Michael the Brave...

My son is growing shark teeth. No really. Instead of pushing the baby teeth out and coming up in their place, Michael's teeth have just decided to co-exist, with the adult teeth pushing through right behind the baby teeth.

However, I became concerned that although the baby teeth were beginning to get a little wiggly, they weren't getting loose enough to completely dislodge themselves from the gums. Enter: The Dentist.

(I should add by way of disclaimer that all five of my kids think the Dentist is awesome. It may be due in part to the fact that Grandma works there, and nothing truly scary can happen while you are with Grandma, right? They've had teeth cleaned, cavities filled, teeth pulled...and still when I mention the Dentist they are delighted and happy to go. (Oh...and did I mention that Grandma ALWAYS has a treat? A Capri Sun, or a sucker, or a granola bar...But surely THAT has nothing to do with it...!))

Anyway...As I was saying: The Dentist. He and I headed up there, and the only way I could tell Michael was nervous was that he kept asking if he was going to get sleepy medicine. Grandma told him HE wouldn't get sleepy medicine, but his TEETH would. The assistant plays a really cute game with the kids called the blinking game. She holds the kids hands in hers, then she tells the kiddos to blink as fast as they can, and she'll try to count them as fast as they blink. Then, stealthily, while the child is frantically blinking, they sneak in the "sleepy medicine" and no one is the wiser. They are totally focused on the blinking and the squeezing of hands they have no idea the is even a shot involved. Brilliant. And it works...So far on 3 of my kids!

A few minutes of wiggling later, and this is what Michael's mouth looks like now:

(I know, I know...A good mom would have documented the "before" when there were actually shark teeth in rows...But at least I remembered to take a picture of the holes, right?)

He was great! His biggest complaint was waiting for his lip to "stop being so fat". He didn't like the numb feeling! But the best news of all? The dentist put his two little teeth inside a larger, plastic tooth on a necklace...which he placed under his pillow...And in the morning???

A $5 bill! (Tooth Fairy must feel extra generous with teeth that have to be pulled out by dentists...!)

I asked what he was going to do with his money. He just looked at me, grinned, and said, "Claw Machine!"...His grocery store favorite!