A Trip to the DENTIST

It wasn't actually so bad! When I told my husband I had made an appointment for Drew and Ryan, he said something like, "Yeah, well, have fun with that!", because he prefers to try to avoid any outing that might be remotely difficult (but just getting four children out of the house to go anywhere is difficult).However, they have to go sometime...so at any rate, we went. The five of us, with the baby in the stroller so that I could hold or otherwise encourage the boys if they needed it, squeezed into the exam room (or whatever they call it at the dentist!), and the hygenist suggested we start with Ryan, so I sat with him in the chair. The dentist, who is a very young and affable woman and thus perfect for the kids, came in and said hello to them - she remembered everyone from when Aimee came to meet her - and, as she did so, smiled and said hello to Chase. His mouth twitched. The hygenist, friendly and unintimidating also, said, "He's so cute!" and smiled at him as well. His face now beginning to contort, he looked at the dentist, looked at the hygenist, then turned to me imploringly and and promptly burst into tears. The hygenist offered to pick him up and try to console him so that we could get through Ryan's exam, but of course he only wailed all the harder at this attempt, so I rescued him and he was instantly quiet. It really is nice to be so desperately and completely adored by someone, so how could I possibly be annoyed by it? :-) Ryan, however, while not crying, flatly refused to open his mouth. Assuming his very best Aimee-esque, what-do-you-take-me-for look, he kept his lips practically sealed, so we all agreed to move on, and Drew moved into the chair. He settled in and mentioned once that he was more nervous than he had "ever been," but his body language totally belied that statement, because he was calm and relaxed, and remarked a few minutes later that it wasn't so bad after all. He has no cavities, and there were no other problems, so we were out quickly. So THERE, Dave!

A couple more Ryan-isms - Monday evening we were all hanging out outside, and Ryan was literally hanging on the swing set in all sorts of dangerous ways, so, naturally and very parent-like, we encouraged him to be careful. He gave us an exasperated look and said, "But I got to do my eckersizes!" However last night he must have been feeling more cautious, because when he, Dave, and Drew were wrestling, he stopped suddenly and exclaimed, "Time-out! Somebody will get hurt." I wish I could show the way he raises his eyebrows when he says these things - it really makes the moment!