Baby Teeth are Everywhere

It couldn't have been more than two weeks ago when I blogged about my daughter finally getting her first tooth. I could feel it just below the surface. Not only has it popped through, (look real close and you can see it barely there in the picture??? ) but so have two others.


I feel like I've waited so long for that first tooth to pop through and now she's got three little chompers. It's amazing how fast they've appeared. Two appeared this morning (one on the top and one on the bottom) after a few days of hiding just below the gum. There are a few things I've noticed just before each new tooth appeared. I thought I'd share them with you to help you get through the teething period a little easier.

*Tired Baby: My daughter is normally good for at least 3-3.5 hours between naps, but the few days before each of her teeth broke through the gums she was extremely tired. Instead of going for her first nap around 9:30 am, she was showing sleepy signs around 8:30 am.

*Longer Naps: What are normally 1.5 hour naps (practically to the minute) turned into 2.5 or 3 hour naps the day before the new tooth appeared. For instance, on Sunday my daughter took a 2.5 hour first nap, a 1.5 hour second nap (woke up 'cause she pooped), then a half an hour later took a 40 minute nap in the stroller. Two new teeth appeared on Monday morning.

*General irritability: My daughter seemed to get slightly more fussy than normal. I can't say it was terrible, but I credit that to Hyland's Teething Tabs. I'd give them to her every four hours, at most, or whenever she'd get extremely fussy.

*Change in Poopy Diapers: I know there's debate over whether this is a sign of teething or not, but my daughter had one large very loose poop (I wouldn't call it diarrhea) the day before each tooth appeared. All other bowel movements were normal. Apparently, there's speculation the loose poop could be caused by excessive saliva caused by teething. While this may be true, my daughter has not been slobbering much, if at all.

Every baby experiences teething differently so I'd like to hear what symptoms your baby had while teething. 

Recommended Reading:

Hyland's Teething Tablets: A New Mama Must Have

Late Bloomer In the Teething Department

Motrin For Teething Pain: My Baby's Allergic Reaction

The Frugal Texter: Send Free Text Messages by Email

I admit, I am probably one of the last people with a cell phone to not have a text messaging plan. I just don't text very often...perhaps because I don't have a texting plan. But now, the frugal mama in me has found a way to send free text messages.


It's so simple all you do is type the text message like you would an email. Now, don't go crazy and type paragraph after paragraph (that's called a phone call), but you can type up to 160 characters. If you get a little long winded that's fine too. Just send another free text message! I LOVE THIS! Where you would normally type the email address type the person's 10 digit phone number and the wireless carrier's email text extension. Here's a little more help when sending to Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless and Cingular customers.

Send Free Text Messages to Verizon Wireless Phones
Sending Free Text Messages to AT&T Customers
Email Free Text Messages to Cingular Customers

Text away, Frugal Texters!!!

There Really is a Smart Pill (Okay, It's a Drink)

OMG!!! I just realized my daughter is 10 months old today. Where has the time gone? Wow!

She's become so curious about the world. I think it's so cute. But I'm wondering if her curiosity is getting in the way of mealtime. Olivia doesn't seem to be too interested in breastfeeding anymore. The last month or two she's refused to nurse before bed. I'm afraid if she doesn't take it she won't make it through the night. I've been giving her a small bottle (3 oz) sometimes she finishes it, sometimes she doesn't. So other than that she's down to three nursings throughout the day. Most of her calories now are coming from solid food. It's a little stressful for me since I KNOW it's important for her to get either breast milk or formula until she hits the one year mark.

This morning I got a little extra incentive to stick with the breastfeeding through the first year (my goal all along). I stumbled upon this article which links breastfeeding to a higher gpa and a greater chance that she'll go to college. What will they think to study next??? Anyway, I thought you'd be interested.

Recommended Reading:
Breastfeeding Linked to Higher GPA, Higher Education

General Breastfeeding Help

Increasing Breastmilk Supply

Why Milk Products, But No Milk?

Why Milk Products, But No Milk?

If you have a baby under one year, it's pretty common knowledge that milk is one of those off limit foods. It's in the same category as most berries, nuts, honey and egg whites. Why then, can babies eat cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, and in my daughter's case...ice cream? Hey, I wanted to celebrate her first tooth as a sweet tooth. But I digress...


Back to the milk issue. From everything I've read there are several reasons why babies can have cow's milk products but not cow's milk. For one, the lactose is taken out of milk products as they are made into other products. (Forgive me, I don't know all the technical terms.) Milk, on the other hand, obviously still has the lactose in it. Lactose can be tough on little bellies to digest and therefore it's recommended babies under one year of age avoid cow's milk.

The other major reason to steer clear of cow's milk is so it doesn't replace breastmilk or formula. Breastmilk is widely considered the top nutritional choice, but formula also has the right nutrients in it. Cow's milk is for...well, the cows. It can't properly support the fast rate of growth and development in human babies. The fear is that if a child is given cow's milk before a year, it will replace the necessary breastmilk and/or formula.

Recommended Reading:

Baby's First Solids: How to Introduce Cereal

Time & Money Saving Baby Food Tips: From My Kitchen to Yours

Homemade vs Jarred Baby Food

General Breastfeeding Help

Increasing Breastmilk Supply

Once Upon a Time...(then what?)

At the risk of embarrassing myself...I'm going to put it all out there on the nursery rhymes/fairy tales front. I'll just admit I'm bad. I have a bad memory, I must have been a bad listener in pre-school or at storytime, and now I feel like a bad mommy.

It all started with this...it's a book a friend of mine brought back from France. Nice! She probably thought the 6 years of French I took in school would get me through this childhood fairy tale. Not so. My troubles started with the title...



Apparently this book isn't about "The little girl and her dog" as I started to tell my daughter. I hadn't even opened to the first page when my husband interrupted and said "I think it's Little Red Ridinghood." (I should note: he took German!) Oh, okay so my context clues led me a little astray. I figured at that time my daughter was only 6 months she didn't know the difference.

But the book came back to haunt me this week. Recently, it's been one of her favorite toys. The perfect size for her 9.5 month old hands. It's colorful, sturdy and has little cutouts for her fingers to explore. So earlier this week I thought I'd try to read it to her one more time. At least this time I knew the title. I prefaced by telling her, "This book is in French, Mommy only speaks English."

"Little Red Ridinghood," I began...I opened to the first page and without a clue as to what those words said, solely relying on the pictures and my poor memory I continued: "Once upon a time (I knew this part had to be right) Little Red Ridinghood went to visit her Grandma. She had a nice Grandma who made her some porridge."
            "WHAT?" my husband yelled from the other room, "That's The Three Bears."
Oh whatever, she's not even 10 months she doesn't know the difference. I turned to the next page and looking at the illustrations I continued, "When Little Red Ridinghood left her grandma's she had to be careful because she met the Big Bad Wolf."
          "That's The Three Little Pigs." I hear from the other room.
          "And they lived happily ever after." I knew I couldn't mess that part up.

And the moral of the story is...if you're like me and you can't remember a nursery rhyme or a fairytale to save your life there is hope! I've scoured the internet and found something to help us all. This way we can all get a head start for the next our children ask us to tell them a story...whether it's in French or English!

Classic Fairy Tales
Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes