Drip and drool

Just call them Drip and Drool. The only thing worse than having one beaver in your house is having two of them. Teethers, wash cloths, fingers and forearms ... nothing is safe within the reach of a beaver. Both Trace and Alysse are teething and their need for something in their mouths grows each day.

In their defense, they come from a long line of teething beavers. Alena would chew on any and everything whenever she was getting a new tooth. I remember on more than one occasion she tried to cut a tooth using my shoulder.

Alivia was even more persistent in her teething ... we've got the scarred crib rails to prove it. And even today she'll nearly gag herself trying to fit all five fingers into her mouth at once to help those molars along.

Alysse has been working on her first tooth for weeks. She's quiet and diligent. She's mastered getting the pliable blue elephant that hangs on the Exersaucer into her little mouth for some teething relief. Despite her not-going-to-give-up attitude, she has nothing to show yet for all her hard work.

Trace just got serious within that last two weeks. And while he lagged a bit getting out of the teething gate, he has come on strong, making up for lost time. He recently managed to get my forearm between his gums while I was holding him and held on as though he were a Pitt Bull. For his efforts, we've spotted a small white dot on his gum just days ago. While there's not a first tooth yet, the beginnings of one is peeking out.

Let the fun begin ... fussiness, drool and biting. Did I mention drool? We're on our way to two first teeth, to be followed at a later date by 46 more.