Working my way back in

I have been meaning to sit back down and write an update on what is going on with Emmett, but I have just been enjoying being done with teaching. That all ended over a week ago and since then I have been just hanging out with the family. It has been so nice to go to bed at a decent hour and not feel all of the time like I have things hanging over my head.

Things with the fam have been pretty great. Emmett is moving around more and more. His fifth and sixth teeth have worked their way through the gum (and not the result of his banging his mouth on a table this time). He was a little lopsided before as after the two front teeth on the bottom came in he got one of the front teeth and then its neighbor. Wait, I will steal a chart from the internet:
Now, referring to the chart above, the order of Emmett's teeth has been lower central incisor 1&2, upper central incisor (left), upper lateral incisor (left), and the right central and lateral incisors are now making their way through the surface. He has started grinding his teeth together as he figures them out and it really makes my skin crawl. Almost as bad is that he continually bites the metal spoon---I have very serious issues with bitten metal utensils, but I try to let it slide with him since he isn't old enough to understand punishment.

We just finished surviving our first bout with diaper rash. Every once in a while Emmett would get a little red which we assumed was diaper rash, treated with a little cream or some diaper-free time, and all was well. This past week we learned that diaper rash is a whole different monster. Emmett had a case of the runs and I think that we were slow to change him as he needed to be changed so frequently (we meaning me since I was home with him during the day when it occurred), and suddenly this red, red, red region showed up all around his butt crack (I probably don't need a diagram for this one). When I cleaned him up after a movement he started this laugh whine thing. Now, Emmett often likes to have his bottom wiped with the cold, wet cloths we use (must come from his mom's side of the family) so, unfortunately, I thought that this laugh/whine thing was laughter but quickly learned that it was real pain as he started to really cry and cry. Emmett doesn't cry very often at all, so I felt really horrible about this, and every change for the rest of the day followed the same routine (except I was much more careful and the tears less frequent). Though the real damage only lasted about 24 hours, it felt like forever and I really want to do all I can to make sure that he never gets diaper rash again. No fun.

Emmett is pulling himself up like crazy. It was something of a shock the first time that we walked into his room at the end of one of his naps and he was standing up in his crib waiting for us. That has only happened a couple of times, but he has also had a couple of times where we have put him down for a nap only to have him stand up behind the bars of the crib and whine that he doesn't want to take a nap. Luckily that doesn't happen too often.

I think that this will be my get-over-the-hump post and I will get back into the swing of things. We only have a few days left here before we head up to Portland to see family. We are flying up and it will be interesting to see how E deals with flying, sleeping in an unfamiliar locale, etc. Fun times ahead.