Today teeth, tomorrow boobs

I forgot to mention in my last post that June has TEETH! Two of them to be exact. The first tooth came at about 6 1/2 months and the second came a couple weeks later. The first one was a complete surprise...well, almost. At her 6 month check up, the doctor mentioned that she would be getting teeth soon, as her gums looked pretty swollen. But I had friends whose baby had swollen gums for 5 months with no teeth, so I didn't really hold my breath. And then one evening as I was putting her to bed, there it was! She hadn't even seems crabby or especially cranky to me. I couldn't believe it. I felt emotional, like she'd gotten her period or something. Our little girl is growing up so fast! Today teeth, tomorrow boobs. Okay, okay, maybe thats a bit of an over-reaction, but I really did feel like she has passed this huge milestone and was truly "growing up." Amos and I both realized that we could no longer let June Apple suck sweetly on our pinkies, which she has done for comfort since she was born. Shit, if she can't have that, she might as well move out and get her own place. She clearly doesn't need us anymore. Maybe I can convince her to stay.

Seriously speaking, I really did get a little choked up over her new tooth. At first I couldn't really name why it meant so much to me, but then I realized that getting teeth means that she has begun the process of moving away from me, more specifically, one day she will stop breastfeeding completely and only eat big people food. For some reason, when she started eating solids, I did not have this reaction. But her first tooth was real, physical proof that she is not always going to be my little baby who relies on me, solely, for her complete survival. And while much of me celebrates this milestone, another part of me mourns the inevitable evolution of our closeness, our proximity.

The days when she needed me....