Darth Vader or Cowardly Lion...

If they only sold finger-flavored teethers...

Did anyone else's kid go through the spitting food phase? Have to say - not my fave. Someone has rediscovered his ability to blow raspberries. I have no problem with it 80% of the time but once food enters the picture, two words: Jackson. Pollock. The annoying part (aside from, oh, the spitting) is that I can't get mad about it. It's not like he's spitting at me - it just happens to land on my face and my hair and the floor. I'm not even sure if there's anything I can do to curb it. He's not old enough to understand taking the food away and I'm trying to limit the use of the big N-O for major infractions (like flipping on his stomach and trying to crawl off the changing table. Dude! Enough already). I feel like I spend the bulk of our day telling him not to do things. Yesterday we went to a Baby and Me yoga class and the boy went gonzo. He cackled and shouted and kept trying to kiss all the babies which was adorable. Unfortunately he's still mastering the art of the pucker so his "kisses" are more like open-mouthed mawlings. Combine manic excitement with lots of plump, biteable baby cheeks and some fancy new teeth and you've got lots of cuddly little lawsuits on your hands. I hated having to tell him no when he was just trying to get his love on, but he'd already pulled a little girl's hair ("Gentle petting! Gentle!") so I wasn't taking any chances. I try to find ways of getting around overt discipline (redirect! redirect! redirect!) but playing Bad Cop, even for his own good, just makes me feel hovery and mean.

In other news, my baby is turning into a Muppet. TEETH! So many teeth! So much pain because of so many teeth! It must get pretty bad because whenever I go to his crib I find him latched onto the railing, gnawing away. He refuses to take a teether (plastic, wood, cold washcloth - you name it, he's refused it) and won't me near him with the Orajel (not that I blame him. Have you tasted that stuff?) and there's only so much Tylenol/Motrin a gal feels comfortable dosing. Luckily it hasn't seemed to affect his sleep, unlike the 5 bags of Halloween candy his mother is quickly working her way through.

I took the boy to Central Park for the first time today. Man that place is great. I had forgotten that the nearby schools use the park for gym class and we had fun watching 7-year-olds running laps under the trees. I parked the boy near a trumpet player and tried to keep him from eating leaves. I know it's almost November but I'm still surprised by how quickly winter is coming. The leaves are changing, the temperature is falling, and I seem to have thrown out every stitch of winter clothing. (I blame a hormone-induced pique while pregnant last year.) Still, it's my favorite time. Layering! Red wine! Fondue suddenly acceptable! Not to mention the fact that in 8 weeks my baby will be one year old. I haven't even come up with his Halloween costume yet...