teething, and a blessing

Last week, for two nights in a row, Nathaniel was teething.

The first night, he was burning up temperature-wise, and he'd wake up every hour or two to scream and cry, and the only comfort in his world was nursing, but he wouldn't nurse lying down, so I had to sit up and nurse him that way all night. It tired me out so much it didn't even occur to me to give him any painkiller or anything until the morning. We finally gave him some baby Motrin in the early morning and it broke his fever and calmed him down.

The next night, he did the same thing, except we tried the Motrin sooner. However, this time he knew better (or so he thought!) and spat out his Motrin binky--onto his darling mother of course, so I was covered in Motrin head to toe, basically. That stuff is incredibly sticky, ps. But anyway, he wouldn't have any meds, and trying to get him to take any just made him more upset, and finally we decided to have Carl give him a priesthood blessing.

At first, Nathaniel just tried to get away--he pushed against Carl's hands on his head and tried to squirm away from it. But as soon as Carl said, "This is a message from your Heavenly Father," Nathaniel calmed, and looked at Carl's face, until the blessing was over. Then he had a few more cries just for good measure, and finally fell asleep.

I am so glad to have the priesthood in my home. I was grateful for that before we had kids, but now that we have Nathaniel, I'm even more grateful. It was beautiful to see my baby feeling God's love for him through the words and authority of his earthly daddy.

The next day, Nathaniel's fourth tooth emerged. He now has all his front teeth. He is a wonderful boy and we love him very much.