King of Pain

I'll say it again: this teething business is not for the weak. Eli is in a crazy amount of pain. We were driving home after a playdate today and I turned around at one point to console Eli with a song (he was audibly upset) only to find blood dripping from his chin. The poor kid's mouth was bleeding. We were less than five miles from home and I was pretty sure that the blood was not pouring out at an uncontrollable rate, so I waiting until we got home to stop and assess the situation. (Plus, once the blood started, Eli seemed to be in less pain because he stopped crying. Go figure.) Once home I could not find the source of the blood, but I've since seen a small mark on one of the mountains protruding from his gums. I think one of his new teeth cut through, but the gums then swelled up to cover it again. Anyway, I cleaned him up and gave him some Tylenol before putting him down for a nap. I figured that was enough trauma to send him into a state of sleeping bliss for a few hours, but 45 minutes later, he was up again. Mad at the world. He screamed when I tried to give him a snack and some water, so I did something I've never done before. I gave him his first fruit popsicle. Eli loved it. He sucked on it as much as possible to get all the juice out, which was fine with me because it cut down considerably on the mess. Eli was very content until he ate the last bite. Immediately the switch was turned and he was back to screaming and crying. Poor kid!