Mark Twain once wrote that "Adam and Eve had many advantages, but the principal one was, that they escaped teething.". Truer words were never spoken.

 

The similarities in our children seem to end with the fact that they both have blond hair and regular bowel movements. We have recently come to realize that, in addition to his high maintenance 'I want it now" attitude and penchant for waking up at 5am, Brennan is much like me and has a low tolerance for pain. Sarah had a severe case of rosy red cheeks when she teethed but did not make so much as a peep. Brennan has opted to wake up in the middle of the night and remind everyone within a 2 mile radius that he is in pain and that someone in the freaking house should get off their ass and solve this problem!

 

Now some people are opposed to the use of Anbesol because it works something like a local anesthetic you get when you visit the dentist. I think the fact that he probably can't feel his lips and therefore not scream to be a positive side effect ... the easing of the gum pain is just a nice-to-have.

 

Brennan's first tooth finally pushed through and we likely only have to endure another 18 months of this while the remainder of his teeth comes in. I am beginning to wonder if dentures for children are a viable alternative.

 

The apparent mind-numbing pain that causes him to wake at random intervals has not stopped our little Cherry Popper from mastering the commando crawl. Sly Stallone in Rambo could not possibly have been more adept at sneaking up on the enemy. When sitting on the floor one must be careful to avoid any movement without first checking his proximity ... same goes for the spontaneous release of gas (we won't talk about the unfortunate incident recently that almost saw me blow his hair off his head).

 

Speculation in the house is that he is only mere days away from crawling. He rises up on his hands and knees, rocks back and forth and then falls onto his stomach when he actually wants some forward movement. The rocking motion is reminiscent of a particular type of motion a male adult will make when positioned behind a female adult, which has left me feeling this odd sense of pride that he is mastering the art of the dog so young. Unfortunately, Sarah's stuffed animals are bearing the brunt of his hip flexes and Dora the Explorer is looking for a return to the jungle to escape his licentious advances.

 

Sarah seems to take Brennan and his coming of age antics in stride. She behaves like the model big sister and we have thankfully avoided all the feelings of jealousy that normally accompany the birth of the second child. Her own development is marked by a significant increase in her vocabulary and an ability to clearly articulate what she wants, what she likes/dislikes, and what is acceptable to her, which most of the time evolves around Tree House, french fries and not going for a nap.

 

A very unfortunate development is her parroting of her mother ... the little girl echo in the house has me wondering what kind of hell I am in for later in life. While some might consider her mimicking the "Troy come here" yells of her mother quite cute, I think it is God's way of punishing me for my misguided youth. The mommy worship has left me with a chip on my shoulder and I am about to resort to proven methods of winning back favorite status in the house ... bribery ... several Dora dolls and videos dooled out at regular intervals should put me back on top.

 

All these developments and I haven't even scratched the surface. Suffice it to say that the trials and tribulations of raising kids was probably the true motivator for Sun Tzu.

 

Till next time ...