Just call him chompers

This guy:

is now the proud owner of his very first tooth!  I suspected it was coming, the drooling, crankiness, and red cheeks were clues the last few weeks.  But I was still surprised when he grabbed my finger to bite on last night (not uncommon) and I got the tiniest little poke from the corner of a tooth.  Hooray.  I'm not sure who was more excited, me or Allison.  She had to come feel it for herself.  And she's been talking about it ever since... even had to feel it again this morning. 

Seriously, this kid is the most loved baby brother I've ever seen.  His brother and sister think he's the bees knees.

In Defense of Motherhood

My friend Katie over at Tutus and Tantrums wrote an awesome blog post called The Guiltless Bottle.

It's such a great read.  Whether you formula feed or breastfeed... it doesn't matter.  We moms are each just trying to find our way through these murky waters, doing what we are able and what we think is best for our children and ourselves.  So for every mother who has:

• become pregnant unexpectedly
• become pregnant on purpose
• become pregnant with medical assistance
• given birth with an epi
• given birth without pain meds
• given birth via cesarean section
• become a mother through adoption
• become a mother through a surrogate
• formula fed
• breastfed
• co-slept
• put their baby in a crib on night #1
• let baby sleep in a carseat/swing/bassinet so that she could get a few precious hours of rest
• made their own baby food
• bought non-organic baby food at the store
• worn their baby
• used a stroller
• worked outside the home
• worked at home
• quit their job to be home with their children
• taken her baby to music/art/dance/gymnastics/swim class
• not signed her baby up for a single organized activity
• got her baby's ears pierced
• set a rule that no ears would be pierced until the teen years
• devoted herself to one child
• devoted herself to a gaggle of children
• sent their kids to daycare
• hired a nanny to care for her kids
• sent her kids to public school
• sent her kids to private school
• homeschooled her kids
• let her kids walk to school
• sent her kids on a schoolbus
• made her kids share a room
• gave each kid their own room
• raised a child in a family with mom & dad together
• raised a child in a family with mom & dad apart
• raised a child by herself
• raised a child with two moms
• feeds her kids only organic farm-fresh food
• feeds her kids food she cooks
• feeds her kids food she buys prepared
• got stretch marks from her babies
• got grey hairs from her kids
• got worry lines and laugh lines from her teens
• carried an extra 20lbs from her pregnancy
• suffered from lack of sleep
• told her children she loved them (knowing they would never understand how much)

...I give you my respect and admiration.

You are a rockstar!  Motherhood is a crazy journey and we all need to be kind to each other through the process.