Birthdays and Dental Woes

On Saturday we went to Mission Bay for a birthday party. It was a lot of fun. I got permission from everyone to be able to take pictures and the kids had a blast playing games and eating yummy food. Definitely a successful 2-year birthday party, until....

After we'd been there a while, Buddha decided to catapult himself, mouth first, into a step-up on the playground. He knocked one of his front teeth way off course and we spent the following four hours driving from dentist to dentist and getting his teeth fixed. My three year old now has braces. Okay, not really braces, they call it a splint, but it looks like braces. Basically his one good tooth is holding his other bad tooth forward.

The whole ordeal was just that - an ordeal. Poor Buddha wouldn't let the first dentist even look inside his mouth. So he referred us to a Pedodontist who was on call in another part of town. I liked this lady. She was very nice. But I was sort of wishing that she would take my cue and follow my lead in order to calm Buddha down and ease his mind about the whole dentist thing. Instead, she just kept yakking away at him, talking over him, being loud, etc. I'm sure it works with some children, but that's not my MO with my kids. Buddha is used to being listened to and having a really soft, soothing environment when he's stressed out. So, he wouldn't let her look either, and she didn't have an assistant with her, so she was unwilling to sedate him. Our only other option was to strap him into a Papoose. It was really sad. There he lay on the table, struggling against the straps holding his wrists to his side, his feet were all wrapped together and his arms were secured with another section of the wrap. He was in a little cocoon and he was not liking it at all. I was fine watching all this because I knew there would really be no other way to fix Buddha's tooth. She sidled up to him, tucked his head against her chest and proceeded to apply a topical anesthesia, shoot some numbing solution into his gums, and pull his tooth forward again. He screamed the entire time. We finished and were almost out the door with a panting, despondent Buddha when we noticed that his teeth closed right on top of each other (in the front) so we had to turn around and start all over again. Argh! This time she applied the splint to hold that tooth forward. We drove to get Buddha a milkshake, but he fell asleep on the way home and drank it later when he woke up. Tylenol has been our dear friend through all this and now Buddha seems to be doing just fine. I kind of miss Buddha's straight (but very separate) toothy grin. Now he'll have a very separate and crooked grin - at least until he's six or seven. :)

Incidentally, with Buddha's first dental x-rays being taken during this episode, we discovered that Buddha has inherited his Grandpa Bagel's missing teeth phenomenon. You'll notice in the picture of Buddha's teeth below that on one side of his mouth, he doesn't have a tooth between his front tooth and his canine like on the other side. He doesn't even have the adult tooth that would follow the baby tooth down. Interesting.

We played some games like "Pin Your Face on Buzz Lightyear," and...

..."Buzz, Buzz, Zurg."

"Hail, hail the gang's all here!"

Here's the birthday boy testing the finger foods.

Addy

The birthday family.

Ellie-girl. I love this little lady's head of curls and her bright blue eyes!

Here's Rett, the birthday boy, sampling some juice.

Brothers do everything together. :)

Chubby little Jayden.

The Chief and Jacoby talking about some male topic or other...race cars maybe.

This has to be my favorite picture of the day. Ryan and Megan. So darling!

Jacoby and Heather - the birthday parents.

Bugga Man is such a goob. I love him for it, though.

Blowing out the candle - or the match really, since the candle didn't want to light in the breeze.

Heather and Agnes.

Ellie and Coby attacking their cake.

Mmm...frosting. Who can turn down frosting?

Rett and his mommy.

Libby - she's the one responsible for the two beautiful blonde girls. :)

Jeffrey has the greatest big, brown eyes!

Ah, and here we come to the infamous smashed mouth. He looks pretty happy here, eh?
Yeah, this was before the Papoose. :)

20,000 and Counting!

Well, I just noticed that our blog hit counter has surpassed 20,000 hits!!! Of course, that's in the whole year since I started blogging AND about 10,000 of those are probably from me checking for comments all day long every day. :) Thanks for making my first year of blogging memorable. I don't think I'll ever go back to hand-written journals now that I've discovered the ease and camaraderie of blogging.

So, my kids have me on a tight leash. I'm the family pet. When the boys wake up in the morning, I let them play in their room together for a while with Buddha wandering in every now and then to report all the funny things Bugga is saying or inform me that Bugga needs something. Inevitably, though, when Bugga reaches his limit for playing in his bed, I'll hear him yelling, "MOMMY! WEH AH U?" while pounding on the side of his crib with his flat palm, summoning me like you would summon a dog. When Buddha needs to get my attention (for sadly, I tend to ignore my kids a lot when they whine and cry), he claps his hands together sharply, like a housekeeper calling the servants to attention. And does it work? Probably, I can only assume that's why they keep doing it. It makes me laugh, at any rate.

Bugga also has this very exaggerated way of asking, "why?" He says it more like this, "WWWHHHAAAHHHYYY? With his mouth filling his entire face as it forms around the letters. It's hilarious. Also, when he sees something big or lifts something heavy, he exclaims, while bending his body backward, "Ohh, beeg a beeg!"

