Teeth! Molars!

So I follow up a biting post with a teething post - seems appropriate, no?

A week or so ago, as Amelia's drooling necessitated yet another dry bib that day, a friend asked me if I had run my finger on her gums to determine which tooth was coming in. I was shocked at the thought of putting my finger into my daughter's razor-, er, teeth-infested mouth because I was sure to come away with no new knowledge except for the confirmation that yes, my finger hurts A LOT when clamped down on by either Amelia's sharp teeth or strong gums. But, I have to admit, I've been curious. So yesterday I finally decided to try to figure out what was going on and tried to get Amelia to cooperate by opening her mouth. Yeah, 16 month-old and cooperation are synonyms, right? I tried laying her down and making her giggle - didn't work. I opened my mouth wide in hopes of her mimicking me - didn't work. And yes, I even thought about putting my finger in there after all, but then I thought, ah, I'll get the flashlight. Well, this was fun! And Mommy learned that there are THREE more teeth making their appearance!!! (an exclamation point for each tooth - did you notice?) And not only are these teeth, but they are molars. There are gaps where her incisors will appear and then right behind the gap on her upper gum there are two sides of what will be a molar - four little white shards on each gum sitting there like they've always been there. The bottom right (my left), though, looked a little angry. This tooth was a lot more pronouced and there appeared to be some gum still covering the side. And a little blood. Poor thing. I'm not worried about the blood - I had just finished feeding her and she kept grabbing the spoon to shove in her mouth and gnaw ("teeth") on in that exact location. So this will bring her tooth count up to 11. Wow. And she really hasn't been fussy, even at night, and I am grateful this teething thing hasn't been a horrible experience for her (or us). I am glad I looked in her mouth, though, because I'll know to offer her more frozen treats in the coming weeks (like vanilla ice cream and some of the frozen mango we have) as these teeth continue to grow and that fourth one decides to make its appearance.