Chloe's Disappointing First Dental Visit

This morning the kids and I headed to the Small Smiles dental clinic for Chloe's first ever dental visit. We had read some dentist-type books and almost every mom I talked to (or that commented on FB) reassured me of what would happen on the first visit. According to them, the first visit would be a simple tooth-counting and comfort-building chair sitting experience for Chloe. And of course a brand new toothbrush to culminate the event. Sounded pretty non-threatening and even sort of fun!

This morning at breakfast, I was giving Chloe the expectation run-down again so she'd know exactly what would happen. Chloe is a sweetie but she is a girl that doesn't roll with the unexpected well. She needs time to feel comfortable and letting her know exactly what will happen seems to ease her fears.

Anyways, Chloe was excited about the dentist visit and said animatedly, "I sure hope I get a new princess toothbrush at the dentist!" She even dressed up her favorite teddy bear in baby clothes and brought him along for the occasion.

As soon as we walked into the clinic door, I had a foreboding feeling. The lobby was VERY crowded and felt more like a daycare center than the comforting low-key lobby experience I had envisioned. Nonetheless, the kiddos settled in to play while I filled out the paperwork. And then we waited. And waited. And waited some more! It was 45 minutes before Chloe's name was called.

After a brief introduction, the dental hygienist took us back and instead of asking us anything curtly stated she would start by taking x-rays of Chloe's mouth. Sphincter say what?!? I tried not to let my hyper-mommy-alarm bells go crazy and decided instead to go with the flow and see how Chloe did. My girl was all smiles until the hygienist shoved the x-ray slide into her mouth. And then Chloe lost it -- with good reason too. The hygienist did NOT prepare Chloe for what was happening and I tried my best to comfort her from out in the hallway. Needless to say, the x-ray photography session did not happen. Chloe kept crying and was obviously scared.

The WORST part was the hygienist's impatience and obvious frustration with Chloe's meltdown. She just kept telling Chloe to stop crying and to be a good girl or she wouldn't get a toy. Hello?!? What 4 year old is going to stop crying on a dime for a stranger who is doing foreign things and is telling her she's not being good? I was starting to get seriously ticked off. I asked the hygienist to stop and that we'd have to do the x-rays on our next visit.

Moving on, the hygienist brought us to a huge room with about 8 dental chairs all filled with kiddos having various procedures done. Again, the mommy-alarm-bells started ringing like crazy. Talk about a distracting, loud and scary place! Chloe, unnerved and whimpering by this point, was not trusting this hygienist chic. It didn't help that the lady lowered Chloe in the dentist chair without warning. Chloe's tears started again (and so did my tears - I hated seeing my baby girl fall apart) and I quickly saw that wisest course of action was to split. I told the hygienist we were going home and we'd reschedule.

UGH. What a yucky experience! I truly think the worst part of it was the hygienist's use of bribery and her scolding impatient manner. I spent the entire ride home reassuring Chloe that I was not mad at her and she was not "bad" for being scared. I think it was perfectly natural and reasonable for Chloe to be frightened given the circumstances.

We will NOT be going back to that crazy clinic again. We're taking my little girl's teeth elsewhere!

What have your kids' dental experiences been like?

Baby reading list

As I prepare for baby #3's arrival, I'm starting to gear-up mentally. Because my brain is more like a sieve than a bowl, I'm finding most of the baby stuff I once knew I have forgotten. Or maybe it's just that the currently unnecessary baby information is stored away someplace and will return when I need it. In any case, I've learned NOT to trust this old brain of mine.

Instead, I've compiled a reading list and am plowing my way through to get my mind back in baby-mode. Here's what I'm working on:

