a fever and she never drooled. These moods came and went over the next few months and we just told ourselves that maybe she was having a growth spurt or just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
At 7 months, Ainsley got her first teeth and for a few weeks her temperament was great. The light bulb went off. Those months of mood swings were teething related!! Ahhhh!!!! Now we got it. Then we realized she had only gotten 2 teeth and had 14 left to go!!!! Nobody told us about this!! Teething can make the sweetest baby a terror when they are in pain and there's nothing you can do about it (Tempra didn't make a difference with Ainsley and I didn't want to use any 'holistic' products out of fear of allergies).
After two years of on and off teething, we are still waiting for Ainsley to cut her final set of molars. Every once in awhile, she sticks her hands in her mouth and now that she talks she can tell us her mouth hurts.
So we have almost gotten through one child's teething process and now we are entering another. Juliet is 6 months old and she is teething with a vengeance. It affects her sleep and a usually easy baby becomes very agitated. She even tries to bite our faces: HARD!!! This time around we know what to expect and are prepping ourselves for the worst. At least this time we know we will get through it and see our happy baby again between teething episodes.
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