To say Owen did awesome at the dentist is an understatement, an absolute understatement. He slept late after waking numerous times in the middle of the night, asking for his teacher, and telling me he rides the bus. Oh boy, I thought. He knows today was his last day of summer school but it will still be hard. He is already talking about going to school in August. I’ve been telling him he was going to the dentist for several weeks, preparing him for his appointment. I always make a point to talk to him about doctors and how they help us grow and get better if we are sick. I never wanted him to be afraid of going. For the dentist, we practice holding his mouth open and counting to ten. It also helps that he absolutely loves watching YouTube videos about Play-Doh teeth and playing games where he has to clean animal teeth. He had no cavities and only a little tartar between two of his teeth. He isn’t a big sweets eater even though chocolate milk is his go-to drink, has never had a soda, only asks for juice occasionally, and drinks water. Plus, he likes crunchy foods more than anything else. We got to the dentist without one scream. We got home with three but each one was stopped with “breathe and count to one hundred”. He screamed each time because he wanted to go different directions than I was turning but I told him if he screamed we would not be able to go get his “chicken nuggets cheeseburger french fries apple slices new ice tea”. And the others times he stopped because he didn’t want to miss out on seeing his favorite windows. I’ll take it. The screams were quick and didn’t lead to a meltdown after a fantabulous dentist appointment, what more could I ask for. When we got home he devoured all his food but one lone chicken nugget and the apple slices. I got him chocolate milk and drank his “new ice tea” because he likes to order it but not drink it. He did at least try the apple slices so we are making progress. We are working on taking a bite of food and then putting it down. This is helping him stop putting the food between his toes and him wiping it up and down his face. One step at a time and we are celebrating the many victories we won today. Every day I rejoice the progress Owen is making. Celebrate our victories with us and celebrate yours. The littlest of steps can lead to the greatest of victories. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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