I know I know

Yeah yeah, I know I know - i said I would blog everyday and I let you down. Sorry - we've been a whirlwind of activity the last few days.

On Wednesday my big boy had his first tooth pulled. What an ordeal.
Our appointment was at 10:45, and we ended up waiting in the waiting room for over an hour before we got in.
It's bad enough waiting for a DR. Appt. but waiting for the Dentist is a special kind of cruel. Nobody likes the dentist. Even if you are one of those rare people that DO floss everyday, the dentist is no picnic. Even the special paediatric dentist isn't something to look forward to, with their little TV sets and post treatment treasure boxes filled with dollar store junk.
In any case, my boy took the waiting better than his dear old mum, surprising, since AS kids generally have zero patience - much like myself. He busied himself with a large rubber T-Rex, making it bite my wrist as I feigned mock horror for 55 minutes...
Finally got called in to be weighed so they could administer the correct amount of Nitrous Oxide to him. Fully clothed with big clunky shoes on, the boy weighs a grand total of barely 40lbs, and then the question I was dreading "So he's had nothing to eat for at least 6 hours right?"
Hmmmm The dilemma:
I KNEW he wasn't supposed to eat anything that morning - and I certainly didn't give him anything other than a popsicle. Of course when I went up to take a shower that morning, my lovely husband forgot the 'no eating' stipulation and promptly fed the boy a full breakfast of waffles with syrup!
The appointment took over a month to get - and that tooth wasn't getting any smaller.
I admit it, I told a lie of omission.
"I gave him a popsicle and that's it". Luckily the boy was out of earshot, and unable to 'correct' me with an embarrassing "No mummy, I had a waffle too", so the appt proceeded as scheduled.
First of all, the funny mask with Nitrous Oxide, he wasn't too keen about that, but since they'd put Toy Story on, he was somewhat preoccupied with Buzz Lightyear, and didn't fight the mask too much.
Putting the needle in was a different story.
He cried.
He called out "Mummy where ARE you?"
I cried, even though I was 12 inches away reassuring him.
He tried to rip the mask off. The dentist put it back on.
She suggested I sit in the chair WITH him - so I did, with my back to the wall, and his little legs draped over mine, so I could be in constant reassuring contact.
Once the novacaine hit - and his lip started feeling numb - he kept reaching up to touch his face. Must have felt awfully weird to him.
Then the dentist went to work - the tip of the supernumary tooth (nice big fancy word for 'extra') was protruding just enough for her to get it with what looked like some kind of torturous pliers - similar to what you might see at Abu Ghirab.
Pulling and yanking and rocking it back and forth, and my big boy, no longer being jabbed with large needles was oblivious in his Nitrous Oxide haze, probably flying right along with Buzz.

The tooth came out. It was HUGE. It looks like a sharks tooth.
It left a hole the size of a moon crater in my boys mouth - and the bleeding would not stop. gauze after gauze became soaked until finally, after 45 minutes, I felt confident enought to let him walk around without a pillow in his mouth.



Of course after this mammoth operation, I took the boy to the grocery store to stock up on ice cream and popsicles for the rest of the day.
There's something remarkable about the after effects of Nitrous Oxide. It made the boy calm. In fact, we were given the post-surgical instructions to basically watch tv and eat ice cream for the rest of the day - no running around or any vigourous activity that might cause the gaping wound to reopen. Normally I'd say it was impossible to keep an almost 5 yr old boy from running if he wants to run around, but the post Nitrous Oxide boy was exceptionally sedate. He walked holding my hand the entire time into the grocery store. Probably to keep himself steady. He kind of had that Robert Downey Jr. Pre-Rehab glaze going on. But he picked out his popsicles, and ice cream and we made it home with a souvenir to put under his pillow that night.
Of course the tooth fairy had to rush out to Walmart later and get a BIG present for such a special tooth.
He was thrilled the next day when the tooth fairy left him a brand new Micro-Flip car (with batteries) and a Two-dollar coin which he promptly said he was going to buy Skittles with. It is now Sunday, and he may have forgotten about the skittles (unlikely) or is just waiting for the perfect time to pull that card out of his sleeve.

And that was just Wednesday morning....
Right now it's -2C and the boys are outside in their pyjamas claiming that they don't need coats because it's sunny. Yes it's sunny, but it's cold. Duncan says he has "warm skin". I swear the boy has a constitution like a hibernating bear - although he did come in once to get mittens. Throwing chunks of ice in the backyard to make your baby brother laugh is hard on the hands. Luckily the baby isn't old enough to protest when I put a winter coat on him.

WILT - Actually, I learned this yesterday, but little boys are innately drawn to reptiles and rats. More on this later