Baby Teeth....Gone, Just Like That

Because Collin's two front, bottom baby teeth showed no signs of getting loose, Daddy and Collin went to the dentist this morning to have those teeth pulled.  Daddy said Collin did fantastic.  He showed now signs of fear when the dentist put the mask over his nose and then used a shot to give him a local anesthesia in his gums.  Daddy was cringing through all of that and Collin was oblivious to it all because he was watching a movie on the ceiling.  Then, the dentist pulled and twisted on the two teeth until they came out.  He said they were in there and likely would not have fallen out on their own because of how long the roots were.

Not sure what this did because I was not there.  He was awake the entire time so this did not put him to sleep. 



Applying the local anesthesia

Yanking on the teeth to pull them out

Teeth are out, gauze is in

Yikes, look at those deep holes!

So proud to FINALLY have lost some teeth

Collin came home and was a little tired but feeling great.  He laid on the chair in the living room and watched Sponge Bob Square Pants until I came home to take over.  We thought Collin might want me after what he went through but he was fine.  When I got home and came over to give him a kiss, he was really cute the way he smiled at me making sure that I could see where his bottom teeth were missing.  I did not say a word waiting for him to tell me about the dentist.  He never did so I asked him about it.

Later, Grandma H came over.  She asked him questions and I could hear him from the other room telling her that the Tooth Fairy is going to give him $3 for each tooth so he was going to get $6.  I am not sure where he heard that from.  I was going to have to ask Daddy about it when he got home.  They then took the teeth out of the container they were stored in from the dentist and put them in the designated pocket of the Tooth Fairy pillow.  Collin then chose which of the six pillows on his bed he would put the Tooth Fairy Pillow under.  He chose the Star Wars pillow.

Check those roots out!  At least twice the size of his tooth.

Tooth Fairy pillow ready to go

He was to eat cold, soft food so I bought him some ice cream and Popsicles on the way home.  He did not want this and chose to have peaches and some applesauce.  He did later have some chocolate ice cream when his friend, Brody, came over to play.  Collin was so excited to show him his missing teeth that he smiled at Brody the same way he initially did with me.  Brody could not figure it out but knew that something was up.  When Collin showed him the Tooth Fairy pillow, Brody told Collin the money he got for the three teeth that he already lost.  I could see the excitement leave Collin's face as he realized that Brody lost more teeth than he did.  He finally loosing some teeth and the first friend he tells has more teeth gone.  I helped change the subject and he was fine after that.

Let's hope the Tooth Fairy remembers the $$ tonight.

Practice...GIves Confidence

Collin is getting so good at riding his bike.  Here he is showing how much control he has of the bike and not being afraid of going faster.  At the end of the video, I knew he was going to try to get off because of the car turning down our street so I stopped the video to get ready for a crash and possibly crying.  He did great stopping the bike but did fall trying to get off.  He did not cry though....just stopped off mad at me for making him ride his bike. 

I assumed it scared him...which he later said it did. 

Soccer!

Collin did great in his second soccer game of the season on team Holland (orange....again). I missed the first one because I was not feeling well. He is on a team with some inexperienced players so they did not do well at all. During one of his water breaks, Collin said his face was red because he was so mad the other team was scoring so much on them. He said it helped him play better. I was proud of this attitude because, he was right.

Collin did do great passing the ball but most of the time, the other team player stood there before moving forward with the ball OR an opponent took the ball away. They will get better as they play more. Also, this is giving Collin time to learn to control the ball more and be aggressive because most of the other team members are not. I did notice that he was still intimidated by Brody who was playing on the other team. He would stand back from Brody to let him play before trying to get the ball from him.

During the game, Grandma H yelled out, "Collin, that's your ball" meaning that he needed to take the ball down the field.  He stopped what he was doing and yelled back to her, "that's not my ball.  Mine is over there".  Grandma H and I laughed that we needed to change our words when cheering him on because he is way too literal for the usual cheers.

