Last night, it seems as if all of us were given a short reprieve. Mommy and Daddy gave you some strawberry baby Tylenol about 5:30 for your mouth ache and fever. By 6, you were relieved of pain enough to polish off your plums, your cereal and the rest of your bottle. You were quiet and back to your usual cheerful self. Best of all, for the first time in several days, you slept straight through the night, even with the sniffles.

Daddy is very glad that he cannot remember when he got his teeth in. Because if it was half as bad as you seem to have had it last night, he would be severely traumatized..to this day. That said, you were hit with the tri-fecta of teething, a cold, and gas bubbles all at once. This terrible trio disabused Daddy of the notion that he had taking care of you all figured out. There is always more to learn…and more to be disabused of.

One tooth almost out, 19 more to go.

There is one patch of floor in our apartment that will, from this point forward, be cleaner and wetter than anywhere else. You have started your tenure as a swiffer sweeper substitute by getting your tummy time on the actual floor. The drool contributes to the moisture profile.

“Tummy” time is a slight misnomer; it should be “knees, hands, feet, back, face and sometimes-tummy” time.

You love dogs, or at least seem to think that Jamie is the funniest thing since Mommy trying to cut your hair to an even length. Daddy has taken advantage of this. If you are slightly fussy, all Daddy has to do is have Jamie come closer for “pets” or swoop you down by her. Then, you’re all smiles and giggles. You almost can’t contain yourself when we let you pet her. Only time will tell if the feeling is mutual…at least to the same extent.

“Tastes like chicken” now means something to you as you officially became an omnivore this week with chicken and mixed vegetables. So far, all signs point to you getting Daddy’s would-prefer-to-be-carnivore genes.

Also new to your palette recently include strawberries (these were good on the way in…), cauliflower, sno peas, nectarines, butternut squash, eggplant, turnips, turnip greens, kiwi, corn, and tofu.

A very unofficial, yet very important American holiday is the Super Bowl where the champions of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference compete for the Vince Lombardi trophy. For most Americans, this day means indulging in classic American finger foods, piling lots of people around a TV screen, watching the game (if one cares about the outcome), and watching the commercials (if one could care less about the outcome/football in general).

You fell into the category of Americans who cried much of the game…albeit probably more about teething than the 49ers’ loss to the Ravens, or the power outage in the 3rd quarter, or the commentators’ continuous prattle about the power outage’s effect on momentum. Hopefully next year, you (and therefore Mommy and Daddy) will find the Super Bowl more interesting and enjoyable.

Your newest adventure has begun: solids self-feeding. Daddy and Mommy put a few banana-flavored star-shaped baby cereal puffs on your high chair tray. You grabbed them, of course, but weren’t sure what to do from there. Then Daddy put one in your mouth, and as it turned to mush, the light bulb went off. More tray-to-mouth followed with varying degrees of success. Some simply used their water absorbent/dissolvable properties to turn to mush on your hands. Many landed on your lap. A few even made it to the floor where Jamie began her own new adventure: eating food that falls from baby’s chair.

There is only so much bubbles can do. This week you continue the up and downs from your usual happy self to “teething Alonzo” who only wants to be held–by Mommy, doesn’t want to eat his bottle, and cannot seem to get comfortable. Mommy and Daddy pulled out a new weapon in their soothing arsenal: bubble bath. You enjoyed swatting the bubbles under the water with your hands and the warmth also helps a little to settle you down. After a stressful day with you, perhaps Daddy could use some bubbles too.

In order to move forward, you have to let go a little bit.

This is a scary life lesson you are learning as you try to crawl. You get up on your hands and knees with no difficulties. You rock back and forth with great enthusiasm. You even inch your knees forward or slide back on your knees pushing off with your hands. What is frustrating you so much is that in order to move yourself forward, you will have to pick up one of your hands…and you aren’t comfortable doing that yet. This means that Mommy and Daddy have to worry about you rolling over off of the bed or changing table, or scooching yourself into a corner of your crib backwards and not being able to get out. Mommy and Daddy have tried to show you how but have concluded that this is just one lesson, like many, that you’ll have to learn for yourself.