We had another great book club last night, going out to eat then lounging in a hot tub while discussing vampires, werewolves, and true love. :) We had to lower our voices a few times when other patrons came to soak because, honestly, I'm sure we sounded a bit off - four grown women sitting around discussing fictitious characters and teen love in a hot tub. After we were shooed out of the pool area at closing time (10pm), we still weren't finished, so we kept gabbing at Megan's house until about 12:30!! I love these girls! Lindsey and Erin, you'd better finish the third book in time for July's book club. I'm telling you, you don't want to miss this! :)

And what's a blog post without pictures? The other day the boys watched Robin Hood while I practiced exposure settings and manual shooting on them from behind. It was cute to watch them sidled up to each other, totally engrossed in the story of Nottingham Forest. After that, they donned Mommy's shirts, toppled the stools and tore around the kitchen like banshees. I love boys.

Shocking!

From "the desk" at NBC Nightly News, we interrupt your regularly scheduled blog to bring you this breaking news bulletin. Apparently the beloved mentor and role model, one Mr. The King, from the Pixar movie "Cars," isn't as charming and personable as he made himself out to be on the big screen. In fact, he actually has a very quick temper and is quite abusive. We have proof out of California where a Mrs. Bagel from The Bagel Factory is claiming that her one and a half year old toddler was struck by Mr. The King above his right eye and she has submitted a photo for use at our discretion.


The lad seems to be fine, though there is some question of temporary brain damage as a result of the unprovoked attack. The growing concern stems from his propensity to prefer wearing his shoes backward now, choose classic adult literature over popular children's programming on the television, and display rather alarming and rapidly degenerating table manners.


We have also been notified that Mr. The King wasn't working alone. He was propelled into this vicious act of violence by the victim's older, mischievous, territorial brother who feels quite put out that his good name is now being descried and plastered all over the Internet, revealing him for the rogue he is. We tried to interview the boy about the infamous event, but all we got was the silent treatment as he hid behind his weapons.


We are also happy to inform you that despite the few questionable, and hopefully temporary, effects of the attack, the victim is now returning to his normal schedule of rest and terrorization.

Would You Be a Good Babysitter?

I've put together a quiz for you guys to see how well you understand toddler talk (specifically, Bugga Talk). Submit your answers in the comment section if you want to participate. A small reward will be sent to the person gets the most answers right. In the event of a tie, I will keep the reward for myself. :) Correct answers will be posted in a few days. Good luck! (Chief, as immediate family, you are prohibited to participate.)

1. Cahtoooons

2. Dee en

3. I luh yooooo

4. Uh dair

5. At whaaaay

6. Hode eee

7. O ee at

8. Gabeh guck

9. Mayteee

10. Moeee

I'm Good at Sharing...

...so I thought I'd share with you my two favorite finds of late. They have been lifesavers. The first, I just happened upon sometime in the last three and a half years as I used this soap for my babies. I think my face wash must have run out and I grabbed the baby soap out of curiosity. Well, I've used it ever since and I haven't found any hoity toity labeled face wash that does a better job of quelling my acne. Sorry all you perfect skin people, nothing here for you today. Introducing, the all-powerful, almighty, wonder of wonders, skin softening, acne fighting, grease eliminating...

Johnson's Head-to-Toe Baby Wash

Anti-climactic, I know.

The second find I happened upon just months ago at Spa Tiki when The Chief and I had our couple's massage for our anniversary. They used a coconut oil mixture on me that left my poor, dry, cracked, eczema-riddled hands feeling smooth and silky for the first time in five years! I bought some at the spa and I use it every night. I still have occasional flare-ups, but the oil has been amazing in helping to soften my super dry skin and control the insane itching compulsion that accompanies eczema. The other huge plus is that, for an oil, it absorbs into the skin quite quickly so that you're not trailing greasy finger mess in your wake. The company is called Pure Fiji and they actually ship their products out of Pleasant Grove, UT, oddly enough. Here is a picture of the coconut oil I use, called...

Pure Fiji Exotic Bath and Body Massage Oil

The first blessed solution you can find at any local grocery store. It's the most common thing and quite inexpensive as far as face washes go. The second is available at the following link (Pure Fiji) or anywhere else online that you might be able to find it cheaper. It's not exactly cheap, but it's not over-the-top pricey either since a little bit goes a long way and it lasts a long time. Enjoy!

Superheroes!

There's nothing cheaper than jammy capes. Seriously. Here's how you do it. You tie a jammy top around your child's neck and call them a superhero. Voila! Ingenious, I know. And did you know that boxes can provide hours of play? Can you tell my kids are bored and I'm running out of ideas to keep them busy? :)

This is Bugga flying around. He kept yelling at the top of his lungs, "To the RESCUE!"

This is the very talented golf-ball-spitting superhero known as The Bogey Man.
Can you find the golf ball?