The Pleasure and Pain of a Baby's First Tooth

When did your baby get her first tooth?

Teeth! We have teeth!

I am trying and trying to get images, but my daughter Abby is not exactly anxious to display her lower gum for the camera. Then again, she is Abby, so she pretty much just flashes a genial smile when I wrestle with her bottom lip to get a look at the two little white bits making their way up into her mouth.

Abby is four months old, and that age sounds about right to my mom for a first tooth. Though with four kids, who knows if she's remembering my teeth, or Sarah's, or some neighbor kid's first incisor.

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Legend has it, my husband Randy got all his teeth at once at just a few months old, but we can't verify the story because his parents are both deceased (and weren't the most reliable witnesses when they were alive, poor things).

I felt Abby's first tooth yesterday, as I arrived at my sister's house for a post-Thanksgiving visit with our parents before they returned to the east coast. She was cranky and fussing to an unusual extent, though we didn't know why yet.

In actuality, this whole visit has been a bit of a disaster for poor Abe. The first day, we rushed over to where the extended family was staying in a house-sit, and the minute we walked in, she started shrieking. I pulled her out of the car seat and found myself holding the cutest little poop-covered baby you ever saw.

She was wearing little jeans with a fabric belt and a matching shirt, plus two-toned booties and a little jacket. All of it was pooped upon, and complimented by the crimson face of a wailing baby.

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This did not endear her to the teenagers in the room, though I assure you I saw every one of them in the same state.

Abby greeted my parents with poop every… single… day. They walked into my house, and she burst into tears and pooped. We met at the playground; she was wailing and pooping. It got to where I thought I should label my mom as a diuretic and sell her to anyone who's been prescribed Percocet. This morning, I was all set to go meet them when she preemptively pooped her jammies so I wouldn't have to change her outfit, the little dear.

But last night, I knew her wailing wasn't from poop - I checked. So I was jiggling her around as I waited for her to go back to her usual good humor, and I stuck my finger in her mouth because my children prefer human pacifiers. And there it was. Unmistakable, sharp, hard - two beautiful bottom teeth.

Head to Baby's First Year to find out how Amy soothed Abby's fussiness and to share your story. When did your kids get their first teeth?

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