A Tooth Finally Rears its Ugly Head

So Stella, the baby who has been "teething" since she was two months old, finally has a tooth coming in. I can feel its sharp tip and see the white edge poking up from her gumline. Poor thing, I don't think it's making her very happy. She is sleeping a lot. I figure she will probably cut a bunch of teeth next week while we are in Michigan, so that all of her Thomas relatives will think she is a fussy little thing, rather than the angel we all know her to be.

In other news, Mother Earth, forgive me, for I have sinned. I have been using A Disposable Diaper (shudder!) on my child at night. I am sorry, but otherwise my baby wakes up at 2, either with a leaking Fuzzi Bunz, or with the diaper wet enough it has woken up her up because of her very sensitive bum. I think she pees more than other babies. If I put on one of the dreaded D.D.'s, she will make it to 4 or 4:30 before she wants to eat. I need my sleep. My baby needs her sleep. I realize that the landfills do not need the 365 diapers a year this will create, but I hope that because it is such a small amount in comparison to the mountains created by most parents, that I will be forgiven. This is a huge confession for me to make. I extol the virtues of cloth to all parents and parents-to-be I come across. I haven't even had D.D.'s in my house since Stella was two weeks old, but I ran out of diapers and my mother was in town and she was kind enough to go buy some for me and next thing you know... I still believe cloth is the way, but I have also fallen prey to the seduction of the evil diapers with their chemicals that keep the wetness away from my baby's skin so she'll sleep. And seem to give her instantaneous diaper rash. Her Daddy, the environmentalist in the family, is not down with this. But we all have our sins against the environment: he takes 20-30 minute showers, my shower lasts only 10 minutes, but I cover my child's bottom in a disposable once a day. We are considering switching to a diaper service and using pre-folds again, but I'm not sure whether Stella will go for that since she has gotten so accustomed to the fuzzi bunz which wick moisture awake from her most of the time, and only leak or announce their wetness while she slumbers.

Speaking of sins against the earth, have you ever thought someone was really cool, and then you see them driving a giant SUV and suddenly your opinion of them is knocked down a few pegs? This happened this Sunday when a friend from church waved at us from a giant SUV. What? No! They are so cool and so liberal and like all enviromental and even vegetarian, they can't drive one of those monstrosities. But, oh, they do. Tim said he thought he saw them emerging from an SUV the other night, but didn't mention it to me, hoped perhaps he was wrong. Maybe it was a rental? Maybe Enterprise was all out of smart cars and had to give them a giant gas-guzzling behemoth that destroys the earth's resources. But no, I think they own it. You'd think they'd at least be embarrassed about owning it and not wave to their friends, but I guess SUV-drivers have no shame. Sigh.