Firsts

We knew it was getting close, but tonight we discovered Cooper got his first tooth! (Bottom, left, for anyone who cares for that much detail.) We're still probably a little ways out before we can post a cute, toothy grin, but at least we're through the pain this time around--one tooth down, lots more teething to go! As other parents who have survived teething know, the hardest and most painful parts of teething tend to happen before the tooth even cuts through, so sometimes by the time I've caught on to what is going on, and I've wanted to pull my hair out for a month, the worst part is over! Luckily, I think I'm getting a little bit smarter about the whole teething process (sorry Ian!). Overall, Cooper's done pretty well, but it's been fairly obvious the last few weeks that we'd hit the teething stage.

In other not so fun and happy firsts--I saw my first scorpion today. I had really been hoping to make it through our summer without crossing paths with one, but unfortunately that was not to be. I went to throw a load of laundry in the washer this afternoon and looked down on the floor in front of the washer and thought I saw what I thought was a scorpion (notice I was really, really holding out that it wasn't one!). Ironically I had just been on the phone with Chris a few minutes earlier when I saw another random bug climbing up the door in our bedroom. I was pretty sure that one wasn't a scorpion and after describing it to Chris, he said it was probably a beetle. Fast forward twenty minutes to the next bugsighting...so instead of disturbing the presumed scorpion, which I was pretty sure was already dead (or was hoping really hard that it already was!) I dutifully checked on it every few minutes, shining a flashlight through the crack between the door and the washer. Since Chris was going to be home in 15 minutes anyways, I figured I'd appeal to his manliness and protector role and "let" him do the honors of disposing of my first dreaded scorpion. My hero came to the rescue (as always; thank you Chris!), confirmed that it was indeed a scorpion, but had probably been dead for awhile (unfortunately, he did have to add that he wasn't sure if it was just the exoskeleton or the scorpion itself...not exactly what I was wanting to hear!). So unfortunately, my fears of the dang little creatures isn't completely unfounded (I really was hoping I was being overly paranoid and somewhat delusional--that I know how to handle...) and I am again looking forward to a visit from our bug man, Darin, on the second Friday of the month! I don't think I'd have ever thought I'd develop such a fondness for an insect exterminator... :) But luckily, up until now, the only other desert bugs I've come across are a few dead cockcroaches outside our front door and one in our bedroom. Cross your fingers and pray that the scorpions stay away from us (especially by two cute boys!) for a few more weeks!!