egg in the cabinet

Tonight I'm coming at you live from the midst of the Great Teething Epidemic of 2015. It's the saddest little epidemic on earth, I tell ya. Nonstop crying and misery and writhing and drooling (oh the drooling) and crying and not-eating and crying and diaper rashing and fevering and crying and not-sleeping and crying...saddest baby and tiredest mommy on earth, I'm pretty sure. And the best part is that there's nary a pearly white (besides the two she already had) to show for her trouble!!! That's just inhumane.

Our whole family has been particularly zombie-like since this affliction started Saturday night. While I confess that I don't mind the hours (and hours, and all night long) of extra snuggles this malady buys me...I hate that she is in so much pain. I feel like we've tried every remedy (home and otherwise) in the book...one of my coworkers mentioned the other day that when her kids were babies, there was some old wives tale about putting an egg in an upper cabinet and that was supposed to help with teething somehow. And one day she was desperate, so she did it. And I'm about to tell you that I'm almost there. Egg in the cabinet. Seems worth a try. (Hahaha, I Googled it, and I'm not the only one nearly desperate enough to try!!)

Anyway. Before the Growing of the Fangs (well, top two teeth, most likely...but I fully expect them to be vampire fangs, the way they're hurting her...) took over our lives, there was a pretty great Saturday that I don't want to forget. 

Awww...she used to smile!!! And not cry!! I miss that Millie!!

  

Playing with my sunglasses is her jam.

On Saturday afternoon we hung out with Millie's birth mom, J! We visited a local park/zoo, ate lunch at our favorite Cuban restaurant, and then hit up another playground before she had to go home. I was nervous about the date leading up to it, but thankfully, it was such a wonderful afternoon. J is just one of the happiest, most likeable people I've ever met- there's no doubt that much of Millie's joyful disposition is thanks to her biology. Although Millie typically takes a few minutes (orrrr a few hours) to warm up to people she's not familiar with, she was perfectly content to let Mama J hold her and play with her- it made my heart really, really happy. I am incredibly grateful for our open adoption and the relationships we have (and will continue to build) with J and her family. 

Most of all, given the Extreme Teething that started only a few short hours after our visit...I am super thankful that we hung out early on Saturday and not on Sunday or something. Because that would have been a disaster. Yikes.

I hosted book club at my house on Saturday night and we discussed The Invention of Wings, a book I really enjoyed. Our discussion covered a lot of heavy topics- slavery, segregation, abolition, religion, women's rights, and modern feminism and equality issues- and I was, as always, thankful for a group of women that challenge me to think more critically about things I'd generally prefer to not think about. It's not often that I'm in a group where I feel comfortable discussing such thorny and personal ideas...except that actually, I'm around them once a month now, and that's pretty awesome. Although we've read our share of fluffier books, I must confess that I really enjoy the deeper discussions that some of our recent picks have led to. I like that I keep thinking about our conversations for days afterwards. Plus, it gives me an outlet to share all the amazing things I learn from the hours of NPR I listen to every day. So in conclusion, between book club and NPR, I am basically earning a Ph.D in life. We're going to keep the deep discussions going this month (we haven't really hit medical/science ethics just yet!) by reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks- and BONUS!!!!! I heard a story (and interview with her children) on NPR about Lacks just a few months ago!! So I'm already ready.

Sunday was a mostly rough day, due to being up all night the previous night with our terribly confused, terribly sad baby. Poor thing. But the day wasn't totally a loss- it was the day we got to break our Whole 30!!!!!

Millie celebrated by eating her feet, which are as sugar-sweet as the rest of her and therefore definitely NOT allowed on Whole 30.

 Although we briefly toyed with the idea of doing a proper reintroduction, we basically threw that plan in the trash and went with the eat all the things plan for our first day off. It was awesome. I was kinda hoping I would feel awful and therefore repent from my processed, sugar-laden ways...but so far that hasn't been the case. I feel exhausted, but I'm pretty sure that has more to do with rocking Millie all night than with my toast.

Even in the midst of her misery, Millie enjoys spending time outside. We had some big storms on Sunday, so we spent the afternoon rocking on the front porch, watching the rain fall.

Sleep or no sleep, we are so thankful for this sweet little thing. A rainy Sunday on the porch may not sound like the most exciting afternoon, but to me, it was perfect. A few hours in paradise with my family. 

And now I'm going to go try to catch a few winks of sleep before midnight, the appointed hour of Maximum Teeth Agony. And maybe put an egg in the cabinet, just in case.