BB is Short for.......

The toothfairy has finally visited our house - not to pick up teeth, but instead to drop some off.  Collier has been toothless until yesterday.  For those with children, you will know that he is a "late bloomer" when it comes to getting his pearly whites.  

According to my very trusted babycenterdotcom,  "the vast majority of babies sprout their first teeth when they're between 4 and 7 months of age."  This is the first of two unique differences that I can't resist sharing with the group.  

Collier is almost 8 1/2 months old and we were just getting comfortable with the fact that we might be seeing his gummy grin for a very long time until he woke up yesterday morning.  Although we all know we are not suppose to compare our children, Harper got his first tooth somewhere around 5 months.  I only use it as a point of reference because by no means is Harper the definition of normal and as Dr. Briesacher always tells me, there is a "wide spectrum of what is normal for kids".  Also, since he is the second child we barely notice the absence of teeth until other people point it out.  If he were the first child, I am pretty confident that I would have already rushed Collier to see Dr. Briesacher about not having teeth and I would have exhausted the internet for my own diagnosis prior to arriving at the doctor's office. 

Honestly, I have probably been the most comfortable with the fact that Collier's teeth are delayed because I am still breastfeeding and teeth and booby aren't natural friends.

The second important piece of information that makes Collier's teething experience so unique is which tooth has decided to arrive.  Babycenterdotcom points out that "most babies get new teeth in this order:  First the bottom two middle ones, then the top two middle ones, then the ones along the sides and back."  Once again as a point of reference, this is precisely how Harper's teeth made their appearance - on time and in logical order.  Well Collier is blazing new trails, taking the road less travelled and following after his southern ancestory roots because his first tooth is his cuspid or canine tooth.  If you are not sure which tooth I am referring to, place your index finger on your big front tooth and count over two more teeth.  It is the sharp pointy one just on the cornerstone of your gumline.  For dogs or other wild animals, it is the "shredder" tooth.  For hillbillies, it is usually the one tooth that takes the longest to fall out when the mouth decides to purge the rest of its teeth for one reason or another.

I can't wait to share photos in the next few weeks when Colliers shredder tooth is more visible.  I guess I don't need to wait any longer to introduce meat :).  We can only hope that his front teeth are just waiting to make a presence.

As many of you will remember from early blog postings, we referred to Collier as BB before his arrival.  You probably thought it stood for baby brother, baby Brace, baby boy..... but we waited till now to let you know that it really stands for Billy Bob.