Two Teeth in One Week 2018

James lost two teeth last week. He lost one on Sunday at home and another one on Wednesday at school. Unfortunately, he swallowed that second one and was upset that the tooth fairy might not pay him cold hard cash. He felt better once he was assured he would if he wrote a good note to her.

Lost the right incisor on Sunday

And the left incisor on Wednesday

She said yes!

James Has No Front Teeth 2017

James lost his other front tooth on Sunday at 4 am - waking everyone. Unclear how such a thing can even happen at 4 am. Was he up pulling on it? He admits nothing.

Cutie

James asked to put the tooth under pillow right away, but Kevin told him the tooth fairy had finished her rotations for the night. So we put it under his bed the following night, but he was being a huge grouch. I asked him if he thought the tooth fairy would want to leave money for such a grumpy-puss James said, "She's not Santa Claus. I lost a tooth, she'll bring the money."

PJFL Chess 2017

James still loves his Chess club at the library. Wednesday he had his 7th meeting (the 3rd class this summer), and he's signed up for the rest of the summer. I really love our library!

Look at his face! What a cute happy little nerd!

P.S. He lost his 5th tooth on Wednesday too. A top one!

You can see the missing 4th tooth too but no idea when that happened.

Tooth Fairy Strikes Again 2017

Missing tooth

James lost his third tooth late Thursday night, and he awoke us early Friday morning because he couldn't find his tooth or his money. But all was fine, he'd just been tossing and turning and the dollar bill had gotten tossed in his sheets. Perhaps we should request she leave any cash exchanges on the floor under the bed?

Diary of a Kindergartener 2016

James finished his first three weeks of real school. He had been assigned to the Frog table with Darin, Harper, Nicholas and Arielle. Today he announced that the tables had already been reshuffled and he's now at the Tiger table with Caris, Nicholas, and Emma.

Week 1- September 6-9

I asked him about his new friends after the first day. He told me, "Darin. I call him Dare-dare." And about another kid at his table, "Oh, I remember someone's name now, Harper. She's shy, shy like Cora." (A girl he went to preschool with.)

The second day, I asked him about gym class which is held in a multi-functional room auditorium/gym/cafeteria. "We had to stay on the lines because we might bump into the walls. I could smell pancakes."

Week 2- September 12-16

"Kindergarten was phenomenal today." - James, Thursday, 9/15

 

Week 3- September 19-23

He has music, art, gym, and library class, and he comes home singing songs he insists he learned in gym class not music class (I believe him). He seems to have a little crew of friends he plays with: Darin, Caris, Harper, Nicholas, and Kyle- who like him plays video games on a Kindle or iPad.

PS. Lost his second tooth at school on Friday, possibly on the bus coming home.

James Lost His First Tooth 2016

Monday afternoon James was super excited to discover he had a loose tooth. This kid has been talking about the tooth fairy forever. I asked him why he wanted the tooth fairy to come and he said, "Money!" I told him to leave it alone or we might have to pull it and it might hurt. Kevin also told him to leave it alone. So of course, Tuesday night James pulled it out himself.

First tooth!

Tooth fairy came and James excitedly ran into our room at 6 am to tell us she had left $1. Wish those fairies would do their deliveries in the afternoon. A little consideration for tired parents, you know?

Outtake of picture with Miranda trying to steal limelight

Miranda's First Dentist Visit 2015

Miranda's first dentist visit was at a younger age than James's first dentist visit because James's visit was after I spotted very visible cavities on his teeth and it ended in some bad times. As a result we decided to take her to the dentist now that she has most of her teeth. However, that means she had to go to a different dentist than the rest of us because only some She actually got compliments for being so well-behaved which is ridiculous.

On the dentist chair like a big girl

Prize for being good.

Dentist Visit- December 2015

I just wanted to share this because I thought these pictures were hilarious. Also, the following conversation took place between the hygienist and James.

Hygienist: Let's count your teeth...1, 2, 3, ...10 on top. 1, 2, 3, ....10 on the bottom.
James: 10 on top, and 10 on the bottom is 20.
Hygienist: Yes! Wow, how old are you?
James: Cuatro. That's "four" in Spanish.

I just have to brush your teeth with this special brush.

Fun!

Miranda is 3 Months 2014

Miranda no longer eats and sleeps all the time. She has longer periods of wakefulness and expects to be thoroughly entertained during these periods even though she doesn't like toys yet. She continues to smile and make cute little noises at us, but we're hearing "coo" and "goo" less and less. She loves "chatting" especially with Dada.

Food: The cluster feeding frenzy stopped cold. Honestly I kind of miss it because entertaining her is much harder than feeding her. Maybe. I don't know. It's all hard. All of her fussiness is definitely wanting to be entertained or being tired.

