My Brave Little Boy

Z was such a trooper today :) The dentist said that he was the most calm two year old he has ever worked with. It was a very traumatic experience for him but he handled it beautifully. I am so very proud of him and for S for being so strong.

We had to wake Z up to get to the dentist by 8 AM. I kept looking back at him in the car and smiling at him, knowing that the smile I was getting back would be forever altered. I wanted to make a mental note of his beautiful smile and tuck it away into my mind forever. Once we walked into the dentist, I was fighting back tears. I tried to keep busy and actually didn't get a chance to give him a hug when he went in, probably just as well. They wouldn't let my mom go in (they forgot to tell us the one parent rule) and so S and Curious George escorted Z into the room. This worked in my favor, it was really nice to have my mom with me. I started to tear up and she suggested that I go for a walk outside. I paced the parking lot sobbing. I wanted to be in there, I wanted to comfort my baby, it was my fault that we bought the stupid trampoline, my fault that his tooth was coming out and he would be in pain and my fault that his beautiful smile would be changed....all my fault.

Once I was able to pull myself together, I went back in to wait with my mother. It seemed like hours but it was only about 30 minutes before the door opened and S and Z came out. Z looked shell shocked and clung quietly to S. His cheeks were tear stained (from when they gave him the Novacaine) and he was a bit out of it. I rubbed his head and felt a sense of relief....he opened his mouth and I fought back tears again. The hole was much bigger than I thought it would be (I am sure when the gums heal it will not be not so big) and his other tooth looked bigger. I smiled at him and gave him a kiss on his cheek, he was still Z and still adorable.

S went to put him in his car seat and Z began to sob. He did not want to be let go of, he needed to feel close. S pulled him out and hugged him. I asked Z if he wanted daddy to ride in the back with him, he agreed to this. During the ride home S told me all about the procedure and how brave Z was. He only cried during the Novacaine and S doesn't think the gas really did much for Z. He was so proud of him :)

Z would not drink or eat anything once we got home and was very clingy and a bit weepy. We gave him some motrin and let him watch some TV. My mom had bought him a special gift and he enjoyed playing with this very much. The motrin ended up making him loopy (almost drunk) and this was a bit scary. The last time he took motrin was when he was 10 months old and he got so loopy he banged his head against his crib and gave himself a bloody nose! I thought maybe he would have outgrown this reaction but I guess I was wrong. I kept trying to get him to eat or drink but he complained of his tooth hurting.

After S and my mom left, he crawled up on my lap and started to sob. He told me that he didn't want them to take anymore teeth out. He told me that it hurts and wants to keep his teeth. I guess in the office he told S that he wanted to be a turtle (like Franklin) because they don't have teeth! I started to cry, gave him a hug and told him that the dentist wasn't going to take anymore teeth right now. The poor little guy was so confused and trying so hard to make sense of all that had happened.

At noon I finally got him to try to eat something. I showed him how you could take little bites of pancake using the sides of his mouth. He tried this and ended up eating 12 silver dollar pancakes! I then showed him how to drink on the side of his mouth and he downed three sippy cups :) He had been so afraid to hurt his tooth so he kept refusing food and drink but he was starving. I was so relieved that he now had a full belly.

He is asleep now, he passed out quickly from the crazy day. I am so proud of how brave he was and his smile might not be the same but it is still adorable. Tonight we will put his tooth in his special tooth pillow and see what special treat the tooth fairy brings!