For the past couple of months, we have been teaching Taitum some baby signs. Actually, it has been mostly Piper teaching her the signs. We have a DVD - Baby Einstein My First Signs - that Piper watched. She then started showing Tait and I what the signs were for different things. Its been so neat to see the older sibling teach the younger something new!  Taitum has caught right on and uses the signs she knows on a regular basis. Of course, if she can get away with whining for something instead of signing 'please', she will so we try and encourage her to use it.

When Piper was this age, I opted not to teach signs because I was concerned it would interfere with her learning to talk. I was proven wrong when she ended up being a late talker anyways! Taitum, on the other hand, is already saying many words regardless of the fact that she signs as well.

Overall, I am enjoying seeing my baby use signs and learn to communicate with us through them. We have only used ones so far that are very functional such as 'more', 'please' and 'milk'. She is in the process of learning 'baby' and 'thank you'. I really love the fact that I can teach her to use her manners even though she can't speak yet!

Here is a little sample of Taitum using her signs. Big sister Piper is helping to keep her on task! :)

My little Taiter Tot has been teething lately. This equates to wakeful nights, a whiney voice, occasional all-out wailing, leg clinging and a need to be held at the worst possible moments (ie. In the middle of chopping vegetables for supper so they can be thrown in the pan before the onions burn...). Fun times, huh?

Overall, I just feel bad for my little babe. I can sort of imagine what its like after a painful trip to the dentist yesterday that involved some metal contraption prying  and keeping my jaw open and freezing not taking the first time so I felt what it actually feels like to have someone drill into your tooth...Anyways, what I can't imagine is feeling pain in your mouth on a regular basis. So she certainly does have my pity. I also hate giving Tylenol too often but sometimes it just needs to happen (like at 3am after being woken up 5 times...).

Piper had a hard time teething too but I came across Hyland's Teething Tablets. They worked quite well and were so easy to adminster - just pop a few of the tablets in her mouth, they would dissolve instantly and moments later she had relief. But wouldn't you know they were recalled this year. Although I personally think the recall is likely a pile of fluff (I think it was likely parents giving way more of them to their child then what was recommended), I tend to err on the side of caution with things that apply to my children. So there I was, avoiding Orajel altogether and rationing Tylenol. There had to be another option!

A couple of nights ago, after a hard day of crying, teething baby and whiney toddler with a cold, my hubby sent me out on my own to take a break, warning me not to come back until after bedtime (Isn't he great?!). Of course, I ended up at Walmart looking to buy some Pediatric Advil so we could at least switch between that and Tylenol. Thats when I spotted it, my new favorite homeopathic teething relief solution, Camilia! I had heard of it before from my cousin who highly recommended it but we weren't in the severe stages of teething so I'd simply forgotten about it. I brought it home and showed Matt what it claimed to reduce right on the front of the box: Painful Gums, Restlessness, Irritability! Talk about an apt description of our daughter for the past week! Upon administering the first dose to Tait, I noticed a big difference. She calmed down, stopped following me around crying, with two fingers in her mouth. Instead, she was back to her old, happy self, playing with her sister, meowing like a cat ("OW!") and pushing a baby stroller around. Talk about a sigh of relief! So if you have a baby who is teething or will be, go stock up - it will be worth your while!

In conclusion, I thought I should also mention that tonight I noticed 2 back molars that just pushed through in my baby girl's mouth! We did a cheer for them (and for us surviving it all) and I couldn't help but giggle at my little Taitum Jubilee with her chubby little fists raised high in victory! Thats my girl!