I’m going to start by saying that Cherise and I are honestly blessed. Jacob is a really easy-going kid. He isn’t hyperactive, he eats really well (seriously, he’s almost 2 years old and still his idea of junk food is grapes and nectarines) and he even sleeps really well (about 11-12 hours every night – look, some kids sleep even more than that and some, well, let’s just say some parents might hate us for how well he sleeps…)

Lately however, it’s a bit of a different story. He’s getting the last of his teeth – his top and bottom two molars. I honestly can’t imagine what the poor kid’s going through. He’s been talking in his sleep (yes, VERY cute), he’s constantly shoving his hands to the back of his mouth, and he’s become very fussy. There. I said it. Our little angel is fussy.

Truth be told, he’s not sleeping well at all at night – no, he doesn’t wake us, he just has trouble going to sleep and then wakes a few times at night because of the pain of his teeth trying to break through. At least I think that’s what’s going on. How can I be sure? The only thing I know for certain is that he wakes up in the morning tired, he’s drooling constantly again, and every time we try to do something that he doesn’t want to do, he melts down. I’m talking about mini Chernobyl meltdowns. He lurches himself from side to side or backwards (especially fun if one of us is holding him), starts squealing and crying and if we put him down, he crumples to the floor (to the point where he smacked his head when Cherise put him down – even though she was trying to make sure he DIDN’T smack his head. He just lurched and smacked it anyway, hurting her back in the process…). One can only assume he’s not sleeping well. Lack of sleep coupled with crankiness due to a sore mouth is not a good combination.

It’s tough. And it’s also a phase. At least that’s what everyone says. It’s all a phase. Every part of childhood. And here’s the thing: I’m excited for all of it, and I also don’t want it to go by too fast (as everyone says, and I’m starting to see, they really do grow up fast).

He’s also in a phase where, if it’s daytime, he’s attached to me at the hip (more like his head to my hip). He’ll sit on me for as long as I’ll let him and I’ll read to him (usually the same book, over and over again) and I love every minute of it. Nighttime is a totally different story. If Cherise is not home to be with him around bedtime, we end up with meltdown city.

He’s also starting to pick up on everything! We took him to the grocery store today and I said: “Are you ready to go shopping for food?” And he looked at me and said: “Shapm foo!” It was really cute. He was riding around in the shopping cart, and he turned back (I put him in and then push the cart backwards so he can see where he’s going – he likes it that way) and looked at me, grinned and said: “Shapm foo!” I melted and so did Cherise.

So I guess we can chalk the crankiness and meltdowns up to growing pains. Literally. But either way, like I said before, we are truly blessed. And so grateful.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Jacob’s Daddy