First tooth!

James surprised me this morning with his first tooth. Six months old. That seemed really early to me, so I had to look back at the blog to see how Alice and Buddy did it. Alice cut her second tooth at 8 months (the blog didn't start until she was 6 months old), and Buddy got his first tooth at 7 months. So, James isn't that much earlier than the other two, but he still caught me off guard.

James has had a few rough nights and it's worn me down a bit (the form and wording of this blog post is evidence of that). I couldn't remember a family member's name the other day, and I substituted the word "sabotage" for, um, what was the word I was really looking for? Was it "surprise"? Ugh. I'm hopeless without sleep.

He's been sick. Snotty nose, hoarse voice. Then he got a crazy fever that seemed hottest on the palms of his hands and soles of his feet...I thought I saw heat waves radiating from him. Tylenol knocked it down a bit, but he still woke up every couple hours all night with pain screams. I thought it might be an ear infection, but he hadn't been sick long enough to make that likely. Well, for two nights, I've been "sleeping" with him on the guest bed and soothing him back to sleep every couple hours. He was gnawing on my hand this morning when I felt something like a paper cut. New teeth are sharp! Not pointy-like sharp, but razor-like sharp. He cut me, man.  The new tooth explains a lot of his behavior. He's still sick, though the fever has gone, and I'm just waiting for the other tooth to come in. It's a good thing our guest bed is so darn comfy.

And just for fun, here's a picture of James taking part in his latest infant brain study. All of my children have participated in research studies at the U of I. This was the first time any of them got to have an EEG, though:

James finds all cameras foreign and disorienting. Despite his furrowed brow in the photo, he actually enjoyed the study quite a bit. Robert loved playing with the research assistants and toys in the waiting room.