Ouch. Tooth number four is turning out to be a doozy. Abigail got her two bottom teeth without much trouble during the same week when she was seven months old, and this week, at ten and a half months, her top two finally started coming in. The left tooth made her fussy for a few days while it broke through those last bits of swollen gum tissue, but the right one is YYOWWWCH. The only way Abi is able to suck her bottle is if we give her a bowl of ice chips first to numb her mouth. We have hours of night waking that are only solved by tylenol. We have blood and tears from even minor face bumps. She won’t let us look at it or touch it. The best way to get a view is for her dad to turn her upside down against his shoulder. The gleeful upside-down smile reveals all– a raggedy red gum with a few sharp edges poking through. Maybe the dread tooth will finish the worst part of its journey tonight. Here’s hoping.

The painful mouth hasn’t stopped her from adventures in ambulation. The grandparents got to witness her taking a few steps on the webcam yesterday– she was dying to pry the keys off the laptop and lunged toward it from the piece of furniture she was holding on to. It doesn’t really count as walking since she just managed to keep her feet under her for a moment as she toppled over, but she’s definitely got the idea into her head now. This afternoon I watched her take a step that ended with a splashdown in the baby pool. To me it seems like her balance and coordination are still pretty far from actual walking, but we all know Abi– she knows how to persevere! Every time her feet touch the floor she takes advantage of the opportunity for another practice session. Squats, leans, bends, sidesteps, lifts… I should be making an exercise video of the baby calisthenics going on in this house. Maybe we could get Abi some extra dough for her college fund.