King of Pain

Some days, caring for Abbie is pure joy. When she smiles, she radiates and infectious bliss that permeates the room, like the aroma of homemade cookies emerging from the oven. These times make being a parent worth all the headaches and troubles. Tonight was not one of those times. Tonight was one of those headachy, troubling times that make you wish for unprompted giggling lasting for several minutes, or at least a break in the screaming for a few seconds.

Near as I can tell, Abbie is teething again. I can feel her top front left tooth just bulging against the gums, like it’s fighting to remain submerged and if it has to come out everyone will have hell to pay. Abbie is coping with this very erratically. This morning, she was mostly content. In the afternoon, things started go downhill, but nothing that had me reaching for the naproxen, yet. Then this evening, one minute she sat contentedly reading books on the floor, the next minute she screamed. Not just general complaining screams either, but full blast, tears flowing down the cheeks screaming. I see the same reaction when I eat a sandwich in front of her without sharing.

Recently, she’s been keeping her vocal chords engaged while inhaling, which makes her even more upset when she discovers she can’t do that without coughing. Go ahead and try it at home; scream at the top of your lungs, then inhale quickly while still vocalizing. Hack. Cough. Wheeze. She sounds like she’s choking, and that really give me some soothing to do.

The screaming continued off and on for about 90 action-packed minutes until bedtime. Fortunately she went to sleep easily. Thank you generic infant’s Tylenol! Hopefully we’ll both have a restful night.