Holly is Ten Months Old Today!

This little girl is going to be a year old in just a couple of months.

I can’t believe it either.

Holly’s not quite walking yet — not independently anyway — but she’s got some crazy teeth business going on. By the time Holly turned six months old, she already had her two bottom front teeth. I couldn’t remember which teeth were supposed to come in next, so I looked it up and found out that after the two bottom fronts come in, that the top FOUR front teeth would all appear next — first the two center teeth, and then the two lateral incisors on either side of those front teeth. So for months — really, MONTHS — I eyeballed her top gums for any signs of teeth, and never saw anything.

Then a couple of weeks before she turned nine months, I noticed these two little white buds on her BOTTOM gums. Not only were the next teeth that come in supposed to be on the top, but these weren’t even the “right” bottom teeth that were supposed to appear next. The next bottom teeth to come in (after the four top front teeth do) are usually the bottom lateral incisors. But these little white dots were appearing exactly where her bottom canines would be, and those weren’t “supposed” to appear for another six to twelve months! I felt her bottom gum, expecting to feel the rough edge of those two budding teeth, but they were completely smooth, which confused me.

So a couple of weeks later at her nine-month check-up, I asked the doctor about it. He looked at her gums and said that those white dots weren’t teeth, but tiny cysts, which he said is not unusual. He agreed, however, that they were located with perfect symmetry on either side of her jaw, exactly where one’s canines would be, and he concluded that the cysts may be a sign that there is pressure being placed on the gum from teeth that will push through soon. He joked that Holly must not have read the manual on the correct order of tooth eruption.

So flash forward a few weeks (last week), and two days in a row, Holly was a little fussy, with a mild fever, and she patted her jaw with her hand a few times. Sure enough, on the third day, I saw a tooth had erupted on the bottom. Its placement is a little odd, however… sort of between where the lateral incisor and the canine would be. It looks more like an incisor than a canine, though; it has a straight top rather than a pointed one.

After realizing that she is indeed getting some more bottom teeth already despite the fact that her four top front teeth were supposed to be next, I decided to look at her top gums again. Teeth! Two of them! Her right top front tooth is about half way erupted, and it looks like her top left front tooth won’t be far behind. So, after nearly four months of no new teeth coming in, she is apparently going to pop a whole bunch of them all at once, and in a random, patternless order. That’s my girl.

And while she’s not walking on her own yet, she loves (and I mean LOVES) walking around holding your hand. Any day now, we’re going to be gating off certain areas of the main floor again, just as we did three years ago. Another toddling toddler! I love it!

Holly weighs over 17 pounds, and she measures just over 28 inches long. She’s an explorer, a grinner, a talker, and a nose-crinkler. And sometimes she even smiles at strangers. She is smart, and strong, and sweet, and I feel so lucky when I cuddle her soft little body. We love you, little Holly Belle!

Kisses!