One nice thing about having a still-flabby, jelly bowl, muffin-top, post-baby tummy (yeah, I know, Bugga is almost two now) is that I can pass convincingly as a pregnant lady and score one of the coveted "expectant mother" parking spots at Babies 'R' Us. No hate-filled glares for me. Just knowing glances and sympathy smiles from other heavy-laden mothers. Ha! (Don't hate me, pregnant readers).
So today during our daily chat in quiet time, Buddha and I again discussed the possibility of him losing his two front teeth. I have a friend in our ward here whose daughter lost her two front teeth due to an accident when she was a toddler. I asked her at church yesterday if she noticed any speech problems or anything. She said they were never even concerned about that and their dentist told them a baby bridge would be silly. Their daughter also has no speech problems and she's turning six this year. However, they said losing her teeth did produce one bad side effect and that is that she won't smile because of all the comments she gets (and has gotten) about her missing teeth. Armed with this new knowledge, I decided to start preparing Buddha and talking with him about how people might react and how he can still smile even without teeth. He, however, has come up with an entirely different solution altogether. He told me today about this button they have inside hospitals. You go in, you go up to the top of the hospital in an elevator, you find the button that says "Two Grown-up Teeth," you push the button then go back down the elevator and run out of the hospital. I love children's imaginations. I was amused by and impressed with his story (or alternative, in his mind) that he came up with so spontaneously.
I also talked with Dr. Good again today and she said she would monitor the teeth without charging me office visits (I'd only pay for x-rays which are a mere $25), and if/when the occasion arises, she'll extract the teeth for free. I think The Chief and I, without even discussing it really, are pretty much against the installation of a baby bridge. And she even echoed today the thought that I had had after seeing Dr. Baker: "Why not just take the teeth out and then wait to see how Buddha does before you go installing expensive, and possibly unnecessary, mouth equipment?!" Hallelujah! It's nice to feel a little peace about this whole thing and I told Lori (Dr. Good) that she's an angel in the dental community for being willing to do stuff for us free of charge. We definitely feel like Heavenly Father is guiding us in the right direction (and to the right people) and has been since Buddha took his little nose-dive (or, more appropriately, mouth-dive). We appreciate all your advice and help (especially you, Cody). I guess we'll probably be singing "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" for many more years than most people, but we're okay with that since it's a cult favorite. :)
Well, Buddha and I talked for a little longer and then I told him that it was time for Mommy to go work on editing pictures while he finished quiet time with his toys. He said, "No! Just 10 more words, Mommy!" I laughed and asked him what on earth he expected me to be able to say in ten words and he immediately rattled off, "Go up, go down, push button and run out hospital." I laughed again and then nearly chocked on my chuckles when I discovered that what he had articulated so blasted fast was, in fact, 10 words. It's a relief to know that he takes after his Daddy's side of the family with his propensity for numbers.
Another "knock-me-off-my-chair" moment happened last night when Daddy wrote words for Buddha on a Doodle-Pro and Buddha sounded out the letters and read them himself, without any help. Our three-year-old son can read! Basic words, mind you, but he can read. He read "exit" and "can" and, oh bother, I can't remember any more.
Well, that's enough ego for one day anyway. I'd best step down from my high horse quickly before the Lord finds some embarrassing way to unseat me. Today has been a good day.
3 comments:
Once again I say..."can Soren be in my class this year???" What a cutie! Sometimes I dream of teaching a whole class of Soren’s and how much fun it would be ...especially to have an involved set of Parents like you guys.. well a girl can always dream:)
Fondly, B.
Incidentally, I ran your little dilemma by a few pediatric dentist's here at the university today. They all agreed that it was possible, but very unlikely that Soren would develop a speech problem. The director of Pediatirc dentistry for the university said that she has only seen a speech problem develop from this type of situation a couple times in 30+ years of practice. I agree with your doctors approach to watch the teeth and extract if need be in the future. Make sure you watch the teeth closely, if they seem really loose get Soren in to see your doctor right away. Heck, you might get lucky and have them reintegrate. If he does lose the teeth, I would not put a bridge in the space. Sounds like you have a good doctor. Good luck. C. Nelson
I don't hate you as long as you leave an expectant spot for a woman who actually is pregnant or new. . . although i have no idea why a new mother would need a close parking spot.
also, when my brother was a baby he crawled behind my mother without telling her and she tripped over him and he had to have his two front teeth removed. i'm pretty sure they were missing for about five years (maybe more). i don't think he cared much and i do know that people commented a lot. but i think my mom talked to him a lot and made sure he knew that we loved him anyway. plus we didn't really care because he'd lost them early on and it was just a part of him and we forgot to notice it after awhile.
i don't know if that helped, but i hope it did a little.
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