First Teeth!

Two Four Five Teeth!
This is another post that I intended to write several months ago, but am somehow just now getting around to it.

When Adelaida was about two months old, she began to drool. A lot. I knew that drooling was a sign of teething, and that most kids get their first teeth between three and ten months, so when Adelaida started drooling in February 2009, I expected to see a tooth within a few weeks. (I wasn't worried that she was only two months old when most kids get teeth between three and ten months, because of course she is an amazing little girl and was probably just going to do everything a little earlier than her peers, including teething.)

three-month-old Adelaida shows off her gums

I waited quite patiently for that first tooth, as February ended (and still no tooth), and then March passed by without any signs of a tooth, and suddenly it was June and she still didn't have any teeth! Well, in June she was only six months old, and babies get teeth anywhere between three and ten months, so I wasn't worried -- she would cut teeth when she was ready, and certainly in the next four months.

nine-month-old Adelaida has a toothless grin

The summer came to a close with Adelaida still toothless, and at her nine-month well-baby checkup, I asked her pediatrician if I should be concerned that she still didn't have any teeth. She told me not to worry, that most kids get teeth by the time they are ten months old, but even a little later than that was not unheard of -- so she would probably get her first tooth in the next month or so, and Dr. Anderson wouldn't consider her development abnormal unless she still didn't have any teeth on her first birthday.

eleven-and-a-half-month-old Adelaida: I see a tongue, but still no teeth!

September ended, October passed by, November came and went -- and still no teeth! (At this point we realized that Adelaida hadn't gained any weight in five months, so were much more concerned about her weight gain than her lack of teeth. But that doesn't mean I wasn't looking for teeth at every opportunity!)

Then, on December 14, just six days before her first birthday, Adelaida was eating tomatoes and had the tomato skin still in her mouth (remember, it's hard to eat when you don't have teeth!). I put my finger in her mouth to remove the tomato skin and felt something hard and bumpy on her lower gum. Her first tooth! After waiting nine-and-three-quarters months for this tooth to appear, I was completely unprepared for it! I thought back over the previous few weeks, and didn't remember seeing any of the teething signs -- she wasn't drooling more than normal, she wasn't chewing on things, she wasn't cranky, her gums didn't seem swollen. It was like the tooth just appeared out of nowhere. A few days later the second one came in, and Adelaida had two adorable little front bottom teeth -- just days before her first birthday!

February 2010 started, and again Adelaida started drooling a lot. Thinking we had just missed the drooling with the first two teeth, we were now prepared for her to cut another tooth or two. We waited, and waited, and waited, and finally, at the beginning of April, she got two more teeth -- her top front ones. Gone was the adorable little toothless grin, and here to stay was a big-girl, growing-up-so-fast Adelaida with four front teeth.

Now that I know she can cut teeth, I'm not so worried about her growing up to be a teenager without any teeth. We haven't really seen any signs of teething since the first of April, so didn't think she would be getting more teeth any time soon. Then, today, Adelaida was running in the bonus room and tripped, fell, and hit her face on a toy. She wasn't badly injured, but started to cry ... and as I looked down at her to see if she was hurt, I saw another tooth! This one is on the top, on her left side, pretty far back in her mouth, like it is a molar. I only saw (and felt) two points, so I'm not sure if it is a two-pointed tooth or a four-pointed tooth that hasn't come in all the way yet, but Adelaida now has five teeth.

Adelaida generally keeps her mouth closed, so it has been hard to get a picture of her teeth. In fact, I don't think we have any pictures showing her top teeth at all. But I did find this one of Adelaida's bottom teeth:

can't see the teeth? look closer ...

... and closer still: there they are!