Collin is on the left side up front in orange

Water break

Collin getting after the ball

Daddy giving instructions during a break

Good sportsmanship at the end of the game

Cousins, Aunt and Mimi

After the festival and soccer skills clinic, a normal family would have rested for the remainder of the day.  Not us!  We had Aunt Nancy, Mimi, Timmy and Leah come over to play from 5pm until after 9pm.  The kids played inside and out only stopping for snacks.  When they got tired, they watched a movie in Collin's playroom.  Nancy joined in when they were watching a movie.  She enjoyed that and could use the rest.

Love this face.  Leah had a great time riding in this car in the back yard.

Collin and Nancy watching a movie

Look who joined in

Timmy is multi-tasking like his Aunt Laura would...playing and watching the movie at the same time.

Mimi found us!

Mimi loves her Leah

Ummm...Timmy, I found where you were putting the chocolate kisses wrappers.

Children's Festival

Collin, Grandma H, Clayton and his mommy spent Saturday morning at the annual Children's Festival downtown.  I used to go to this festival when I was little so I thought it would be fun for at least Collin and I to go.  I sent a message out to several of our friends and I was happy to see that we were not going alone.

The night before, Daddy explained what he was doing the next day.  "What's a "festival""?  Good question because he has probably not heard that word before.  "It's a place that has lots of different activities, games, prizes and things to do."  Collin then wanted to know if he was going to have fun. The questions went back and forth for about 15 minutes. 

The next morning, we left in time to be in line when the festival opened.  We had no idea how unorganized it would and did not plan for it.  The festival gates opened 30 minutes late.  In the meantime, we stood there trying to keep the boys entertained.  They did OK for having to wait.  Probably as good as the mommies and Grandma H.  We finally got to go in....and the fun began. 

The festival is divided into different themed areas.  We started with the circus area first and watched a motorcycle on the tightrope with a lady dangling below on a swing.  The boys loved watching this.  Then, the watched a 10 year old juggler for just a bit, got bored and kept walking because they really wanted a long, blue balloon.  The balloon was taller than Collin.  I had no idea how attached AND afraid of losing the balloon he would be.  He wanted to hold it with both hands and have me also not just hold the string but wrap it around my fingers a few times.  Only when he was playing with something did he let me hold the balloon after he gave me several instructions about how to hold it to not loose it. 

We saw pirates and they wanted to know why they were there and took pictures with them.  They stopped to look at and pet a snake.  Neither one of them were scared.  Clayton's mommy was surprised Clayton was brave enough to pet the snake. 

The boys dancing to the music.  I love Collin's face in this one.

The boys not knowing where to start.  This was their first stop so I think they were a little overwhelmed with everything going on.

The blue balloon!

Giving us directions but not daring to let the balloon go

Arg!

Snake!!!

There were lots of rides and things to do but we were surprised that the boys did not want to do many of them.....and quickly realize we over-bought coupons for the rides.

They spent most of there time in the Imagination area which included playing with Legos and large, blue building blocks.  We enjoyed watching them use their imagination and build a track for a ball to roll around on and eventually a car. 

The boys working together

Here is the car.  Collin is holding the steering wheel

The 3 1/2 hours we were there flew buy.  The boys had a good time but I don't think we will be going back any time soon because of the disorganization, crowd and cost of everything. 

Great Week at School

I emailed the teacher Friday to let her know that Collin has a dentist appointment Monday. She thanked me for the update then said,

"I have really been bragging on Collin this week for his awesome behavior. No worries about Monday. Please “feel” him out and see what you think." The last comment was because I know he is getting his teeth pulled. I let her know that he may be coming to school until his appointment at 10am but maybe not.

I told him when he got home from school that she was really proud of him and what she said. He smiled and said, "I know!"

Brave Boy

When it comes to meeting new people, Collin is A LOT like me instead of Daddy.  Daddy is very outgoing and can make friends with anyone.  I, on the other hand, can meet new people but it's not natural for me.  I really have to work at it.  I am better now but was really shy as a kid....like Collin.  Once I explained this to Daddy, he understands now why Collin has a hard time asking other kid's their name or to play with them.

