teething...

Our sunny little man has been a bit cloudy the past few days. At first I thought he was just maxed out from all the activity. But now we think he's teething. He seems to be in actual pain. We have some frozen rings and other teething toys and we went and got some gel to put on his gums. Guy had a rough day with him yesterday--Miles seemed to be half-asleep and still crying. Amazing how it just rips our hearts out when he cries. He fussed quite a bit in the evening but I managed to get him to nurse and fall asleep. Sigh. Sweet little man.

I've also noticed he's started doing this thing when he's upset where he sort of stiffens his body or arches his back. Oy. I need to read up on how to handle it, if at all. I expect he's still too young to really "misbehave" or be manipulative. He's just trying to figure out how to communicate. But I need to spend more time understanding just what is going on in this stage of development.

How do we walk the line? I want to have enough structure and discipline that Miles is a decent human being--treats people well, has respect and care for those around him, and generally behaves well. But I don't want to create a situation where he feels like he can't express his emotions or be who he is.

I grew up in a pretty strict environment. In some ways, it worked well. In others, not so well. I watch situations where, in my opinion, the parents haven't taken a strong enough stance and the child is very difficult to be around or, worse, gets into all kinds of difficulty as they get older.

Much to ponder....