A Tooth?!

I think Meron is actually getting a tooth this time... no teasing! She has been getting terribly swollen gums every once in a while for months... I guess as long as we've known her. So far, the swelling has always gone down and the teeth to be disappeared. Not this time... I hope. One of her top front teeth is almost through. In fact, it is so swollen that it looks like there is a tooth in her mouth. It actually clinks a little when she chews on the spoon, so I thought it might be through completely. Unfortunately, you can still see just a little bit of gum covering it up. Poor girl. She is really, really miserable. I'll try to post a picture some time, but it isn't actually as easy as you might think to get a picture of the inside of a toddler's mouth.
In other news... Merrie will now walk from me to the chair, about 5 steps, with no lunging. She has absolutely no desire to walk at any other time. She likes to crawl, thank you very much. I always wonder how much we can tell now about her future personality. Does this mean she will be a complacent sort of woman? I guess I find that hard to believe, since she is also quite vocal about what she wants (I think that is a nice way of saying she has started screaming at me if I won't give her something). Will curiosity always be part of her nature, or is it just a baby thing? She has started to say 'that' now... well, I guess she says 'dat'. Any time we walk anywhere, even if it is from the living room to the kitchen, she points at everything she sees and says, "Dat?" You'd think she'd get tired of, "That's a pillow. That's mom's brush. That's a dog. That's a window. That's a sock that the previously mentioned dog stole out of the laundry. Bad choice, Stew!"
I think I might yell at the dogs too much. She has been telling them to be quiet for a while now. Only she says it more like 'buy-it' Yesterday Stew was barking at a squirrel on the neighbor's roof and woke us up. She sat straight up and said quite clearly and disdainfully, "Ssstew!" In my defense, who wouldn't yell at a dog if he kept barking and waking up the baby it took me half an hour to get to sleep? Seriously, Stew, it is a SQUIRREL! The outdoors are full of them! We don't have any nuts that we are worried the squirrel might steal! How about you NOT go all crazy and rabid every time you see him! Plus, every time Stew goes outside all he does is stand in the one spot said squirrel has touched on our property and sniff for traces that it left. Then, Rose gets frustrated because Stew won't play with her and SHE starts to bark. She doesn't shut up, either. She is a girl used to getting what she wants from good old Stewart. Can you tell I have a little pent up rage towards the dogs lately? Poor puppies. If only they would let us sleep they would find themselves much happier dogs! Who would ever have thought I'd long for it to be terribly hot outside so that they would resume their summer lethargy?
Anyway... send good thoughts toward Meron's gums... and send calm thoughts toward the dogs.