What's the problem?

We had a much better drop off at daycare this morning, but I must admit that I’m surprised since we had a terrible time getting to sleep last night. I have no idea what was up, but Kathleen was suddenly afraid of the strangest things. She ran to me at dinner when she heard a lawn mower and kids playing outside. She suddenly became concerned with the noise airplanes flying overhead (not a great thing when you live under a flight path next to the airport). She worried about the blinds being closed when getting ready for bed. She didn’t like having the lights out. And she kept grabbing at her diaper and pointing to the changing mat.

I do not know what the last was about at all. At first we thought she was signaling that she went to the bathroom, but her diapers were nearly dry. Then we considered that she might be constipated. She had gone earlier in the evening – not a little, either – but it was quite firm. We gave her some apple/prune juice, and in spite of the hour, a soak in the tub. When that produced nothing (not that I expected it would), we thought perhaps it was cramps or gas. Whatever it was, she seemed okay this morning. I hope it lasts.

Anyway, the diaper grabbing and the fear of what seemed like everything made the night time routine longer than usual. I had to stay in the room with her rubbing her back, arms, hands, legs, feet, and head – whatever she held out to me – until she finally closed her eyes. We turned on the fan and the crickets for good measure (a little white noise never hurt), and DH turned on the TV in the living room so the drone might help lull her to sleep.

She had a good night’s sleep for all that. She fell asleep on the big mattress and was still there in the morning albeit in the corner on the other end. She only woke once that I know of, and the only reason I know that is because I was standing there right before I went to bed. She soothed herself back to sleep immediately without even bothering to open her eyes.

We’ll see how tonight goes. It’s a bath night and we have a nearly full cup of juice waiting for her in the fridge. If it’s constipation, we’ll shift it. If it’s a general fear or clinginess due to a developmental spurt, we’re prepared with her loveys, fleece blankets, fan, crickets (iPhone App – SleepySounds, for the record), and maybe a cat if Muggles would consent to stay in the room. If it’s something else, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

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A periodontal update for anyone curious about what to expect with gum pocket reduction surgery: no pain meds. I took the last yesterday morning and decided that the tingle that appeared as it wore off wasn't as annoying as it was previously. It disappeared completely over the couse of the evening.

All the packing/dressing fell off, too (with a little help). I'm still sore-ish in that area and it's uncomfotable to bite down, but going without the packing hasn't been a problem. The packing covered one thing that shocked me: the periodontist shaved down some bone in my jaw. It's very noticable just outside the last molar. My gum line was nearly even with the top of my tooth: not any more. He shaved a good 16th of an inch down - probably more. I surprised I don't feel that more. I don't feel it at all now, in fact. It explains why the area felt a little raw for a few days, but it wasn't anything that Listerine couldn't handle. I had assumed it was an ulcer resulting from a scratch during the procedure. Some scratch.