Revenge of the Teeth

Apparently now that vacation is over, the time is ripe for teething. Those bumps that plagued us for so many months then vanished without a trace one day about a month ago have returned. Last night Patrick woke up about two hours after we put him to bed exhausted. Not only is it unusual for him to give up any precious sleep at night, but we knew something was wrong when he wouldn't stop that horrendous screaming. Holding him close, rocking him, and singing to him did nothing to soothe that shrill cry. He quieted down a little when he saw Matt, but it didn't last long. In desperation, we turned to our good friend Tylenol.
As soon as he got the Tylenol down, the screaming returned. We'd already felt the bumps on his gums, but we were wondering just how bad it was for him to scream that much and that loudly--especially when he should have been sleeping. Sure enough, in the right light, we could see the imprint of the top of a tooth in the middle of his bottom gums. There's another sharp point in his top gums, but those teeth don't look ready to break the skin yet. Without a doubt, this pain from an imminent tooth is what was keeping him from sleeping last night. I hope so much that this time the tooth actually decides to make an appearance, for his sake and ours.
I checked in my trusty What to Expect in the First Year book and re-read the teething section, and that only convinced me even more that that's the situation. He has almost every one of those symptoms (the drool has made huge puddles on his sheet during the nights and naptimes for the past day or so), and it is the right time (sometime in the 7th month on average) and the right tooth (bottom middle). If that tooth does show up in the next couple of days, I will be convinced that Patrick is right on track for a normal baby in yet another way. I never thought I'd be so proud to have a completely average baby!
By the way, the pictures are from another photo shoot yesterday. I've missed taking them regularly like I did before vacation and felt it was high time I got a few more. Patrick must have too because he cooperated remarkably well, and I ended up with many great pictures. These three were my favorites. I really like the one where he's standing. He was supported some by the chair, but I didn't even feel the need to keep one hand nearby in case he lost his balance. He was able to stay that stable the whole time.