• Babywise: I'm not a hard-and-fast Babywise advocate but I DO relish the structure and scheduling principles therein. I messed up Clive's sleep badly because I abandoned Babywise tenets and my aim is to intentionally regulate baby #3's sleeping and feeding patterns. I also truly appreciate the premise of Babywise -- namely that our children are NOT the center of the universe. And that my relationship with Matt is priority numero uno.
• The Happiest Baby on the Block: I've received rave reviews of this book so decided to see what all the fuss was about. Inadvertently, I requested this book as a dvd from my library. And boy am I glad I made that mistake! I watched the dvd last night and was completely floored, enlightened, and awed by Dr. Karp's consistently successful calming techniques. They showed him with several crying, fussy, screaming babies and every single time he used his 5 calming techniques and the baby INSTANTANEOUSLY stopped crying. Seriously, the man and his techniques are magic. His techniques weren't rocket-science; most were common sense. The one that totally threw me was the "shushing" technique. He literally put his mouth to the baby's ear and did a LOUD shushing sound. According to Dr. Karp, the baby's first 3 months are super hard on him because of the shocking change in environment. If you can mimic the womb environment, you can trigger the baby's calming reflex and fussiness stops. Great stuff. Will certainly put those techniques in my arsenal!
• Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: I read this book on a friend's recommendation after struggling many weeks with Clive's sleeplessness and fussiness. It's an excellent read especially due to the medical studies and research it's premises are based on. The huge concept I remember from this book is the overstimulation factor. With Clive we never realized that our incessant rocking, holding and cuddling were actually doing more harm than good when he was tired. After reading the book, we saw clearly in Clive that he was entering the never-ending cycle of fatigue, over-tiredness and over-stimulation. What he needed was to hang out alone! When we finally picked up on his sleepy cues (as detailed in the book) and put him down during that sleepy window, he slept like a champ. And when we finally took him out of our room and put him in his own room to sleep, he immediately began sleeping through the night. Can't wait to read this treasured book again!

That's my list thus far. I've heard The Baby Whisperer is another good one. Any other recommendations for me? What resources have been helpful to you during the newborn baby months?

I'm also determined to try nursing baby #3 (didn't go well with Chloe & Clive). Any nursing resource recommendations are welcome!

The Allure of Facebook

Boy, I have completely neglected this blog as of late. There are many valid reasons for my delinquency but I find the most pressing one is Facebook.

Facebook is so easy, immediate, and rewarding that I'm finding it harder and harder to come back to my first love, blogging.

How do you all keep blogging and Facebook separate? Or have you abandoned your blogs whole-hog in preference of Facebook?

Saturday Traditions

Since Sunday mornings are crazy busy as we race around getting ready for church (and we inevitably leave late despite our efforts), Saturday mornings have become our family lazy time. Of course the kiddos don't understand the phrase "sleeping late" but we move slowly and linger in our jammies until late morning. It's leisurely just knowing we can chill and not rush out the door to be somewhere.

If I'm awake enough I make a special Saturday breakfast of some sort. Usually it's scrambled eggs with toast and fruit or pumpkin pancakes with bacon. Then we nosh our yummy filling breakfast while the kids and I listen to "Wee Kids" on the radio. (My husband DOES know the meaning of the above mentioned phrase and usually eats his breakfast much later when he rolls out of bed.)

Wee Kids is a cute little radio show with songs and Bible stories and the jovially-voiced Mr. Nick. Jungle Jam is another fun one we enjoy listening to. I just love the idea of the kids listening to a radio program rather than watching a mindless cartoon.

Honestly, I wish I could put a kabosh on our tv/video watching all together. As of late, I let the kids watch one movie per day. 1-2 per week would be better for them I fear. It's a bit embarrassing that Clive, just turned 2, already knows many animated characters by name! But, as I'm sure most moms know well, sometimes popping in a video is the only way to keep little ones occupied and out of mischief while preparing supper or showering.

Those are our Saturday traditions. Yummy big breakfast and radio programs. Today will also include some playoff game watching (so much for cutting down on our tv viewing). What does your family do on Saturdays?

Riding the potty train again

Clive's 2nd birthday has come and gone and I've yet to truly dive into potty-training. Isn't it funny how your perspective changes on parenting issues with the second child? I imagine parents grow more and more laidback with the addition of each new kiddo to the brood . . .

When Chloe turned two I was stubbornly determined to potty-train her. I was intense. We embarked on 7-10 day stretches where Chloe sat on the potty for most of her waking moments until her body was forced to eliminate. Looking back, I'm certain my intensity level and the pressure-filled ambiance I created made Chloe fearful of the big transition from diapers to potty. It took 4 long months of on-and-off training before Chloe was consistently tinkling in the potty. It took almost a year for her to be fully training (including undies at night).

