Miles has discovered his hands. It took awhile, but he is making up for lost time. In fact, he has discovered all hands. Feeding time has become a constant competition between his hands and the bottle. I have to use my left arm to block his on-going finger puppet show just so he will eat. It's like going to a dinner theatre- at every meal. My right arm must hoist the bottle and also lend a finger to two to Miles- so he has something to squeeze. He is so amused by his tiny digits; he gets a surprised expression, wide mouth and bright eyes, every time he locks his hands together and raises them up. Additionally, Miles is working a double-shift on trying to suck his thumb. Last week he use a double-fisted approach- one fist had the desired thumb extended while the second fist was used to push and steady the first fist towards his mouth. Genius!
Miles will grab my fingers and pull them up to his face. Sometimes he is giving them a close inspection; other times he just wants to chew on them. Little Man has become particularly fond of his Grampa George's knuckles. Miles latches on to Grandpa G's hand every time he visits. I bet there is Moon Pie and RC cola residue that Miles has detected on Grandpa G, and he is hooked! Dr. G, our awesome pediatrician, thinks Miles is starting to sprout teeth. This would be viable explanation for his increased fussiness and new attraction to refrigerated chew toys. Miles really bites down on those chilled toys- like that Bond villain Jaws, the metal-mouthed dude featured above. I can testify to his chomping strength because I have gotten my fingers caught in the path between his needy gums and that soothing treat. Ouch! Yesterday, while Miles was enjoy a fillet of my pointer finger, I may have felt tiny teeth bumps- two separate locations where baby teeth might be trying to poke out. I can't tell how excited I am that Miles is going through a normal baby phase; I almost didn't believe Dr. G when she suggested this teething hypothesis. Since Jesse and I are getting used to coasting from crisis to crisis, news this normal fell on momentarily deaf ears. Certainly his behavior change was an indication of something more significant, or that's what I initially thought. Now that the tooth dust has somewhat settled, I am beginning to accept this development as a pure baby moment. An event that is honest and simple. I know that 90% of my daily thoughts are centered around Down Syndrome. Our new adventure into teething feels like a mini-vacation for my brain. I don't have to over complicate the teething, not yet. I know that we will potentially face orthodontic issues in the future, but right now I am going to enjoy the sprouting teeth. Even through all our difficulties, his new teeth buds remind me that Miles is still a baby- a sweet-smelling, "ah-goo" saying, finger ravenous baby. I feel much more grounded; I have a new happy thought to focus on. God bless baby teeth!
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