Takeover by Teething

I think there was a coup recently on our baby boy's mouth, as of today, he is cutting 5 teeth all at the same time. Last Friday, I noticed the first tooth breaking through, his top front left one. That was followed over the weekend by both of his top canines breaking through his gums and then his lower left canine. And, then today, lo and behold, his top right front tooth came through the gum! Amazingly, he hasn't been that fussy! He is a champion teether compared to Marissa who from the time she was 4 months old, you would have thought was a frenzied maniac of a baby when her teeth started coming through. I did however, have to give him some Motrin for the early evening hours the past few days. I just cannot get over how many teeth are coming through all at once! He is going to have a mouthful by New Years. When baby teeth first break through, they are so tiny, I have to look in his mouth in the bright bathroom light to make sure I am not imagining things. But, then day by day they come in a teensy bit more and more. Lets just pray that he doesn't test out his new teeth all at once while nursing. His sleep has been more interrupted than his normal good sleeping, and at 4 am the other night, the only thing that would distract him were the tacky flashing colored lights on our Christmas tree! Thank goodness for tacky colored flashing lights!
On a whole though, teething seems like something minor to be worried about. My best friend since 5th grade delivered identical twin baby boys last Tuesday night at 32 weeks, after they developed TTTS. They are doing much better, but have a long road in the NICU ahead of them. Luckily they have the most amazing mommy and daddy who will support them and advocate for them every second of the way. It really put in perspective my daily complaints about teething or lallygagging preschoolers though. I have so much to be thankful for and at the top of my list is the health of my family. Please send your thoughts and prayers to my friend and her baby boys that they have an easy NICU course.

Showing off his swollen gums and already existing bottom teeth!
Note the drool soaked shirt.

Oma's Visit

Oma trekked it out here from VT about a month ago, despite the late update, I thought it was worth a blog post to share some cute moments and photos we had. Anyone who has flown VT-LAX knows that it is a less than fun trip with at least one guaranteed miserable connection and a 4 am rising to leave on the east coast end. So thanks Oma for making the haul out here! Perfect timing while daddy was at a weekend retreat in Monterey.
Oliver took an almost immediate liking which turned into being quite smitten with Oma quite quickly! Of course Marissa remembers Oma even though we don't see her often, and also through the wonder of Skype we get to video chat with her. Some highlights of the trip included a mommy and daughter walk at Descano Gardens with grandson, and a trip to Disneyland. California was able to deliver spectacular fall weather for the trip and Oliver was able to deliver some important "firsts" while she was here. On Oma's third day while daddy was still out of town, Oliver cut his first tooth (bottom right) and said "mamma" for the first time, both on the same day! If you know my mom, you know she knows (like really knows) flowers, antiques and cooking and you will see that we managed to squeeze some of her knowledge out of each of these areas:) It is always interesting to me to see my mom with my own children, it feels like I am getting to spy on how she was as my mother when I was a very small child.
On a random note, if anyone out there knows how to make my photos fit better on the whole page or can suggest a better layout, I'm all ears! It seems like my wording and photos are frequently getting cut off with this layout! I would love to devote tons of time to fixing this, but unfortunately I really don't have time to figure it out! I will try to post some more recent stuff soon!

Here are some photos from the visit:

Always nice to have someone with a good eye to catch all of us on film.

Descano Gardens

I think Oma may have been in 7th heaven.

Awww! Snug.



If you know my mom, you know she is the ultimate
 "queen." So how perfect that the first
thing we saw at Disneyland was
 The Queen of Hearts?



How could I resist posting this one?





Skuut! Which Marissa has gotten insanely good at in the last month!
 Thanks for the jump start Oma!



Making Zuchinni muffins, vintage apron courtesty of Oma.



Or this one?



I think Oma's a good photographer, what do you think?




I had to add this one because  I just love the way Marissa is kicking
her leg so high in the air out of sheer glee.
That's Tinkerbell by the way:)