Visit to the Dentist

Well, I've been sort of dreading it for 6 months but today finally arrived.  Zoe's first visit to the dentist 6 months ago went fine, but I wasn't looking forward to this one because, unlike the first visit, parents are supposed to wait in the waiting room while the kids go back by themselves.  They say that they find the kids do better without the parents there, and while I believe that's true, I was almost sure that my kid would be one of the exceptions...if we could even pry her off my leg to go back in the first place, that is.  Now, I know it's probably starting to sound like I give my child absolutely no credit but she was really tentative that first time and these days she is stuck to me like glue whenever we are in a new situation or with people she doesn't know well, so....Anyway, we got there, checked her in, took off our coats and waited for them to call her name and when they did she literally skipped down the hallway with the dental hygienist with a big smile on her face.  Well!  Then I had a pleasantly quiet wait while Owen charmed all the front desk ladies with his completely contagious smile.  She came out, smile still plastered on.  I got the play-by-play from the dental hygienist and Zoe (no cavities!) and we were sent home, sticker and goody-bag in hand.  I was glad after that, that in general I'm secure in my parenting choices and don't tend to worry about what other people think, because Zoe totally yelled "MOMMY, WHEN WE GET HOME I WANT SOME CANDY!!" on the way out of the waiting room.  Ahem.....

Crazy that when we were making her next appointment we also made one for Owen.  I just can't believe how fast time is flying with him.  He is in one of my most favorite roly-poly-pudgy-legged-sucking-on-toes baby phases and will be eating mushed up "solid" food in about a month.  I am soaking up every minute, knowing that this is most definitely the last time we do this.  There are so many ways in which the baby experience this second time around is different than the first.  For instance, the other day we were letting Zoe walk around the living room holding him (that alone!) and she tripped and he fell flat on his face (on the carpet). Nathan just quickly picked him up while we both said "Whoops!  You okay, buddy?"  If that had been Zoe, we would have been on the phone with the doctor (or more likely my brother Wally, poor guy) asking what the red flags for possible head injuries are.   Anyway, we are all just lovin' on this little dude as much as possible. He doesn't make that very hard since he pretty much always has a smile for you, if not a completely irresistible baby-belly laugh.

The past few days have been misleading as far as weather...looks like it's beautiful out but when you spend more than 10 minutes out you realize you are not comfortable in the least.  It's been good enough for a quick spin on the bike or a short visit to the playground and the climbing tree, but mostly we've been stuck inside again.  Today, since we were driving by Hobby Lobby on the way home from the dentist I got motivated to get the materials I needed to attempt a project I've been thinking about.  I made this box for Nathan for Christmas...got the idea from...surprise, surprise...Pink and Green Mama:

They are Zoe's drawings burned onto the box with a wood burning tool and then painted over with watercolors.  It was fun to do, so I had this idea to get a small stool and create something we could always have kicking around that would remind us of our time in Boulder.  This is the drawing I made to burn onto the top of the stool:

The basic idea being the sun with the Rocky Mountains around it...kind of sums up this place, I think.  Anyway, I also got Zoe a little box that she could work on in the hopes that she'd let me work on mine (which she mostly did), and we had a nice time working on them:

The bummer was that it didn't really come out the way I wanted it to.  I'm trying to cut myself some slack because I'm not an artist, and I'm just learning how to use the wood burning tool...I'll have to investigate what kinds of wood work best with it, for instance.  I'm sure we'll hang onto it but hopefully I'll grow to like it a little more than I do today:

Finally I just have to share this funny conversation between Zoe and Nathan I overheard tonight while nursing the baby.  Nathan was on bedtime duty with Zoe and he was trying to convince her to come out of the bathroom from her bath to get her PJ's on:

Zoe:  Carry me, Daddy!
Nathan:  No.
Zoe:  Daddy!  Carry me!!
Nathan:  No Zoe, you have to stop being so demanding.
Zoe:  Wait.  Let's start over.  Blubbablubbbblubbb.  (in saccharine sweet voice)  Daddy?  Could you please carry me, please?"
A few moments of silence in which I can surely tell you, from experience that Nathan really wanted to tell her that the fake polite sugar-sweet thing is just as bad as being bossy, but was forced to accept it because it's better than a meltdown at the very end of the day....then ONE set of footsteps
Zoe:  No, carry me like a BABY!!

Ah, the end of the day....