Visits from the Tooth Fairy

Back in January, when we went to the dentist, he told us Chase's two bottom front teeth were starting to get loose. By the time we went back to the Dentist in July, one of them was pretty loose. The Dentist showed me where the permanent tooth had started coming out behind the baby tooth, and suggested that Chase go ahead and pull that loose tooth out. Chase balked, and the dentist let it go. By August, Chase could lay one tooth completely down, but still wouldn't pull it out. Finally, on the way home from school one day, he was fiddling with it and it just came out.

Despite knowing this was coming since January, we were woefully unprepared. No tooth fairy pillow or tooth box. We went with a small box we had around the house, and Chase buried it under the pile of about 5 pillows he sleeps with. Cole slept in Chase's bottom trundle so he could be part of the experience. I imagine the tooth fairy had to do some pretty fancy maneuvering (think Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible) to make the exchange with all those obstacles. She managed, though, and Chase woke us up at about a quarter to 5 the next morning to show us the crisp new dollar bill the tooth fairy had left.

Here's a "Before" picture of Chase with a mouth full of teeth:

And here's an "After" picture (he kept sticking his tongue in the spot where the tooth used to be):

After his first tooth fairy experience, Chase decided this tooth business was a pretty good racket, and pulled out his other tooth 4 days later. Same box was used, and same result. By the time we evacuated to Nana & Papa's for Hurricane Gustav, the $2 was burning a hole in Chase's pocket, so he got Papa to bring him to Kaffe's and somehow managed to purchase about $20 worth of stuff with his $2. Must be magic tooth fairy money.

Here's a final toothless "After" picture with 2 missing teeth:

Cole's First Day of School

Cole started school on Tuesday. He was not even a little apprehensive, and happily posed for pictures for me before leaving the house. And since Chase was now over his first day jitters, he posed for a few pictures with Cole too.
Their school allows the older siblings to walk the younger ones to their classes, so Chase brought Cole to his building before going to his own. The teacher who got them out of the car grabbed my camera and took a few pictures of them walking into school for me.
Cole seems to have had a great first day, and was excited to go back again this morning. Here are a few pictures of them:

Secure in his Manliness

We were very fortunate that Cole's teacher this summer at summer camp was his Aunt Celeste. We never missed any important events or milestones, because Aunt Celeste always has her cell phone camera with her. Important events like this one:



Charles attempted to get her to destroy the pictures, but she sent them to me anyway. I'm pretty sure I can use them when Cole's a teenager.
I like this next one. Looks like he's checking out the other outfit and thinking "Mine is so much classier."

I was a little worried what he'd say when I asked him yesterday what he'd like to be for Halloween, thinking his dad would have a stroke if he said "Cinderella," but he has decided to be a dinosaur. That sounds more like my Cole. It was nice to have a daughter, if only for a little while...

Chase's First Day of 1st Grade

Yesterday was Chase's first day of first grade and first day at his new school. He was excited, but nervous too. I bought him an alarm clock, and he was pretty pumped about that. He hopped out of bed as soon as the alarm went off and couldn't wait to put on his uniform. This uniform excitement was a big deal considering how upset he was the day we bought the uniforms. He had been excited about going to get his uniforms, then when we got to the store, he saw the uniforms for another private school and liked theirs better, and became absolutely convinced that his life would be ruined if he had to wear the other uniform. He was just beside himself the whole time in the store, and swore that he'd never wear that uniform, until they put the school logo on his uniform shirt and he realized the patch was kind of fuzzy, then he was in love. He was disappointed again when we went to the shoe store and he found out that he could only wear certain shoes with his uniform. It was a VERY long shopping day. Anyway, I'm thrilled beyond measure that he now is anxious to put on his uniform.
So on the first day of school I, of course, insisted on a little photo session. I got lots of foggy pictures (too humid outside) of him scowling at me for making him pose for pictures. I did snap one of him and Cole (Cole's still in his pj's because he doesn't start until next week). Cole wasn't too interested in the fact that Chase was leaving (he just wanted us gone so he'd have Nana's undivided attention) until Chase was almost out the door, then he went running after him for a hug.

I'm going to try to take more pictures next week on Cole's first day. Maybe I'll leave my camera outside overnight so the lens won't be fogged up by morning.

When I picked Chase up in the afternoon, he was exhausted. He's never spent a full day sitting at a table before, and he looked a little disgruntled about that, the fact that it rained and they couldn't go out for recess, and the fact that he had homework. His second day went a little better. He's still exhausted at the end of the day, but at least he got to play outside, go to PE, and the snack shop was open. Hey, he's got priorities...

Tootsie

It seems Tootsie has a little fight left in her after all. Tuesday afternoon when the kids and I went to Chase's t-ball game, we locked Tootsie in the courtyard like we always do when we leave the house. Lately, though, she has started squeezing out through the gate to play while we're gone. When we got to Chase's game, they told us it was cancelled, so we turned around and came back home, and Tootsie met me by my car. When we started walking back into the house, I noticed she was limping and bleeding. Once we got her in the house, it was pretty obvious her leg was broken, and she had some pretty large puncture wounds on her belly and leg.

The vet met us at the clinic after hours, took some x-rays, and confirmed that her back leg was broken. Something with big teeth apparently thought she looked tasty. She came home after 24 hours at the vet with a cast on her leg and on antibiotics. Her belly is pretty bruised and a little puffy looking.

She can't get her leg wet, so it has to be tied up in a bag before she can potty. She can't stand up on her own to potty, so we (I) have to take her outside and hold her up while she potties. She won't eat or drink unless we hold the water bowl for her or hand her the food one morsel at a time (at first I thought she was too weak to do it herself...now I think she's playing me). We have her inside the house in a little dog fence, and she basically just sleeps all day. It's been 4 days now, and she did lift her head and bark at me a few times today, so I guess that's a sign she's feeling better. I tried to put a bowl with a little food in her bed rather than handing her bite after bite, but I guess that was an insult to her because she overturned the bowl on the floor as soon as I walked off. I think I smell a malingerer.

Here she is (the black mark on her belly to the right of the cast is one of the puncture wounds):

Chase's Last T-Ball Game

T-ball season went by really quickly this year. Chase's last few games were rained out, but I happened to have my camera at his final game. He really enjoyed it, and I wish we'd had just a few more games for him to really get to practice what he's learned.
Here he is playing "pitcher." Ok, I know in t-ball there is no pitcher, but all the kids wanted to play that position because most of the balls come to the person playing that position and he gets to throw them to first base. At the last game, Chase finally got to "pitch."

Chase slid into every single base. He saw someone slide at the first game and after that, he slid into every base. By the end of the season, all the kids were doing it. Half the time they never even touched the base with their foot -- it was all just about getting dirty.

Cole's Days at the Ball Park

While Chase is playing t-ball, Cole has a ball playing with the other boys his age who have brothers on the team. They run up and down the bleachers (I've learned that Cole can tuck and roll when falling down bleachers and escape virtually unharmed) and drive whatever cars/trucks/trains they've brought with them that day on the benches.




When I looked up and saw him crawling along like this, he was talking out loud to himself about something and it reminded me of that scene in the Breakfast Club when Judd Nelson/Bender is crawling on top of the ceiling telling a joke. I just had to take a picture...