The Dentist..

When I was a child, I hated going to the dentist. The set up at my dentist's office was that of a big room with 5 cusioned table type seats lining each side. So you could see and talk to pretty much anyone else jn the room. In the back there was a private room; it was enclosed with a big glass window and door. So whenever you saw someone being assigned to "the room" you knew there was going to be a show. Most kids who were put in the room were screamers, squirmers and usually 4 or 5 hygienists would accompany the dentist in to hold the kid down. But even with the door shut, you could still hear the kids screaming. Today, on the 28th of May, Addison was scheduled to have her first cleaning. And while we love our pediatric dentist, I was anxious of how she would do. Out of our 3 girls, Addison has usually been the one to freak out in new situations. I just knew that she was going to be a screamer. We had been talking it up for a few days in hopes that she wouldn't be one of "those" kids and this morning she was so excited to go. What I had failed to do was to prepare Anna that she would NOT be getting her teeth cleaned. (I thought having one kid get her teeth cleaned for the first time was going to be a handful). So when I asked Addison in the car who was going to go first, her or AJ, Anna piped up "I go first!!". I explained that she wouldn't be getting her teeth cleaned and OH MY WORD. You would've thought that I had just scolded her. She hung her head down and those lips and cheeks puffed out and I seriously thought she was going to cry. When we got there the girls played in the playroom and when we were called back, Addison walked right up to the chair, climbed in and laid back. I was so proud. She was a champ! So after the hygienist and doctor checked her she hopped down and Anna hopped straight out of my lap and climbed into the chair and she tells Dr. Anglin "my turn!". We all cracked up. Appointment or not, she was going to get her teeth cleaned. The hygienist was so amused by her determinedness that she checked and brushed her teeth and gave her a new toothbrush and goody bag just like Addison had gotten. So Anna got her unofficial first dental cleaning too. :)

The drama:
Addison and Anna both suck their middle two fingers and Addison has a pronounced overbite. The dentist told us that we need to get her to quit soon so that it doesn't cause bone structure deformities. We had been trying to get her to stop for some time now but when she's tired those fingers go in her mouth. I bought some bitter nail polish to put on their fingers and man, it has been a trying day. Anna whined because she didn't like the taste and kept soaking her shorts with drool trying to spit the taste out of her mouth. Addison mainly sucks her fingers when she goes to bed. She puts two fingers in her mouth and uses her pinkie to tickle her upper lip. Its how she soothes herself to sleep. Needless to say she had the hardest time trying to take a nap. We laid in bed for almost 2 hours and she just cried. She kept saying "I want to suck my fingers" but she didn't dare put them in her mouth. It broke my heart to see her struggling like that. I eventually calmed her by playing some music with nature sounds and then teaching her to tickle her upper lip like she usually does when she has her fingers in her mouth but with the corner of a blanket. We gave up trying to nap when Ken got home and he suggested we try different method- distraction and a goal. So we told her if she went to bed tonight without crying and without sucking her fingers, we would get a big blow up pool and take her to the movies tomorrow. And I'm happy to announce that she did so good!!! She tickled her lips with the blanket and fell asleep not even ten minutes later! Woohoo! And while I realize that this is not the end of the war, I'm counting this little skirmish a VICTORY! So prayers for an easier transition for her would be really appreciated! We're going to need it. :)