Joshua Goes to the Dentist

Sometimes I feel like our post titles are story book titles...and today fits that pretty well.

This morning, Joshua got to go to the dentist for the first time...oh goodie. Lots of preparation went into this from our perspective. All last evening, I would ask Joshua where he was going to go tomorrow. He usually replied "church"...not quite. Then came "erk"...nope, not work. With a little coaxing, he finally knew that he was going to the dentist and he was saying it pretty clearly. I talked to him about how it wasn't scary, and that the dentist was going to look at his teeth and tell him how handsome they were. He'd smile and say "teeth"...so I knew we were getting somewhere. Then I explained to him that he'd have to open his mouth really wide so that the dentist could see his teeth. He practiced like a champ. I was very proud of the progress we'd made.

And then we got there. We sat in the room and watched Daddy get his teeth cleaned. (Honestly, I think this was the real purpose for bringing him to the dentist this young, to introduce him to the idea of what happens when you go there so it's not so scary.) He played with the toothbrush and let it tickle his finger. He experimented with the water squirter and the straw to suck it up. It was all great fun. When it was Joshua's turn for the doctor to look at his teeth, he gave one quick "aah" and opened his mouth for a split second, and then that was it. "Show's over folks. I've done my part. If you missed it, too bad." And there ended our trip to the dentist with a brand new Tigger toothbrush as a prize.

We then made a quick stop to Karen's office since we were right across the street. He had no idea what to make of her pregnant belly and just kind of made a face like "Hey, do you SEE your tummy?" I have no idea what happened, but after a few seconds, Joshua started to cry. Very unusual- usually he goes right to her. I had to make sure Karen knew that he hadn't made so much as a whimper at the dentist, but for HER he turned on the waterworks. Eventually he warmed up to her and ended up giving her a hug and kiss on our way out of the office. So all is well there.

Hope you all are having a great day! More to come, I'm sure.