On Wednesday I decided not to bring Jakob to the Stars & Strollers because the movie was Mr. Bean’s Holiday…not to take anything away from Mr. Bean fans, but I’m not one. Instead of going there, we went out early and went over to Fairview shopping center. I wanted to give in Jakob’s passport application, and decided to park near the entrance for the photo studio to see if his portraits were ready. They weren’t. I knew they were supposed to be ready only on the 6th but I figured one day early shouldn’t matter. Well, it did, because Monday was a holiday so they didn’t get their shipments in. It worked out ok that we went to Sears though since I found a pacifier that you can put in the freezer.
It’s by Nuby (Luv ‘n Care), and the part that goes in the mouth is made of a gel that freezes but doesn’t get solid, so the baby can still bite down without hurting his gums. I got the blue and red one.

I’m glad I found their website while looking for that photo- I found these teethers online and the crocodille one is perfect for Jakob. I’ve been trying to find something narrow that he can get into his mouth to chew on, and the croc with the separate tail is exactly what I need. Hmm…Babies R Us can’t get it, anyone know where I can buy one of these?

While looking for the photos of the teether I bought, I found this little item at Amazon.com:

Check it out- it’s a diamond-studded pacifier. Can you believe it? It has 278 pave set diamonds (3 carat total diamond weight) and is set in European White Gold. For a cool $17,000 US, this swanky item can be yours! (Of course, if you read the fine print it says that it is not recommended for use. But you can get it in emeralds and rubies!)

I had brought some knitting with me and had expected to have a nice WIP photo to show you all during the wait at the passport office, but they called our turn so fast I barely had time to knit 3 stitches! Luckily the girl accepted one of Jakob’s photos so I don’t have to redo it, and in about 6 weeks our little guy will have his very own passport. By then he probably won’t look like the photo any longer, but whatever. Because he’s under a year old the passport is good for only 3 years but I can get it updated with a new photo for free, one time only. I’m kinda hoping he doesn’t change too much so that I don’t need to replace the passport, because if I don’t then I can keep it as “his first passport”. If I send in a new photo and have it changed, they keep the old one.

I picked up some lunch on my way back through the mall to where I’d parked, then came home to feed Jakob and put him down for a nap.

I caught him sucking his thumb in his sleep! How cute! Half the time I’d prefer if he were to use a pacifier so I can control when/how long he uses it, but the downside is that if it falls out when he sleeps, he’ll cry and I’ll have to go put it back for him. The other half I’d prefer if he uses his hands ‘cus they’re always there. I think he’s made the decision for me- he doesn’t really like a pacifier at all, and always has his hands in his mouth. I did some research and it seems that if he stops by ages 4-6 (like most kids do) sucking his thumb WON’T cause too much trouble orthodontics-wise because his jaw and teeth will go back to how they should. It’s only if he continues after around 6 years old that it could be a problem that requires correcting in the future (like braces). Oy, I’m already worrying about braces?

Wednesday night I…I did something. I shouldn’t wait so long to catch up…I really have no idea what I did that night. I’m guessing I ordered in supper with Yannick, played with Jakob, and watched TV. So we’ll go with that. 🙂 What I do remember about Wed night is that Jakob had a REALLY HARD time with his teeth. He wouldn’t stop crying, and didn’t even take his final nap before bed ‘cus he was inconsolable. I had to resort to giving him a bit of baby tylenol right before bed because I KNEW it was his teething.

First thing Thursday morning I called his doctor to make an appointment. I did some reading and found out that the symptoms are very similar for teething as for an ear infection, and I didn’t want to assume it was his teeth and ignore something that needs treatment with antibiotics and could cause hearing problems. Luckily our doctor was free later this afternoon. After I fed him we went back to Fairview and I was able to pick up the portraits. When I remember I’ll scan them and post them here. I wasn’t too crazy about the quality of them…some look washed out and my free enlargement wasn’t sharp at all, in fact I’m having them reprint it because I’m not happy with how it came out. I think I’ll try Wal-Mart next time. I stopped by my brother’s work to show him the photos, then went up to the food court and had a bite to eat before packing us back up in the car.

I thought I was running late- we were registered for a 1:00pm class at the CLSC on Inroducing Solids to your Baby. It’s only offered every 6 weeks, and in another 6 weeks it will be just about time to start thinking about giving Jakob some solids, so I wanted to take it now. I got there and no one was there! Turns out it started at 1:30. So I wasn’t 10 min late, I was 20 min early! Oh well. The class was really informative and we got some recipes for puréeing our own baby food. I had to leave just before the end to make it to the doctor’s appointment on time.

Good news at the doctor’s office- it’s true what they say- a mother DOES know her child best. His ears are fine and his gums are swollen…HE’S TEETHING. And it has been going on for at least 3 weeks now. I can’t believe he’s teething so early! The teeth aren’t about to pop out yet or anything, but still…my little overacheiver! (Takes after his mommy LOL).

Thursday night is Big Brother 8 night, and we had fun watching the latest antics of the Donato family (Evel Dick and Daniele, for those who don’t watch, are a reunited father/daughter who haven’t spoken for 2 years. Dick had applied for the show, and Daniele was recruited. Dontcha love all the “reality” in the reality shows?). It was a cool episode, since Thursdays are the live episodes, and they had to do a week’s worth of challenges (kick someone off, choose a new Head of Household, nominate 2 people for eviction, have a Power of Veto competition, use/not use the Veto, kick someone off) all in one night. Whew- I was exhausted for them!

Jakob enjoyed watching with us…
…and here’s Yannick’s impersonation of Eric, America’s Player. He’s got the crazy eyebrow thing down!

Finally, I’ll leave you with a shot of my secret knitting. This is the second of the projects I want to submit to Knitty, and I’m designing it from scratch as I knit.
What’s that? You can’t see it well? Here, is this better?

🙂 If all goes well you’ll see a completed, UN-altered photo of it published in Knitty’s Winter issue!