The Tooth Fairy

...that's the name of the dentist's office, where we first met Doctor Lee. Noah was running on the hardwood, about three weeks ago, and BAM- totally face planted. I comforted him but when he smiled I saw that he cracked his front tooth in half- it was pointy on the end, like a fang! So I looked up a pediatric dentist. Noah hadn't been to the dentist yet, so I had no idea where to go. When we arrived at the Tooth Fairy, it was ADORABLE. Noah felt right at home- writing on the chalkboard, playing with the toys, looking at the huge Poo mural, so when they called his name to go into the office, he was happy-go-lucky. When the dentist started rebuilding his tooth, not so much. He screamed from the second it started, to the second it ended. Nevertheless, Dr. Lee did an amazing job, and we were out of there in no time. I personally HATE the dentist- I'm terrified. I don't think I've been in three years! I didn't want Noah to have the same kind of fear, so I made it a special day for him; took him to the mall and had lunch, rode the carousel AND the choo choo, and threw all mommy's pennies into the fountain. Three weeks went by, and Noah's healing process was good. The Doctor had given him antibiotics to prevent infection, and he handled it fine!

In the midst of this healing process, we went to my mom's house to see her brother and his family. They have 4 kids- two teenage girls, and two 12 year old boys (twins). Noah absolutely ADORED the twins, Simon and Matthew. They were so sweet to him. They let him play with them with everything they were doing! He wanted to eat what they ate, play what they played, and do what they did! A few of the nights we were there, Simon and Matthew were the only reason I could get Noah to go to bed and to brush his teeth! I had to put a time out on his afternoon play to change a dirty diaper, and Noah carried on like the world would end. My dad came in to pick him up and comfort him, and he said to Noah, "what's wrong??" Noah said "I want my boys!"

Anyway...back to the Tooth Fairy Story. Four weeks after the tooth incident, Noah jumped into a pile of pillows and chipped his tooth AGAIN! I guess this time it was technically the molding that broke, but either way, we had to go back and have the tooth re-built. Noah again enjoyed the play room and chalk board, but when Dr. Lee walked in to greet us, Noah ran to me, and said "hold you me, hold you me! I don't want him to fix my tooth!" Poor kid....so we went through the same ordeal again, Noah screamed again, and when it was over, Noah sat up and clinging to me said "I don't like the water Mommy!". Part of me was grateful he thought it was all water, and didn't know there was a drill involved :) We had a special lunch after that, and I think he's mentally fine now...I guess when we go for his first cleaning we will find out.

Last night, Keith and Noah were running around, playing, and Noah says to Keith, "Daddy! Your tooth fell out!!!". So Keith says "oh no! Are you going to fix it?" Noah says "Ok!", runs into his play room, and comes back with his tool set. A hammer, a screwdriver, and a wrench. :) He told Keith to lay down and open his mouth. Noah sat over him, a very serious expression on his face, and said "Don't worry Daddy. I'm going to fix it", and proceeds to put his screwdriver in Keith's mouth. I was giggling as Keith was expressing each time that Noah triggered his gag reflex with that screwdriver, only to follow it with "don't cry daddy, I've got you". After about ten minutes of tooth-fixing, Keith was done. He sat up and said "ok my turn to fix your tooth!", and took the screwdriver from him. Noah said "NO DADDY! You can't take my Dr. Lee!!!"

It's amazing all the things that impact our children. They soak up external stimuli like a sponge, and while you know it, you never know the full extent to which it impacts them until it comes back from their mouth! Noah's favorite show, Caillou, taught him the oh-so-annoying phrases "I don't have to", "I don't want to", "i don't like it", and my favorite: "it's not fair!". So we decided to flag Caillou and tell Noah he was no longer on TV. I've decided to feed his mind with Veggie Tales instead, so at least he's learning something good and wholesome!

That's about all for now! Better get my work done while Noah is sleeping!