My darling boy, why do you torture me so?

How can such an angel face be such a rascal? I ask myself this a lot these days. For well over a month now, Ivan has been teething. He is getting his eye teeth and I vividly recall Victor dealing with the arrival of these bad boys; it was also a very nasty scene. For some reason, these particular teeth seem to be the most painful to emerge. Every night, this poor baby (and his poor mama) have been awoken almost on an hourly basis.  As a result, I believe sleep deprivation is causing me to have frequent headaches. 

During the day, he is often cranky and quick to whine, especially when I am trying to cook. The teething is also causing some ugly diaper rashes which are even painful to the eye. 

I often find myself wondering when this particular teething phase will pass. It seems to be going on and on and so far, only one tooth is visibly cutting through his gums. Lord, have mercy.

On a more positive note, when he is in a good mood (thanks, Motrin), he is absolutely delightful, constantly coming up with new silly ways to move his body and talk more and more. He calls Victor "doo doo" and is still obsessed with "orseys" (horses) and "gucks" (ducks) and is getting better and better at repeating much of what we say. It really is amazing to see how quickly he is learning to talk, although he still does his share of baby babble; like for some odd reason, he calls bananas "lallys." As much as this age can be a challenge, it is also such a fun time full of unbelievably adorable moments, and I can not get over how ridiculously fast he is growing and changing from a baby into a little boy.  Despite being exhausted, I am trying to savor and enjoy him as much as possible (at least during the daylight hours.)