Smile

Like every sane individual I do not enjoy going to the dentist. My dentist is nice and always thoughtful about pain and is willing to numb or give me the good pills before starting! But her gloves smell like cherry, that odd cough syrup smell. There are covers on the light that made them look like a cloudy sky. The TV is a nice bonus if for nothing more than an audio distraction from the drill or metal picks poking on my teeth, like nails on a chalk board. This morning I went in and they could only work on half my mouth today, which when finished made me look and sound like I'd had a stroke on the left side of my face. But I survived and get to relive the charms of the dentists office next week - because honestly it's really odd having half my mouth sparkly clean teeth and sore bloody gums(eventually will heal) while the other half is easily 5 shades darker and the gums are pink.... I'll just keep my mouth shut... And Floss more...

The real excitement will begin this summer when this beautiful smile gets to undergo her first formal cleaning. Yeah... I took her for the first time in January and they did a basic look over while I held her. The actual exam part was about 5 minutes of the dentist looking for cavities and any other noticeable issues that required immediate attention. I held her while she leaned back on the dentists lap - It was 5 minutes of pure screaming! Joy, just lovely joy. So you can imagine I'm looking forward to this summer's full cleaning. NOT - she gets to be put under because well she won't go willingly. This is a moment I get to look at my baby girl and say don't worry. Everything will be ok. I will see you soon. I love you. Your going to have an even more amazing smile when I see you soon! Go Sleep Sleep. And then as soon as she's out - I get to pray and hope I was being entirely honest with her. Why does everything have to be complicated?!?

Imitation

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!? Or in this case imitation is my way, as a 3 year old, to figure out why on earth Maggie does that! I think Neela concluded that she still has no idea what Maggie is so fixated on, Why it feels so good to constantly have something in your mouth, Why it freaks her out so much to be around other children or Why Crying & Songs in a Minor chord send her to a very unhappy place. But Neela, sweet as can be, tried very hard for a good 20 minutes to try life out like Maggie. So she took a little toy and started rotating it in her mouth. Then she decided to follow Maggie around like her shadow and creep up on the sides because she quickly figured out that Maggie doesn't care to share her personal space bubble and to fully investigate her she would need to be sneaky! To Neela's credit, she never invaded the personal space bubble after the first time and genuinely wanted to figure Maggie out... Good Luck Girl - Her doctors and I think the same thing most days.

She followed every move. Every Step around the room trying to look at everything Maggie verbally or physically expressed attention towards. I loved that Maggie allowed a certain amount of another child around her. She has such a hard time when I work in nursery and bring her along and too often the other children set her off and it ends in tears and becoming very worked up. But the two girls were entirely focused on the pictures memorizing every detail!
And then it was over! Maggie was not going to play that game anymore! It was amusing while it lasted - and I was excited to have my iPhone if nothing else there - because that will probably never happen again and Neela may have been decided to choose another path in life away from researcher.

Chewy Tubes

How Chewy's took over My Life... A long time ago I thought things like, "Where are my keys?" or "Where is my phone?" now I seem to constantly say "Where is a chewy?" I can't escape it! It's like the blob in a horror movie. At one, very well organized point, I had a chewy in my purse, the car, the diaper bag, her bedroom, and a few in the living room. 

Now I am down to one (and yes I am singing 'one is the loneliest number' in my head.)

I don't know the exact day or time when my brain turned to a focus driven force to always be aware of the exact location of the Chewy's in the house but It happened. 

I know, I know they help with oral motor, oral strength, sensory processing, speech & I'm sure other valuable ways. And we can't seem to go anywhere without them so whether I was prepared for this or not the Chewy Tube has become part of the family!

Various chewy's - prefers the green and yellow

Oh and did I mention these babies are 'Adaptive' Oh yeah!! $10-15 a tube. And don't get me started on the vibrating chewy's they start at $25 - On AMAZON of all places :)