August's first dental visit

August visited the dentist for the first time in May.  He cried the whole time and clung to me like we were monkeys in the rainforest trying to escape grave danger.  In other words, it was a great time.  She followed up with a picture and a nice note after the visit to welcome August.  See the picture below: She looks fabulous, I look ridiculous, and August looks scared--a fair summation of the visit. 

A surprise ending

Boden had been "working on" a wiggly front tooth for what felt like forever...it probably felt twice as long for me because I was the one who was doing the majority of the wiggling! We called it his snaggle tooth because his adult tooth was pushing its way out and the wiggly tooth started to poke forward out past his lips--it looked pretty ridiculous.

Anyway, some kid in before school care kicked a soccer ball and smacked Boden right in the kisser.  When Todd called to tell me about "the incident" after talking with the teacher, the first thing I asked (after hearing he was okay, of course) was "did The Tooth get knocked out?!".  Yes!! It was finally free--and whatta great story!  

Later in the day, Boden's teacher sent me the picture below and told me he was telling everyone about it.  And he got a tooth box to keep his tooth safe during the school day--bonus!

It's here...kind of

A couple nights ago, August took a little nibble on me while nursing, which surprised us both, I think.  I set him straight real quick and thought a tooth must be coming soon.  This thought manifested itself in a dream in which his bottom gum was red and inflamed with a big, gnarly looking tooth poking out of it.  As I was telling one of his teachers about it, I poked my finger into his mouth to rub on his gums and felt a tiny, tooth poking through--on the bottom where I dreamt it was...obviously I'm some kind of oracle :)  August's first tooth appeared within days of when Boden got his first tooth 5 years ago.  The little turkey wouldn't let me get a pic of it but I'm lucky I got one of him holding still...sort of.  

Tooth, be gone!

After a lot (A LOT) of talk about how wiggly Boden's loose tooth was, what was going to happen to the tooth, why teeth fall out, and many, many details about the Tooth Fairy and her tooth business, I finally managed to liberate the tooth from Boden's mouth right before bedtime last night.  It was literally dangling there and I told Boden the tooth just needed a little nudge.  He was reluctant to let me touch it, but I was quick--like tearing off a band-aid--and then it was over before he could worry anymore about it (blech).  We celebrated with a little ice cream and put the tooth on a pillow in a tiny box next to his bed so the Tooth Fairy could take a look at it.  The famous fairy snuck in during the night and left him $5 and a note to congratulate Boden and remind him to keep brushing and flossing. 

It gives me the willies

"It" being "loose teeth".  I hate them--the thought of tiny tooth roots holding on for dear life to tiny threads of gum material, while being wiggled back and forth by the untamed tongue aiming to free the baby tooth and leave a hollowed out divot where a new tooth will erupt makes me gag.  As if that's not icky enough, there's the threat of swallowing the tooth and then what?  How's the famed Tooth Fairy supposed to deal with that?

I knew loose teeth were in our near future, but the future is now!  While brushing Boden's teeth the other night, I spotted the top of a gnarly adult tooth hiding out behind the front row of baby teeth--Ugh.  I can already tell this tooth is going to change the landscape of his mouth--like a giant in a land munchkins, it's going to look a bit out of place until the rest of his mouth catches up.

Open wide

The star patient with a few of his goodies from the dentist

Boden had his first appointment at the dentist this week and he did SO awesome.  We went to a kid-dentist (not an actual child but a dentist that specializes in treating kids!) which I think made all the difference.  The hygienist explained all her tools first and then let him try them all out himself --he's a very tactile guy so getting his hands on everything made him happy.  He opened his mouth big and wide and his little tongue went wild while they were counting and cleaning his teeth.  The end result of the whole exam--a great experience, his first "A" on his tooth report card, and the dentist and hygenist told him he better brush.  The next day, he also got a card in the mail, addressed to him (he thought that was very cool) with stickers inside and a note from the dentist telling him he did a great job--he beamed as I read it to him.  It was all helpful reinforcement that he needs to brush his teeth which apparently is more well-received than when your own mother tells you we need to brush your teeth.  Whatever works!

Later, we took the dogs to a veterinarian appointment and I was hoping his stellar behavior would continue, but things got a bit out of control...but that's a-whole-nother story!

Favorite things

Besides raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, one of my favorite things is when I go to pick up Boden from daycare and the older kids, who apparently keep an ever watchful eye on who pulls into the driveway, yell out a chorus of "It's Boden's mom", "Boden's mom is here!", and "Pat, Boden's mom is here to pick him up.". I suspect these kids are also great at informing Pat who wronged them during the day and the goings on of anyone who might be doing something forbidden, but, gosh, do I love hearing the words "Boden's mom" and knowing that that's me.

Little B had a rough week as three top teeth (it looks like the two front teeth and a fang) fought their way through his red inflamed gums to the surface. Considering everything that was going on in his mouth, he actually did fairly well sleeping and was mostly pleasant. Yesterday, though, he was stricken with either allergies (since everyone has mowed their lawn and the ragweed is out with a vengeance) or he got a cold: his nose produced oodles of green goop last night and it was plastered over most of his face this morning. Poor dude.

(Pictures: Boden, 10 months old yesterday, showing off the new teeth; Kitchen update: Cabinets in and we're slowly moving stuff back in to the cabinets we can use)

The elusive tooth

Look closely at the bottom of his mouth and there it is--one tiny, not fully "grown" tooth poking out. I'm not sure if this little bugger is the source of last night's drama, or if there's more on the way. Actually, I hope there's more (or at least one other one on the way) because if one little tooth causes this much pain and trauma, and we have to go through this 20 some (however many teeth fit into a little mouth) more times, I think we're going to skip out on raising another infant and bypass this teething fun by adopting a child with a full set of teeth.

During his nighttime crazies, I told Todd how nice it would be if kids had a color indicator--like they turned red if they were in pain, blue if they were just angry--because I don't like doling out Tylenol if there's no pain. Todd looked at me and said "Screw the color indicator, how 'bout they talk and tell you what's wrong." Well, that would work, too.