Return to the Cheese

Lynnie has had a tough go at it for the past few days. Julia is teething and as we wait for her new teeth to drop in, the sweet baby Cheese that we know and love goes away and is replaced with a bag of constantly crying broken glass. Nothing will sooth. Nothing will bring joy. Nothing will make her smile. There is only one emotion and one expression - angry crying. Here's a small photo montage of yesterday:

The Cheese woke up and expressed herself in a song of sorrow. Her poor little mouth ached and all she could do was cry. Sooooo.....

Lynnie put her in the Johnny Jumper - which she loves - but it didn't do much to get her mind off the pain. She just screamed and filled her pants with a lovely poo-cano. It was a mess. So, Lynnie took her to the changing table to clean her up.

She proceeded to scream on the changing table while she got cleaned up and changed her clothes. It looks kind of like she's laughing here, but she's not.


Usually, a nice walk in the stroller makes her very happy. Even when she's teething, she'll sing and talk to us as we walk around campus getting assailed by the cicada bugs. But, that didn't do much for her mood.

Today, she's doing much better. She seems back to her good ol' self, but that little tooth still hasn't broken through. She was playing a little peek-a-boo game with me this morning with the laundry basket. The laundry basket sure get's a lot of milage. It is also her play pen. Here she is sitting on the floor playing with me and seems to be the Cheese again.

Cheesey Belly

The other day, I was being silly - big surprise there - and I was slapping my stomach much to Julia's amusement. I think I was trying to play "Wipeout". After a bit, she started to slap her own stomach in imitation. It was pretty cute. Here's a little clip of her in the bath. The slapping noise in the background is me, prompting her with belly slaps.

As an added note: the laundry basket was put in the tub for the Cheese to sit in because she had gotten too squirmy for her baby bathtub and we couldn't have her safely sitting in the big tub without something to support her. So Lynnie got the idea to put her in the laundry basket - it is small enough to keep her from falling over and big enough to keep her from trying to stand up - most of the time.

Turkey and Cheese

Julia was in rare form today during story time with Daddy, so I just had to grab the camera and video some of it. He was reading her a picture book that had different animals wearing different clothing and the last animal is always a turkey doing something goofy like wearing socks on its wings. So every time Mat said "turkey" he would make a turkey noise. Normally, she giggles and they continue. Today she was doing this "I'm an old Jewish woman who is suffering from consumption and every time I laugh - I have to gag" thing. She was also babbling at something on the other side of the room and would occasionally crack herself up. You just have to watch and see.

Changin' Cheese

In the immortal words of David Bowie, "Turn and face the strain - (everybody!) ch-ch-changes!" Were going through some changes right now in the Teves household that have been fun and astounding and straining all at the same time.
On the "facing the strain" front, our baby Cheese is cutting her little teeth. F-U-N! - the excessive drooling, foul moods, short naps, and the all around pleasantries that unfold have made for countless hours of celebrating parenthood. Yesterday morning after Julia woke up, Lynnie went to feed her and she was making this horrible grinding noise in her mouth.
"She's grinding her teeth and its driving me nuts!" Lynnie told me.
"How does she grind her teeth when she's only got two on the bottom?" I asked.
After some protest and squirming, Lynnie was able to get a finger in her mouth and find the culprit. Julia had sprouted a third very tiny top tooth that is now good for grinding. I called my mom and dad, who are visiting my Auntie Monica and Uncle Albert. I asked my mom and auntie if there was anything we could do to get her to stop. Auntie Monica said the best thing for the grinding is earplugs.
On the astounding front: last night while I was at work (the best things always happen while I'm at work) our little Cheese got fed up with sitting on her tokhes (backside) and decided to pull herself up. This morning, when she woke up, she did it again so I could see. It looks like I'm lifting her, but I promise, I am not. Here is the video to prove it.

Bouncin' Cheese

A few weeks ago, my mom sent us a "Johnny Jumper." Because of the joy the Cheese expresses in her EXERSAUSER 2000!, we figured that if we put her in something strictly for bouncing she would enjoy it. We weren't disappointed - she loves jumping in this thing. We were letting her go nuts one morning and Lynnie came up with the idea - how would she react if she were bouncing and she went up, but didn't come back down. The results were pretty dern funny - she made a few poses that reminded me of Chris Farley (may his memory never die) when they made him fly during "Weekend Update" on Saturday Night Live. I hope you enjoy this: