N. O. Rosie. NO.

My baby girl doesn't cry. She never has. As a newborn she would grunt like a rhino, but never much crying. (I need to add a small footnote here. Rosie HATES the car. She screams her bloody head off. I always forget about it until someone new rides in the car with us. I seriously block it out. So I stand by my previous claim that my baby girl doesn't cry.) I have become far too accustomed to the fact that she doesn't cry.

In the past three days, my little Rosie has started screaming out in agony complete with crocodile tears. In my slightly rational mommy brain I know that she must be dealing with newly erupting teeth. She is, after all, 7 months old now and is drooling like a fat kid at a dessert buffet. This also isn't my first day at the mommy rodeo. I have done it and seen it all before. This is baby number two. I am a seasoned veteran. Yeah, in theory.

Something physical, mental and psychological snaps in me when my little girl cries out. I start sweating and am convinced that something is really wrong. Then I begin to panic because I don't know what to do to make her stop. How do I soothe a crying infant that never cries? How do I hold it together myself? How will we get through this?

Today when Rosie started screaming for what seemed like no reason my son, The Kraken, came running over, put his face right up against her nose and said "Stop crying Rosie. Right. Now. I am mad mad mad." She stopped and smiled at him. He laughed. I wiped her tears and moved on. But I fully expect to panic the next time she cries. My gift of "calm under pressure" appears to have passed on to my son. Yeah, he's 2.