Paul started drooling a few days ago. I followed him around with a rag and kept whiping his chin dry. Then, yesterday morning, he started spitting up.

Now, Paul spit up constantly for the first six months of life. But he’s been spit-up free since he started solids. This was unusual. He wouldn’t nap, even though he was obviously tired. Then he stopped eating his food at lunch and screamed most of the afternoon.

I figured he was working on the eighth tooth on the bottom, so I began liberally applying Bonjela to his gums. Poor boy! But even after a long afternoon, he’d not stopped crying, and the tooth didn’t feel any closer to the top.

But he has a molar! The top left has already popped through, and the bottom right is very close to the surface. Poor boy; I’ve been putting the Bonjela in the wrong place all this time! I thought molars didn’t come until 18 months, but I was wrong.

Then, last night, Paul wouldn’t sleep again. Baby Tylenol. Lots of crying. Daddy came to the rescue. Daddy cuddled the poor boy close for an hour in the middle of the night. Paul finally slept.

Some day, apparently, we’re going to miss this.