Our next door neighbor, Patrick, is 4 years older than Collin.  Until recently, the age difference was a big difference because Collin was not in the same school and they did not have the same interests.  Once, Collin and Daddy played a little basketball in Patrick's driveway and both of the boys got to know each other.  Collin has felt comfortable to come outside and play with Patrick when he hears him playing basketball.  He even invited Patrick over to our house to play Wii one afternoon after school.

Now, every day, Collin wants to play with Patrick.  We tell him that he can but has to knock on Patrick's door to ask if he can play.  He was really nervous at first, walked to the door, did not knock and then ran back home.  He did this one more time until he got the courage to knock.  Patrick was eating dinner and could not play.  Collin was so disappointed but we explained that he was not rejecting Collin.  He could not play because he was eating dinner.  The next time Collin went to ask if Patrick could play, he could...and did for about 20 minutes.

Today, Patrick had friends over after school to play.  They started playing basketball outside and Collin joined them.  Then, they went inside and Collin came home.  I have no idea if they did or did not invite Collin in.  I told him he could knock on the door to ask if he could play with them.  He left and quickly came back upset.  He said, "I knocked on the door and then she (Patrick's mom) opened the door.  She asked if I was OK and I said "yes" but I really meant "no".  She shut the door so I came home".  I figured out that he did not ask if he could play so she did not know he was over there to play with Patrick.  Not being there, I don't know if she did ask if he wanted to play  or not.  Later, I sent a text explaining what happened and she said she now understood what happened.

He is outside right now playing with the boys.  This is one of those lessons that is tough.  He will learn...and like it, or not, while doing so.  It's easier for me to do it for him, but I won't always be around to do things for him so he has to learn sometime.

Burke Hit a Car

Yes, I said that right.  While Burke was outside running around with his buddy, Lulu, that lives next door, they both ran off of our street and headed down the main street.  As soon as I saw this, I yelled for Burke to come back knowing Lulu would follow him.  As Burke was rounding the street to head back, he ran into a car that was slowing down for a speed bump.  He landed on the ground, got right back up and ran back to the house.  I was in shock that he got up but VERY thankful because 1) the nose he made when he hit the car was so loud and 2) Collin was outside watching the entire thing.

We held onto Burke to check him out and noticed all of the blood on both of his legs, under his chin, and his belly.  As far as we could tell, he just had "road rash" and did not break anything.  He was favoring his right side and would not walk on his left front foot unless he had to.  I could not see any bones sticking out and he was not crying.  We took him to the vet anyway to have him checked out. 

After being at the emergency Vet clinic for 3 hours, Burke got a pain shoot and two different medications to take over the next few days.  The Vet wanted us to get an X ray to determine if there was internal bleeding.  We declined and decided to watch him tonight and bring him to our Vet in the morning for X rays there and observation.

The rest of the day, he slept and laid around.  He did a lot of crying I could not tell if he was missing Collin and Daddy because they were at Collin's baseball scrimmage or if he was in pain.  Maybe it was a little of both because he did cry when the boys got home but not as much.

I am so thankful Burke was not severely hurt or killed.  If Daddy lets him run around like that again, I hope he learned his lesson and does not run off the street again.

Collin's First Baseball Game

Collin played his first baseball game this afternoon...well, it was a scrimmage but it was the first time the team played a game and in their uniforms.  Their first real game starts next week for the Lugnuts.  Daddy went with Collin while I stayed home with Burke (see the next story).

Collin did not want to go because he wanted to rest and play Wii.  I got him dressed anyway and helped get his baseball bag ready to go. 

Daddy said Collin did great today especially when he played catcher.  All of the boys got to play catcher and most of the positions.  This was the first time for Collin to really pay attention to what a Catcher has to wear and...then wear it himself.  He later told me that it was hard for him to bend over.  I bet it was with all of that gear on him.  He still was able to get the ball and through it back to the Pitcher (which is a Coach because he is on Dad's pitch this year). 

