Tooth Number Five is a Mean One

Poor Roxanne is having a tough time. Her fifth and sixth teeth are coming in. The top left one next to the front tooth is just coming through, and the right one is not too far behind. She's really struggling with them. She hasn't been sleeping well, and we've been giving her Hyland's Teething Tablets at least once a day and I've given her Tylenol the last two nights to help her sleep with the low grade fever that the teething is causing. At least she doesn't have the runny nose.

She seems to be an independent lady, and is really not happy to eat baby food any more. I have to offer her the spoon at least four or five times before she will finally take any food off of it. It's just easier to give her table food. She just tried chicken last week (cut into tiny pieces) and she seemed to like it. Her favorite foods seem to be grapes, peaches and avocado. She also loves anything that Gerber Graduates makes. I hate giving that stuff to her, but sometimes it's just too convenient not to. I only give her the banana puffs (they are Ben's), the carrot wagon wheels, the "little crunchies" and the zwieback toast. It seems like all of it is a variation on Captain Crunch or Cheetos, and so she clearly loves them all. Sigh.

The other day I dragged her to Target after work to buy an umbrella for Justin (it was a total waste since it was a rainy day and the only ones they had left were rainbow stripes or High School Musical themed) since he misplaced his. She was tired and hungry, so I picked up a can of the Gerber "little crunchies" in some kind of "veggie" flavor. I hadn't bought these before, but I figured they had to be healthier than apple cinammon wagon wheels, which were the only other option. The crunchies look just like Cheetos cheese puffs, and apparently the are just as addictive. I was feeding them to Roxanne as we walked around the store, and she was ravenous for them. She had one hanging out of her mouth like a cigar, one in each hand, and was trying to scratch the lid off of the can with one of her little chubby fingers. She probably ate like 15 of those things by the time we paid for them. She smelled like she had been eating sour cream and onion chips or something. They will be reserved for emergency situations only from this point forward.

But honestly, I do mainly stick with diced up fresh fruit and veggies and organic cheerios (or Teddy Puffs). She's not really drinking as much water as she should, since I can only interest her in filling her mouth with it and then swilling it back out down the front of her shirt. She definitely loves that part, but the whole "drinking" thing seems uninteresting to her refined tastes. I tried giving her diluted apple juice to see if that sparked her interest, but she couldn't have cared less. Her pediatrician told me she needs to be drinking a few ounces of tap water every day for the flouride. I'll keep trying! It seems like a mom could go crazy trying to meet all of the requirements that books and pediatricians suggest for babies. But, since Roxanne is still nursing at least 3 or 4 times during the day and a few times at night (she still is sleeping in her crib for only half of the night, but we're making progress!), I don't worry as much about her food intake. I've read about a lot of moms who only breastfeed for the first 12 months (as in, no other food), and while I think that's way too extreme, I have read in very reputable places that the majority of a baby's nutrients do still come from breastmilk or formula for the first year of their life. And judging by her rolls, Roxanne is getting by.