Teeth!

For the last few months, I've checked Elle's gums for any sign of teeth. Up, down, no sign. Her gums have been swollen, she's drooled, she's shoved anything and everything in her mouth, but still, no teeth. At our last well-baby visit two months ago, the pediatrician said she didn't see signs of them coming any time soon.

So on Wednesday, for some reason, I checked her gums after her lunch. And felt something. And then, after prying her mouth open (she thought this was a fun game), saw TWO somethings.

I have no idea why these two little teethlets made me so excited, but I started hysterically shrieking "Baby, you have teeth!!!!!!!!!!! You have TEETH!!! BABYOHMYGOSHYOUHAVETEETH!"

And Elle thought this was hilarious. As I jumped up and down, ordered Tim to come feel them and continued my hysteria, Elle grinned and grinned. Every time I said something about teeth for the rest of the day, she just smiled like she thought I was a moron - but she'd humor me.

"Mommy, you're silly. Of course I have teeth. Duh."

I kinda feel like the grin was part "Wow, you're just noticing?!" and part "Mom, you're embarrassing me." But I swear, I had no reason to think they were popping up. The babysitter had mentioned teething the week before, mostly because Elle was eating anything and everything. (Again, something that, like most babies, she'd been doing for months.) When we flew home for my grandma's funeral, Elle slept a little bit more (like on the planes and at night) and nursed a little bit more, but I chalked that up to being off schedule and traveling. When we returned, it was similar, but I figured it was just her adjusting to being back home and back to routine. (And really, a baby that sleeps a bit more during and after a big trip? Not a huge cause for concern in my book.)

While we were in Ohio and PA, she started spitting up again, something she hadn't been doing for several weeks. My brother and sister-in-law guessed that she was teething - their daughter, who is just a month older than Elle, does the same thing before she gets teeth. The day we found the teeth, Elle woke up with a dirty diaper - something that hasn't happened since her first few weeks of life. And then she had two other dirty diapers before noon. A fellow blogger had said her son's digestive system was all over the place right before he got teeth, too, and was alarmed at the poo that made morning appearances. But I had imagined the worst of teething experiences - that she'd wake up during the night, be inconsolably fussy, have fevers, diaper rashes, pure misery for weeks on end - any symptom of teething that I had heard about, I was sure we'd see it.

So to be blindsided by the teeth that Elle had so calmly and casually welcomed on her own? I was dumbstruck.

And I guess I was so hysterically excited because this is just such a huge milestone to me. I don't know why, but the fact that this little person now has little person teeth makes her such a bigger little person to me. And the fact that she did it with such little fuss, an absence of fanfare? That made her all the more "Best Baby Ever" to me. Gravity assisted in her in rolling. Curiosity helped her pull herself across the room. Passage of time gave her solids to try. But the gummy grin that marked her infancy - made her so innocent, defenseless and helpless - is quickly on its way to extinction because she's growing up. Already, she drags her tiny teeth buds against her spoon. Tries to crunch food on the teeny tips of pearl. These teeth have purpose, and so does Elle.

Tim said, "Way to go, Baby! Now you need to work on hair." Sigh. The boy is never satisfied! I asked him if the Tooth Fairy could pay Elle a visit (told you guys I was excited about this). Every time I talked to him that day, he asked me if the baby still had teeth.

She does. And she's going to get more. And then they'll fall out. And then she'll need braces. But for now: Two teeth for our baby girl.