And so it begins...

My mom noticed it first while I was home over Thanksgiving.
"I think Sammy may be starting to teethe."
Me: "Huh?"
My mom: "See how he keeps chewing on his fingers in the same spot?  That's a sure sign right there."
Me: "Crap."

My mom's keen powers of observation are definitely bearing out as other teething symptoms have appeared over the past several days.  Sammy's been waking up in the middle of the night, crying out as if in pain (fortunately for me, he's also been going right back to sleep).  Sammy's always been a drooler, but he's soaking through multiple bibs in a single day.  On top of that, the last couple of days have been witness to several moments of frustrated crying jags with no obvious cause--which is super unusual, because Sammy is not one to fuss without a reason.

Sensing the inevitable, Santa made an early visit to the house and dropped off a Christmas present for Sammy: his very own Sophie the Giraffe (Santa has much deeper pockets than I do.)  I hurriedly opened the package and handed the toy over to a fretful Sammy, who, I will admit, broke into a great big sunny grin upon seeing Sophie for the first time.  He needed a little coaxing to figure out how to actually get her into her mouth, but I think with a little practice he'll soon be chewing like a seasoned pro.