She looks more like my mom when she's sleeping.

Sleep: Pretty much the same as last month. She goes to bed more reliably around 9:30 p.m. and sleeps about 5-6 hours which is super awesome. She'll wake up at 2:30 am or 3:30 a.m., I feed her and put her back in her crib. Then she'd wake up again at 5:30ish, and after feeding, she moves to our bed. More feeding at 7:30-8, and then at 9 or 10 am.

Naps are still difficult as detailed very specifically in my last post.

Growth: She's in size 3 months. We haven't gone back for another pediatrician appointment. We had her 2-month appointment late on July 1st and she was 24.25", and 12.8 pounds. She's about 14 pounds now.

Trying to get the octopus

Skills: She grasps my shirt, finger, or my hair, and tries to swat at stuff in her baby gym. She also swats me away from her face when I'm bugging her. She's still not really interested in toys beyond a passing interest in her rattle, octopus, and mirror. She loves that other baby in the mirror.

Miranda still will not take a bottle or a pacifier, and it's starting to alarm me because I'm her hostage until she takes a bottle.

A lovely toothless smile

Personality: Miranda smiles at us a lot and seems to have quite the little sense of humor already. She still likes to be walked around the house upright, and no she also like rocking in the glider with Dada.

Chatting

Riding around with her Dada

Me: When I went back to work I mentioned that I might have to do fewer hours for a while. In fact, I have been doing way more hours than before. From home. With no daycare. And Kevin went back to work, albeit only two days a week (I know, play me a violin!), but inevitably those are my busiest days.

I lost 24. I've lost no additional weight since month 1. I STILL have about 6 pounds to pre-Miranda and 12 to pre-James.

Three months! Showing a little leg.

Kevin: She's eating a little less so she's not as attached to Mama. She seems more attentive. Her eyes are more alert.

• Miranda at 2 months, June 2014 
• Miranda at 1 month, May 2014
• James at 3 months, July 2011

Diary of an Angry Pink Baby #8: The Dentist

Poor James had a mouthful of cavities despite never eating sweets and only possessing teeth for a few months. The main culprit, Ericka and I concluded, were the several gallons of milk he drinks a day. So now we thoroughly brush his teeth before bed and allow him no more than two gallons of milk a day. It's called parenting.

James wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything before his 9:00 am pediatric dental appointment, and this was my biggest fear, as he knocks back milk, oatmeal, and yogurt long before the sun rises each morning. At 4:00 am, James sprinted into our bedroom and immediately commenced a list of horrifying demands: "Milk dinner bagel yummy. Dada, I NEED this. HUNGRY." In James's defense, he has consumed milk upon waking every day of his life; my offer of water was dismissed with a combination of crying and angrier crying. Rarely have I seen anyone more disappointed by anything than James and the sippy cup of water. He would have traded me on the spot for eight ounces of milk. This is not hyperbole. He might have done it for four.

At the dentist's office, James got intoxicated for the first time, though unfortunately for James it was a baby sedative. His reaction was a little funny, but mostly it was sad. He tried to flirt with another kid, but he couldn't walk. The waiting room was like a bar full of toddlers. We then received a guided tour of his house of horrors complete with the usual spears and razors, as well as a baby-sized straitjacket. I was thumbing the Velcro of the latter when we received the unexpected news that we wouldn't be allowed to sit with him during his session. Instead, we sat directly outside the room to listen to him scream. I suggested coffee. Ericka looked ready to cry.

In recovery, James was already developing a hangover. Things, his droopy eyes seemed to suggest, would not be the same between us. I hadn't seen that look since his circumcision, but he had no idea who I was then. I tried to explain. He was pretty droopy for the rest of the day. He has to go back for two more cavities, but I'm not sure who is volunteering for this mission, perhaps one of the grandmothers, perhaps somebody who owes us a huge favor or several thousand dollars. Very soon James will lose all of these teeth and grow new ones.

Sedated James playing with new dinosaur finger puppet from dentist.

James's First Dentist Visit 2013

We never ever let James sleep with a bottle. I wanted to do that sometimes, because it's so hard to keep little kids asleep in their cribs, but our pediatrician warned us that it was the number one cause of cavities in toddlers. So we didn't do it. We cut his juice with water and tried to limit it. But nonetheless, the poor little guy has a bunch of cavities already. We took him to a hardcore dentist who assures us everything will be fixed and he will have no more cavities in the future. We'll see!

James at the dentist- say Ahhh!

The best part of the visit was how the dentist and dental hygienist kept saying how great James was behaving. They kept saying, "He's so good! He's so good!" that made me ridiculously happy.