Thursday, January 30, 2014

Lainey's First Trip to the Dentist

There are so many firsts to keep track of in the lives of your children.  First smiles, steps, words, experiences, etc.  Most of those are exciting and thrilling to observe as parents.  Then there are the firsts that make you a little apprehensive.  I knew I needed to schedule Lainey's first dentist appointment but I put it off for a little while.  Now, I've never had a cavity (knock on wood) but I will admit that I do not love going to the dentist.  You would think I'd have a reason, but I really don't (except for the time I chipped my front tooth when I was in like 2nd grade and when I went in to get it fixed they had to sand it so it was smooth and that really scared me and I ran out of the room to my mom in the waiting room! ha!)  I would rather go to any other kind of doctor than go to the dentist.  
Not only was I nervous because of my own fear, but anyone who knows Lainey knows she is a bit, what we like to call, particular.  I need to start a list of all of her (ridiculous) preferences but I'll just say that she can be a little difficult to coerce or convince sometimes.  
Luckily, I knew that I would be putting Lainey in great hands when I chose to make an appointment at Des Moines Children's Dentistry.  Thanks to Facebook, I knew about this practice which was started by a friend of mine from college and her husband.  I called and made Lainey's appointment and I had about a week to prep her and get her excited!
If you check out their website, you will see what a great space they have created there.  It did not take Lainey very long to warm up to her surroundings.  We got an office tour and went back to a private exam room (since she's still pretty young and it was our first visit).
I had specifically prayed that Lainey would be calm and collected during her appointment and that she wouldn't be scared (IE hysterical or clinging to me or...etc.).  She did AWESOME.  We practiced opening her mouth nice and wide a lot before in the past week which you can see above.
Dr. Rachael looked over her teeth, counted and cleaned them all while keeping Lainey in the loop about what she was doing and holding a conversation with me about some do's and don't's for caring for my kid's teeth.  All of that literally took less than 10 minutes!
They had a plethora of prize boxes to choose from and Lainey made a bee line for these cool shades.  This is her cheesy, I'm so excited smile.  I wish you could see her eyes because when she pulls this smile out, her eyes drift off away from the camera and it's so funny to me.  This picture says a lot about how wonderful Dr. Rachael is because Lainey does NOT warm up to strangers very quickly, especially if we aren't in our own home.  We are excited for Lainey's next appointment in July,

She was beyond thrilled with her new toothbrush, toothpaste and floss picks.  We have been doing A LOT of brushing!

My big girl chose Chik-Fil-A for our lunch date, which I happily agreed to.  I was so stinking proud of her I would have taken her for steak and seafood if she had asked (she wouldn't, I'm just saying... she did so well, I was so proud!).  I will say that I'm not quite as confident that Wyatt will be as wonderful of a patient as Lainey was and I know that inevitably, there may or may not be some traumatic dental or orthodontic visits in my future with our kids but for now, this really excited me!  Hooray for clean, healthy teeth!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Terrific typical Tuesday

I have a running list in my head of things I want to remember about these days when our kids were little.  Things like birthday parties, holidays, etc. are easy to remember because they're annual and there are usually pictures to accompany them.  I want to remember trips to the grocery store, kids in my lap reading stacks of books, the smell of baby lotion after a bath... the every day things.  Today has been a totally normal stay-at-home morning.  Our play date fell through and it's just too cold to go out any way.

Lainey's imagination has been on a roll this morning.  An empty laundry basket has been a rocket ship, a huge bath tub for all kinds of plastic and stuffed animals and a bed of hay for baby Jesus (played by a Minnie Mouse doll).  The dialogue to go along with each scenario is a riot.  None of this was encouraged or suggested by me, it's all her.  My living room is a mess of toys and books and the sink is full of dishes, which normally drives me a little bonkers, but I'm trying to be more present, less distracted and enjoy these moments more.
Moments like this.  Wyatt, such a sleepy head.  I always have to wake him up if he takes a morning nap at home otherwise he'd sleep the day away.
And moments like this.  She took control of this all on her own too.  They both loved it.  They are becoming so much more independent each day.
And this.  She beat me, fair and square, twice at Candy Land.  Then proudly declared she was done.  I like to quit while I'm ahead too!

Thankful for these kids and that I get to be a part of their every day moments.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Insta(gram) Winter thus far

Can we all agree there is something beautiful about winter?  Yes; snow can be beautiful and there is something so cozy and sweet about staying warm inside our house, drinking hot chocolate and eating soup.  Can we all agree there is something challenging about having small children in the winter?  Double yes.  I'm having to get more and more creative as the weeks pass and the temperatures plunge even further.  And I'm not even going to get in to the fun of chasing down my toddlers so I can bundle them up in coats, hats, mittens, etc. every time we leave the house. (Don't they know it's for their own good?!?  Sheesh!)

If you follow me on Instagram you've seen most of these but I can only elaborate on them so much on there so that's why I'm reposting them.
Daytime bath times used to just be for extreme diaper blow outs.  Now, they're a great opportunity to pass the time, practice letters and numbers, draw all over the tub and splish and splash.  My kids play in that tub until the water is WAY too cold and their hands and feet are totally wrinkled.

This picture says a lot about what we've been up to.  We don't always have that blue table upstairs but when we do, I need to pay extra close attention to my sweet little Wyatt.  He's such a monkey.  Lainey has been SO in to watercolors lately.  She asks to paint multiple times a day.  In fact, we had to go out and buy new paint this week because she had literally used up that palatte.  It's so fun to watch her paint and paint with her.  I know it's great for her fine motor skills and it's just fun.  I've been drawing outlines of things in sharpie marker and then letting her paint them in.  I need to get better at drawing though because I'm running out of ideas of what to draw for her!  I have a huge stack of Lainey originals if anyone is interested! :)
I'm so thankful we have a play area set up in our basement.  This allows us to play with different toys on each of the three floors of the house, which helps when we're stuck inside so much!  That teddy bear Lainey is serving tea to was mine when I was a baby.  She loves when I tell her things like that ("This was yours, Mommy?").  We enjoy lots of tea parties in the basement as well as playing on all of our big outside ride on toys down there too!
Wyatt's room is also a popular place to play.  His new rug and vehicle garage (made by his Grandpa Johnson!) keep us busy.  I'm not sure how such a little guy acquired so many cars, trucks, tractors and dump trucks in such a short amount of time between his birthday and Christmas, but we play with most of them almost every day so I guess it's a good thing!
I don't know if the employees at Petco appreciate us treating their store as a zoo, but my kids sure enjoy it and they do behave well while we're there.  We usually pick up a treat or toy for Simon while we're there too so I suppose it's okay!
Let's not forget one of the best parts of cold weather and small children... footie pajamas!
Afternoon naps are the best way to spend a winter afternoon!
We enjoyed a really warm Saturday afternoon at the zoo a few weeks ago before things got super cold.  Love that zoo membership all year round!
Books are a FAVORITE past time of Wyatt's this winter.  One of these days I need to count the number of books he brings to me in a day.  The number is surely no less than 20.  I'm really thankful he loves books and loves to be read to because I think it will help his vocabulary... if he ever starts talking! :)  I picked up this book for him for Christmas and it seriously looks like it's been read for years it's so worn already.  Wyatt may love his superheros but funny enough, one of the other books he brings me constantly is a Disney princess book.  I think it's so funny that he can pick it out among all of the other books on the bookshelf.  He also loves any books that have touch and feel spots about animals.

We're only halfway through January so I know we still have many weeks of winter left to endure enjoy but at least we get to enjoy them together :)