When it was time to bat, Daddy said Collin hit it two out of the three times he was at bat, got on base and possibly made a run in (he could not remember). 

Collin was so excited to tell me about how the game went and him playing Catcher.  I guess he was glad he went to the game. 

It's going to be a great season.

Proud to be in his uniform

Hard not to look at that skinny little butt



Yes, that really is Collin under all of that gear

Shark Teeth Update

The last time Collin went to the dentist, we discovered that Collin’s teeth are very sturdy…so much so that his baby teeth still had roots even though his bottom front two adult teeth were formed and “moving on up”.  We were told to wiggle his bottom teeth twice a day, hence some of the funny posts about him holding his head while one of us helped wiggle his tooth.  We are not the best about remembering to wiggle his teeth, especially twice a day, so I am not surprised that his teeth are still not loose.  In the meantime, at least one of his adult teeth is not only peeking through the skin, it’s out and coming in behind is bottom right baby tooth (if you are facing him).  I thought it would come through soon because I could tell his gums were really tender back there when he was eating and brushing recently.

This all came up again last night because Linden, his buddy down the street and who is over a year younger than him, lost her bottom tooth. Saige, her older sister, lost her tooth a month before that.  Now, all of Collin’s friends except one, Brody, has lost at least one tooth….and he has not.  When Linden showed him her tooth was gone, he had a sad face but did not say anything.  Later, we went over to their house for dinner and the girls were talking about the Tooth Fairy and losing their teeth.  This is when Collin spoke up and wanted to know when he was going to lose a tooth.  We talked about him having to wiggle his teeth more but knew that we were probably going to have to have the dentist help him out.  I mentioned that he might lose two teeth at one time so it takes more time for that to happen.  “Besides, you already have one of your adult teeth coming in already” and that’s when he was the center of attention with the girls and Ms Kristen waiting to see his “shark” tooth.  He really liked that. 

 

All of this reminded me to call his dentist today……

Read the Directions

Collin wants us to read or help him read everything that has words on it. For example, the other day, I came home early from work because I was having stomach cramps. I decided to lay down on a heating pad to see if that helped. Collin came in my room to see how I was doing, give me a kiss and....then noticed the cord coming out of the covers. "What is this?" I explained it was a heating pad and why I was using it. He was good with that and left the room. Last night, I needed the heating pad again. I still wanted to read him books so I put the heating pad in his room. This is when he noticed that there were words on the cloth covering the hot part of the pad. He wanted to read the words and so we started. When we got to the directions that said Do not fall asleep on the heating pad, Collin turned to me and said, "you fell asleep the other day on this and you were not supposed to". I was busted!  I said I was just resting my eyes and did not fall asleep. What a stinker!  We read the rest of the instructions, then a few books and I tucked him in....on the floor. He has been "camping" on the floor the last few nights which means he sleeps between that down comforter on the floor in front of Burke's cage. I guess Burke is able to sleep with Collin's snoring.

Progress Report

Collin came home with his progress report for the third grading period.  He has improved SO much on recognizing his letters, both lower and upper case, and what sound they make.  He received the same scores as the last time in the areas of Math Concepts, Art/Music, Science, Social Studies, Technology, Social Development, and Fine Motor Skills. 

When I opened the report, I saw that his overall comments were long so I knew that I was going to read something I would not be happy with.  Here is what his teacher wrote:

Collin is getting more comfortable with reading.  He is able to read most level 4 books, comfortably.  Collin is also recognizing and reading a variety of sight words.  Please keep practicing with him on a daily basis. 

In math, we are working on addition and subtraction.

Collin is beginning to have some difficulty being respectful during lessons.  I have noticed that he is getting off track and being silly again.  I know that Collin can do the right thing and he does know the expectations in our classroom.  We will continue to model what it looks like to be a good listener and discuss appropriate times when it is OK to be silly.

