Not the molars, man - anything but that

I'm 90% sure the kid is getting her two-year molars. We had hoped she would never get them. I mean, she seemed to be faring just fine without them. But as near as we can tell, at least one of them is thinking about breaking through the gums. It's hard to tell because when we check her mouth, well, she bites us. So I squirt some Orajel in there periodically and hope for the best. The thing that tipped us off was that A seems to have lowered her tolerance level to an almost imperceivable threshold - almost anything can and will offend her at this point.

We have been dreading this day because we barely lived through the arrival of the cuspids (a process that took several months from start to finish). My sister-in-law is a dental hygienist and she mentioned that the cuspids (AKA "canines") have the longest roots and therefore take the longest to pop through. She reminded me that teeth have to come through bone and when you think about it that way, you can see why the kid is pointing to her mouth and saying, "Owwwwwie."

In an effort to distract Short Stuff from her dental woes, I set up an art easel in her bedroom. It was a gift from a friend. I went to Office Depot and carefully compared oversized art tablets in order to find just the right one. Last night I attached the tablet to the easel and filled the tray with chubby washable markers. "Make a picture for Meemaw!" I said brightly, and then left the room. (I can hear the experienced moms muttering "Rookie!" under their breath right about now.)

Indeed she did color a picture for her Meemaw. The difficulty is that I'm not sure how I can mail a bedroom wall to my mother. I gotta give props to Crayola, though, as the markers really do wash off most items . . . except the fabric-coated castle mirror that we got the kid for Christmas. :::SIGH:::