Dodging bullets

Meg had an appointment with an orthodontist for an evaluation today. At her checkup in June, the dentist recommended we go because she has "crowding". Um, yup, she has crowding~ a row of "shark teeth" behind her permanent and baby teeth. She has two shark teeth, one that is behind a newly loose tooth, and one that should be moving forward where a baby tooth fell out. It however has taken up what may be a permanent residence just a bit behind where it belongs.

Anyway, after a rather long wait, Meg was checked out and my conversation with the orthodontist went something like this: "She'll be a patient of mine, but not for another few years." Angels appeared above me and sang the Hallelujah Chorus. Rainbows appeared and puppies sprang from the drawers. We don't have dental insurance. Even if we did, most dental insurance does NOT cover for orthodontics. The thought of putting money into a mouth that is still growing (ha, that's funny) for a child who is 7 filled me with dread. So now we get to figure out how exactly we'll pay for braces down the road. Unless of course one of the fairies in the books we read comes to life and grants her straight teeth. Yeah, right.

Annie had an interesting weekend. On Friday night we were outside in the mosquito infested yard. Doug and the older kids were playing soccer, Izzie was running rampant and Annie wandered down to the wagon and climbed in. My front yard is flat, until it drops off to the rock wall we have. You see where I'm going, don't you? Apparently the wagon was a bit close to the slope, and when I looked up from blowing bubbles, she was going backwards down the hill, right for the rocks. My screams to "GET ANNIE" didn't help, and instead caused Meg and Izzie to burst into tears. Doug scooped her up after the wagon dumped her backward onto the rocks. Luckily, she wasn't very hurt except for the little egg on the back of her head and she kept on happily playing. One bullet dodged.

Since her escapades on Friday night didn't scare her, Annie tried something new on Sunday afternoon while I was out. We have been trying to teach the girls to come down the stairs on their bottoms, and they are eager learners. They are just too heavy for me to carry comfortably down the stairs, and I would LOVE to get rid of our baby gates. Annie decided that going down on her bum wasn't fast enough and she tried to walk. Doug said her caught her mid-air before her face met the stairs for a second time. Poor thing split her lip on the inside, and somehow managed not to bit completely thru her bottom lip. I got home for the screams, and am happy I missed the incident itself. Doug is completely traumatized by what happened, but I am not freaked out about it at all, which he cannot understand. I keep telling him that accidents happen. He was right there with her, watching both of the girls. This kind of stuff is going to happen. While I have eyes in the back of my head, I do not have more than two arms hiding someplace. There isn't anything he could have done and she is perfectly happy and healthy.

Drew started preschool today. It's his second year at this school. He has been driving me nuts asking me when he could go back for a week. Last year when we took him for the first day I came home and cried. He had a hard first couple of months adjusting to being 2 1/2, in school for the first time, away from his mama. Today though, he practically ran up the driveway to school and we both said a really happy goodbye. He had a great morning and can't wait to go back on Thursday. What a difference a year makes.

Izzie is going thru some sort of a phase. It's a crying phase. It's a hitting, toy stealing, screaming phase. She doesn't like to be hugged when she's angry. She wants to throw herself on the ground and scream. So, I'm letting her throw herself on the ground and scream. Which of course makes her scream more because I am ignoring her as long as she isn't in harm's way. I think part of her issue is that she wants to say SO MUCH and still doesn't have all the words. She'll get there, but for now I try to deal with her frustration as best I can.