Looks like Daddy and I will be talking to him again....and I will be working with sight words with him everyday...or at least as much as I can remember.  He knows 24 our of the 50 words he needs to know before 1st grade.  Admittedly, the words he does not know ARE harder and we have not worked on them much before...except that I see Little on this list and I know he knows that word.  It's at the bottom of the list so he must have lost interest by the time that word came up.

Collin's Married Life

Collin asked me where he and his wife will sleep when he gets married.  I told him that they would probably live in a house, condo or someplace else but not in our house.  He did not like that answer and said that he and his wife will sleep in his room.  I said that his wife will likely not want to live in our house with us.  She will want her own place.  He said he did not want to get married then because he did not want to live anywhere else without me.  You think he will remember this love when I ground him when he is a teenager?  Probably not.  :)

Opposite Day

Most of the day was Opposite Day according to Collin which made it really confusing.  He has done this several times before but it's usually the next 20 minutes or so and not most of the day.  I forgot a few times throughout the day and almost got mad at times because of what he would say. 

Mommy:  "Collin, please put your jacket away"

Collin:  "No, I am not going to" ....as he walked to his jacket with my back turned to him

Mommy:  "Collin, I asked you nicely"....and then see that he is putting his jacket away

I was impressed at how he managed to remember, for the most part, to talk opposite of what he meant to say.  I am also exhausted because that's hard work to think that way and respond.  :)

Rodeo Animals

Every year, I have taken Collin to the rodeo to look at the animals and other exhibits.  Sometimes, we have watched some of the rodeo depending on the time we have.  Last year, we did not make it because I had my mastectomy surgery and recovered for the entire month of March. So, even though we had a few hours before I needed to go to work (tax extension time), we went to the rodeo animal exhibits.  On the way there, I asked what animals or other things Collin wanted to see. He said, "Sheep, Cows and lambs".  These were not the animals I was expecting him to list off but I thought for sure that these animals would be there. 

Instead of seeing the exhibits first, he wanted to head straight to the cages where the animals that were going to be shown in the rodeo where kept.  As he held his nose, he walked down each of the rows of Brahman bulls.  He wanted to know what the hump on the back was, why they were sleeping and if they were going to eat breakfast.  Because we were there early in the morning, we were able to see the handlers feed their animals.  Collin loved this especially when the baby animals started eating.  He then got distracted when one of the animals pooped.  He started walking down the row and pointed out the poop.  He did this the last time so I was not surprised he was interested in looking at it again. 

He then wanted to go to the petting zoo.  Because it was the morning still, the animals were REALLY hungry.  Several of them bite my skirt and pulled on my jacket because I had some food in my hand.  Collin loved feeding the animals, brushing their hair and even giving them lots of hugs.  He was much more involved with the animals than the last time.  I bet it's because we have Burke so he is more comfortable around animals now.

We then looked at the chicken eggs hatching, the baby chicks and then the "mommy" chickens.  We saw cows, horses and, yes, we had to see the lambs and sheep.  Lucky for us, the sheep and lambs were in the baby section because their were mommies that had just given birth the day or two before for us to see. 

We then went to look at and pet the bunnies which has had to do every year.  The loved how soft the bunnies where.  Figures, because we know by now that Collin LOVES anything really soft.

This is a shocked face because he was so surprised at how soft the bunny was

He then saw the pony rides.  The last time, he was not interested but did it because his friend did.  This time, he said he was not afraid and wanted to ride one.  While in line, he watched the ponies and picked out one named Cowboy.  He told the guy to save that one for him...and he did.  Collin loved riding the pony.  I am glad he only wanted to do it once because the line was really long and growing because it was getting close to noon now.

Lastly, we found a new cowboy hat for him.  He wanted a black, felt one that looked like mine and Daddy's.  I found one, too, that would be fun with my short, dark hair.  I needed one anyway because we are attending a Gala in a few weeks and have to wear Western attire.  Collin also wanted to make a rope into a lasso.  He picked out the three different colors and then twisted them together to make the rope.  The guy showed him how to lasso and Collin did not put the rope down for the rest of the day.  I could see Burke getting a lasso around his neck when we got home....which is exactly what happened several times.