This past week has been exhausting. I had grand plans to kick out a second blog post last week, but Little Man was extra clingy, and napped on top of me, so I was just not able to get my “me-time” and write anything. I cannot believe he is going to be 20 months old this week; I feel like I just brought him home from the hospital and he was this teeny, tiny being that needed me to do everything for him. Now, he still needs me for a lot, but he’s running (mostly dancing) everywhere, he drinks water from his cup, feeds himself, and is thisclose to talking!

Last week was quite trying though. Not only was he super clingy, but he’s definitely teething. We’ve been mostly on teething mode since Thanksgiving, when he broke through three molars in three nights (OMG were those some terrible nights). The past week he has been gnawing on his fingers nonstop, and, OMG, the drool, so much drool. And this drool isn’t regular old drool, oh no, it is so darn thick and ropy. I don’t know what it is about teething that changes the make-up of drool. I’ve been going through 2 or 3 bib-danas a day on him, because they are just getting soaked. It’s a good thing I ordered a whole new set of 10 of them for when we were down at Nanny & Papa’s house for Christmas, or else I would be doing a lot more laundry. Nights have been pretty much non-existent for me, as he is up 4 or 5 times or more each night, crying out in pain, and the only relief is to nurse him back down to sleep. I’ve been like a zombie each day!

With the clingy-ness comes frustration. He gets frustrated already because he can’t speak, but it is amped up when he’s not feeling well. Our current conversation consists of a lot of pointing and grunting, me saying a word, trying to get him to repeat it, and him going “uh-huh!” in his high-pitched little voice. He knows what I’m saying, and what everything is, he just cannot say it himself yet. Our latest thing is “I did it.” He will go get the book I ask him to put away and he will do it, turn and clap, and say “I did it.” It really is the cutest darn thing! The other frustrations come from me not being right by his side all the time. When my baby is not feeling good, he just wants to be with me, and that just isn’t possible; I mean, I’ve got to pee and shower sometime, right?

Feeding him has been quite interesting as well. He doesn’t want his pouch, he doesn’t want his “chickie nuggies,” he doesn’t want toast, he doesn’t want animal crackers, he doesn’t want an apple, no soup for Little Man. He just doesn’t want anything going into his mouth apart from water and milk. So, he’s been doing extra nursing this past week. It’s frustrating for me, because I’m really starting to get touched out, but I also know that it is so extremely beneficial for him, and it calms him down so much. He also does this thing when he nurses where he has to grab onto my nose. It’s something he started when he was about 6 months old, and, try as I might, I cannot get him to stop. I can tell him to touch mummy’s cheek, and he will lay his hand out on my cheek, then the other cheek, and then his, but then it is back to grabbing my nose. His fingernails grow so darn quickly as well, and the other day he sliced my face under my left eye, and got a finger stuck in my nose. I was bleeding from my face and my nose after that. My squeal didn’t help, and it woke him up before I was able to trim those talons.

Anyway, I’m finally able to get this post done, and Little Man is passed out for the night right next to me, fingernails freshly trimmed, no sign of a new tooth in sight (curse you, teething gods!), but he is so relaxed and peaceful, it makes up for the hell he has put me through this past week. Enjoy your little ones, frustrations and all, because one day you will look back and wish you were there again.