That is an experience I do NOT want to go through again. I'm convinced that potty-training can be one of the all-time worst aspects of mommyhood and can seriously threaten this mom's sanity and patience-level.

Fast forward to Clive. We've talked up pottying and given all the explanatory talks to him about human excrement. Both Matt and I often take Clive with us so into the bathroom so he's definitely aware of the process. Even before Clive turned two we began sitting him on the potty regularly. He's had 4-5 successes but what usually happens is Clive alerts us when he needs to go, we race him up there and inevitably, we're too late.

Today we had a quiet day at home with nothing on the agenda. So I took the opportunity to break out his new big-boy undies. Even though I've often let him play sans-diaper (forgive me if that's too much information -- it's supposedly a sure-fire way to train), he's still not going consistently on the potty. I hoped the transition to big-boy undies might do the trick today.

Clive did great! While he wasn't successful on the potty, he didn't have ANY accidents even though he was in big-boy undies almost all day long. Let's hope this is a sign of good things to come!

The added and unexpected blessing of this potty-training experience is Chloe. She's incredibly helpful and patient with Clive, often sitting with him and showing him books to keep him occupied.

What's your stance and experience with riding the potty train? Any good boy tips for me? Any and all encouragement and tips are welcome!

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!

Snow has FINALLY hit Ohio with a bang this January. It seems that God is making up time for the lack of Chrstimas whiteness with the recent days of unending snowfall.

Since we live just south of the aptly named Ohio "snowbelt" we haven't been getting unusually large amounts of snow. Instead we have just enough to be pretty, playable and enjoyable.

I seriously hate getting the kids prepared for snow-play. It feels like I'm suiting them up for battle. The first time Matt witnessed the "dressing for snow" ritual he laughed at my over-preparedness. But as this Wisconsin girl knows, if a child's skins gets wet/cold snow playtime is immediately over. So, I bundle each kiddos in two pairs of pants, two shirts, two pairs of socks, and then layer the outerwear on top and seal any remaining gaps with scarves. There's nothing more miserable then snow dripping into a boot or sleeve.

If you're envisioning the bundling-up scene from "A Christmas Story" then you know what I'm talking about. :)

Playing in the snow is not only invigorating, it's followed by yummy cups of hot cocoa and GUARANTEED naps for the children. That in itself is more than enough motivation for me to endure the snow-bundling ordeal.

And in my opinion there is almost nothing cuter than a little kiddo all bundled up toddling around in the snow.

Hope you too have some winter white goodness to play in! What are your favorite snowy activities?

Homemade Christmas

As I've alluded to in previous posts, it is my pattern every December to put myself through much stress and late-night sewing in order to complete my Christmas-gift-project list. This year was no exception though I did finally succumb to my husband's good advice and crossed several potential projects off my list. Just scratched them off and felt no guilt. Ahh.

I ended up making at least 1 homemade gift for most of the family members on my list. Unfortunately, I was in such a rush I didn't get photos of all of them.

As the pictures posted here show, I made some throw pillows for my gramma's new couch, reusable produce bags for my mom (from an old set of sheer curtains), a flannel nightgown for Chloe, and also for my mom I did a custom-stenciled t-shirt with a silhouette of her beloved grandbabies.

Gifts not pictured were a set of cloth napkins for my sister, an mp3 case for my father-in-law from a thrift store necktie, and two sunglasses cases for my nieces also crafted from neckties.

All the projects were fun though my favorite to create was the stenciled t-shirt. Freezer paper has got to be the craft world's best kept secret! With freezer paper (as with vinegar) you can do a multitude of amazing things. I think what I like best about the freezer paper stencil technique is that the finished product looks so dang professional. The lines are incredibly crisp and sharp making this NOT look your run-of-the-mill homemade clothing item.

I wish I could claim these ideas as my own. But alas, I have and always will be a copy-cat. :) Tutorials for the aforementioned gifts can be found online:

• Freezer paper stenciled t-shirt
• Reusable produce bags
• Necktie glasses/gadget case

Matt joined in the making of gifts this year crafting personalized journals for almost everyone in our family. He is one talented man!

Now that the holidays are over and done with I'm giving my sewing machine a much-needed rest. Did you tackle any homemade gift projects this season?