Hairy Babies, Creepy-Crawlies, and Teeth.

And what a weekend it was! My sister Chris and her husband had their third child, Caleb Allen, on Friday. He's got more hair than I do, and it's all long and jet-black. Lugging around Eli for the past six and a half months, we've really gotten used to him. When we held Caleb on Saturday, we couldn't believe how little he was. He actually weighs more than Eli did at birth. Here's a picture. There's more on Facebook, but I can't give a link unless you're a member. Sorry.

Other baby news, Eli has almost figured out that if he moves his arms and legs one at a time, he'll move to a different spot. Right now it's more of a drag-my-bent-legs-and-butt-along-behind-me-as-I-pull-myself-around-with-my-arms thing. But Thursday afternoon he crawled a bit for Mommy, and then repeated the performance for Daddy on Saturday. Gone are the days that we could stick him on his blanket and walk away for a bit. He doesn't stay on his blanket anymore. He's got some rad rug burn on his knees though...

The hand-foot-mouth disease thing disappeared, almost as quickly as it showed up. On Tuesday, the doc said that it would take about a week for it to clear up. Wednesday morning, Eli woke up and was kinda groggy and glassy-eyed and still a bit sick. But the fever never came back, and the sores on his throat were gone by Thursday. Take that, Coxsackie Group A virus! You're the Syndrome to Eli's Mr. Incredible. Which is Eli's second favorite movie, right behind Veggietales Jonah.

Now that Eli's not sick, he figured it would be the perfect time to grow a wicked bump on his lower gum, right up front. It looks really painful, but should be a tooth in a few days or so. Mommy and Daddy are going to have to be careful now when we stick our fingers in his mouth. But so will Eli, so it's all good.

Raising children is all about change. Just when we get used to the routine, something like a viral infection happens, or crawling happens, or teeth happen, and Mommy and Daddy are left simply trying to catch up. It's stressful, grating, hard, and the most fun thing we've ever done.

Next week, we're going to go camping. That will be even more fun, especially with a new crawler with new teeth! Impeccable timing, as usual.


wingnut