chompers
I’ve been going through a rough patch, it’s true. I’m not shy about it. I just don’t want to make it any rougher.
(click)
The buka, of course, is the bright spot. She’s been eating solids for a month and a half now. We started with rice cereal in the afternoons. Then we added fruits in the morning and vegetables at lunch. Now she eats meat along with her veggies, leaving me, once again, the only vegetarian in the household -- which is really too bad, because, as I read yesterday in Harper’s, “vegetarians, a new study found, are more intelligent than normal people.”
I actually aspire to normal.
But back to the buka. She eats like the quintessential baby bird, her patient little mouth agape between bites. She eats and eats and eats, and cries when the bowl is empty. I think we all know the feeling. A round or two of (ridiculous) song and she’s over it.
Two weeks ago, we met Maria downtown for coffee. We found a nice seat in the sun. Maria smiled at the buka, the buka smiled back, and I smiled bigger than I’d ever smiled before, because -- the buka had teeth! Just like that, I saw two little chompers just breaking the skin. I loved the buka’s toothless smile so much, I wasn’t in a hurry for her to get teeth, and in fact, I wasn’t expecting them any time soon, having noticed none of the typical signs of teething. Those teeth really took me by surprise (Maria was less impressed), and I still look for them, the way I look for the buka herself when she’s sleeping soundly on quiet mornings.
Sometimes I think “oh no” when I hear her stirring, because that means my work is about to begin. But when I don’t hear her, I imagine the alternatives, so much worse, all of them.
She’s 7.5 months old.
(click)
The buka, of course, is the bright spot. She’s been eating solids for a month and a half now. We started with rice cereal in the afternoons. Then we added fruits in the morning and vegetables at lunch. Now she eats meat along with her veggies, leaving me, once again, the only vegetarian in the household -- which is really too bad, because, as I read yesterday in Harper’s, “vegetarians, a new study found, are more intelligent than normal people.”
I actually aspire to normal.
But back to the buka. She eats like the quintessential baby bird, her patient little mouth agape between bites. She eats and eats and eats, and cries when the bowl is empty. I think we all know the feeling. A round or two of (ridiculous) song and she’s over it.
Two weeks ago, we met Maria downtown for coffee. We found a nice seat in the sun. Maria smiled at the buka, the buka smiled back, and I smiled bigger than I’d ever smiled before, because -- the buka had teeth! Just like that, I saw two little chompers just breaking the skin. I loved the buka’s toothless smile so much, I wasn’t in a hurry for her to get teeth, and in fact, I wasn’t expecting them any time soon, having noticed none of the typical signs of teething. Those teeth really took me by surprise (Maria was less impressed), and I still look for them, the way I look for the buka herself when she’s sleeping soundly on quiet mornings.
Sometimes I think “oh no” when I hear her stirring, because that means my work is about to begin. But when I don’t hear her, I imagine the alternatives, so much worse, all of them.
She’s 7.5 months old.
posted by soap at
9:50 AM
7 Comments:
Excellent chompers!!! So funny... (now I'm a little jealous...)
She's a pretty happy looking buka for a teether. Lucky! And such a lovely smile...
Thanks! I'm telling you, she just breezed right through it -- which was great, cuz I did too.
Don't worry, Steph. To kalo pragma argei na yinei. :)
heh, cute!
Wow. Almost 8 months. You must be preparing avidly for her FIRST birthday, which would be somewhere around mid-September??
Not everyone is obsessed with birthdays, Mr. Bensah. :)
I find your description absolutely cute! Babies are just irresistible, even if they're trying to be cute at all! The most grueling part was the teething stage, but they get over it soon enough!
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