Cruising & Teething

This week has been big for Jaxon. He has learned to cruise from one piece of furniture to another. When he discovered he could do this, he made a big show of going back and forth, back and forth between his activity center and his box of toys. He has been pulling up, but this was the first time he'd actually let go of one thing to grab onto another. He's pretty pleased with himself.

But yesterday, he was not his usual happy self. He was not fussy, and he was still pleasant, but he was not smiling very much and did not seem to find his normal activities enjoyable. He had taken a longer nap than usual the past two days, and we were starting to have some concerns that he might not be feeling well. 


Yesterday we went to the park and I put him in the swing, normally his favorite place. He didn't even smile. I finally coaxed one out of him, but it was clear he wasn't really enjoying himself. He was content to sit in my lap while the other kids played, which is very unlike him. 


Then when we went to the grocery store last night, only 4 people stopped us to talk to him/comment on him. It made the trip go faster, so that was nice, but I normally get stopped several times per aisle by people drawn to Jaxon's outgoing personality. I knew then that he was just not himself and started wondering if his gums were bothering him. He's shown no new signs of teething - he's been slobbering and chewing on everything since he was about 3 months old- but I've been watching a swollen spot on his gums for several weeks now. I decided to check and see if it was any more swollen than it had been and perhaps was causing him some discomfort. But when I reached into his mouth, it was gone, and in its place is a very tiny, pale white tooth! At 8 months and 16 days, Jaxon finally got his first tooth! I would love to show you a picture, but it truly is tiny and he does not like us looking at it - it's been next to impossible to get a picture of it! 


How old was your baby when he or she got his or her first tooth?