Almost and Finally

When Charlotte was 4 months old she started gnawing on everything (especially me) and drooling a lot. I had a few moms tell me, "Oh just wait she's ALMOST there, any day now she's gonna get a tooth." I thought she was a little young but who am I to argue with experience?

2 months later
At the beginning of April she was just getting over that terrible cold and she started rubbing her ears. Something she had never done before. Great. An earache. Or so I thought.

So we went back to the doctor for the 3rd time in 2 weeks.

The doctor looked at her ears,

checked her gums,

and pronounced his diagnosis.

"Teething pain. Her teeth are ALMOST coming in. They must be making her ears hurt."

Just give her Tylenol, cold things to chew on, and Ora gel. Who am I to argue with the doctor? I thought for sure this was it. I mean her teething had been verified by a medical professional right?
Then...
nothing happened.
Except I still had a cranky baby of course.

Another 2 months...
She is super fussy again. Majorly clingy and I can feel something sharp when she chews on my shoulder. When I put my finger in her mouth (no easy task mind you) I can't see or feel anything.

It's official she's NEVER going to get a tooth. I'm just going to stop expecting it and realize maybe she's just fussy for no reason other than to be fussy. I've given up giving her Tylenol. I just don't know what her deal is. She's eternally ALMOST going to get a tooth.
She is also ALMOST ready to crawl.
ALMOST able to pull herself up.
I really wouldn't mind waiting for these milestone except she is so ready to be able to do more. She is so frustrated not being able to move places. She tries to roll there but she ends up getting stuck against a wall. Charlotte has a HUGE personality coping badly with being stuck in a little body. I know she will be into EVERYTHING as soon as she can move but at this point I say BRING. IT. ON. Anything has got to be better than listening to her scream every time I leave the room without her. She is ready to be able to try more of our food but with no teeth it's pretty limiting. I don't want her to grow up fast but since she's ready, I'm ready. NO more of this ALMOST stuff.

Since writing the first part of this post two weeks ago Charlotte has...

-After "teething" for half of her life, FINALLY got one tooth in for sure!!! I can actually see it with my own eyes. Unless the gums heal over it after it's been poking through for a week, I think it's safe to say she has gotten a tooth. My mom told me that most of the kids in my family didn't get their first tooth until around 9 months. I wish I had known that before so I wouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Most of the other babies I know started getting teeth around 6 months.

-FINALLY pulled up to her knees a lot and her feet sometimes
-FINALLY crawled a little bit

I'll give more details and pictures in another post. I guess I just had to get to the breaking point before anything happened. With my next kid I won't even start looking for teeth until they're 8 months old!