Pulling Teeth

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Playing the Part

Whether they like it or not, new mothers are the receivers of stories and advice. People who are miles down the path of parenthood want to share what they experienced or wish they had known on when they took their first parenting steps. When I was a new mom, I heard lots of stories from both friends, and strangers at the store. I was mostly told stories about babies sleeping (not sleeping) and eating (not eating).

What no one said: A surprising amount of your time and attention will be devoted to teeth. Teeth coming in. Teeth coming out. Cleaning teeth. Filling holes in teeth. Straightening teeth.

I was unprepared.

Two days this month have been Tooth Days

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January 11

First, our boy lost his first baby tooth.

I was excited when my oldest lost her first tooth. Now I know as the baby teeth come out, his comfortable, little boy smile goes too. Soon, he will smile with teeth made for a grown man awkwardly waiting in a boy’s mouth.

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January 22 – Another Tooth Day

Our oldest has braces. One of her adult teeth on the top never showed up, so she had more teeth on the bottom. After much discussion and procrastination, we decided to follow the our orthodontist’s recommendation. We had one of her bottom (perfectly healthy) teeth pulled to even the score on her top and bottom jaws.

Her dad promised her a milkshake when it was done.

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Sweetening the Deal

Bubble Weather

When I saw how cold it was, I got excited. It was cold enough to freeze some bubbles. (About zero fahrenheit.)

Do you remember last year when it was so cold? I got a lot of practice freezing bubbles. (Those photos are right here.) This year I was ready. I knew that the best mixture included corn syrup and the best surface was very cold and covered with a layer of bubble juice.

I thought ahead and froze a block of ice so I could move it around to whatever light worked best. I forgot to get a bubble wand but found that our turkey baster worked just fine.

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Little Things

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January 8

The Princess and The Pea

(No. It was not eaten. It ended up on the floor in fact.)

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January 9

Equal Opportunity

I wonder how long this will last. I love watching her use both hands while drawing, cutting and eating. So far, she doesn’t have preference.

 

Rinky Dink

January 7 : Rinky Dink

January 7

His enthusiasm for his kiddie pool of ice inspired us to make him something bigger.

We attached four pieces of wood together and put in a tarp to create this 10 x 16 rink for our hockey loving son.

I looked on the internet for ideas about how to make a backyard rink. I saw lots of instructions that were way more complicated that what we needed. They were bigger and had supports and people using strings for some reason. We didn’t do any of that. All we did was this: put the wood together, put in a tarp, filled it with water and waited for the water to change state.

DIY Rinky Dink

More skating photos to come…

Date Due

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January 4

We went to a library today that still does this.

The little piece of paper started a conversation with my girls about checking out books when I was a kid.

“How did you renew a book?”

“I took the book back to the library to renew it.”

Gasp.

This got me feeling nostalgic, but don’t get me wrong – I love how easy it is to request and renew books on my computer. I don’t miss the big desks that the librarians used to sit behind. There is just one thing I miss: the cards with the date due and the name of the person checking it out. I loved looking at the list of people who had checked out the book I was now holding in my hands.

The Good Part

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January 3

My little one got a big box of beads for Christmas. She sings while choosing and stringing the glittery beads.

A friend of mine takes her daughter’s bead necklaces apart and puts the beads back to use the next day.

I thought about this. Augusta works so earnestly on her necklaces!  But, after Augusta is done making her necklaces, she doesn’t pay any attention to them. I find them in my shoes (ouch!) and down the laundry chute.

I didn’t want to take apart Augusta’s little masterpieces and have her come looking for them. So, I asked her if it was okay to take the necklaces apart. She said, “Yes!” We cut the strings and put the beads back in the box.

She’s just doing the good part.

At Christmas this year, we got a plastic gingerbread house to decorate. I know. It sounds ridiculous. But, it was great. It didn’t smell good, but it also didn’t fall down. And, they got to decorate it a few times during December.

We just did the good part.

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Cold, Hard… Love

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Our six year old loves everything about ice hockey. We’ve taken him to the local rink but what he really wants is to use a stick and puck to shoot goals. He can’t do that at the big rink. So, we put some water in our kiddie pool. He loved his tiny bit of ice. He was on it every moment he could be. One night he went out after dinner in the dark. I told him we were getting ready to watch a movie together. He said, “Start it without me. I’m playing hockey.”

For perspective…

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