The Dreaded Dentist

I've been dreading this appointment for more than two years.

May 26, 2012 (or close to it at least) our pediatrician told us that they recommend children begin seeing a dentist about age 2.

Let me set this up by mentioning that until the age of three Maggie LOST it every doctor's appointment we had.

Screaming.
Crying.
Fits.

And that was just to get on the scale, don't even ask about shots!
So the idea of having my girl lay in a dentist chair, with her mouth wide open while a stranger poked around on her teeth was a bit unrealistic at that time.

Fast forward two years and I knew that I had better get the dentist relationship started.

We prepared the girls as best we could. We talked about what would happen so they wouldn't be surprised. We read several books on "Going to the Dentist." Maggie even took a trip with my mom when she visited the dentist.

Well, last week the day had come.

I'd like to tell you that all of our hard work paid off. That my girls were a champ and marched into the office, sat quietly in their chair mouth agape. But alas, I can not tell a lie. Only half of them were brave.

The tears began when we entered and were putting on the bib. They gave the girls a chance to pick out a princess toothbrush. Ellie picked quickly, Maggie had to dry her tears long enough to see the options.

When we walked back to the space where the chairs were set up, the waterworks began anew.

I reasoned, I encouraged, I begged, I pleaded, I threatened.

And still Maggie freaked. I remembered then about the second child I had brought and turned to find Ellie.

Ellie did AMAZING!!! She just hopped up into the chair, chose her toothpaste and opened wide. 

And then there was Maggie.

They were not able to use any of their dentistry tools. They brushed her teeth like I had that morning. I even tried to do the flossing myself, but she wouldn't calm down enough for us to have a conversation about anything. 

Ellie got a bit upset when they dentist came in to check things out, probably because she was worried about getting shots. (Maggie had gotten three for her 4 year old well check up the week before.) But a little tickle session had her calmed down and able to follow the dentist's instructions. 

Thankfully, there was no trouble for Ellie's teeth and Maggie gets a chance to do it again in six months. 

She will go with both her Daddy and I to see us handle it between now and then. We will also have lots of conversations leading up to the appointment. I'm hoping that Ellie doing so well will influence Maggie a bit. Beyond that, the hysterical freak out session is why she lost her prize for the visit. Still trying to figure out how to let her be emotional, in an appropriate amount. 

Ravens Run Nature Park

We Lusks have had a very busy summer so far.

Between play dates, game nights, library visits, birthdays, doctor appointments, Father's Day, VBS and family visits we have just been busy. A good busy though.

Last Saturday, we woke with two jumpy girls in our bed and realized we didn't have anything planned until the late afternoon. With the forecast calling for gorgeous weather we decided a hike would be a great thing.

We went to Ravens Run Nature Preserve and attempted our first family hike.

We weren't sure how the girls would do. We've taken several walks through our hilly neighborhood, but we haven't really been in real life nature. That coupled with my girls terrible fear of bugs of all kinds, including ants and flies, we were going to just try our best.

We chose the green path, which was marked as the easiest. But because of our terrible sense of direction we ended up on the red, or moderate path, for a bit. 

We passed by a family, or rather they passed us, and each of the kids had walking sticks. It wasn't the first time my girls had picked up a stick during a walk, but they usually call them their Moses sticks. 

Maggie was excited to be out in the "jungle", until she learned that we probably wouldn't see any "amimals". 

We were on the look out the entire trip, but only came across a few butterflies. Ellie however found a bumblebee.

She crouched watching it for several minutes. Then this conversation began. 

Ellie: (Reaching out to touch the bumblebee) I want to touch it.

Me: No, it will sting you. We don't touch bumblebees. 

She pulled her arm back and kept watching. 

She then turned to me, smiled and said, "I touch it."

Then quickly reached out and touched the bumblebee. 

She can be so fearless...though that night at dinner she went hysterical when a fly was flying around her plate. 

I wanted to get a family picture while on our adventure. I set up the camera and set the timer.

And failed.

And failed. 

And failed again. 

Then a couple of sweet girls came upon us and got one for us. 

The trail was really nice and very shaded. It had rained a few days before our adventure, so some of the trail was a bit moist. The ground was perfect for capturing tracks. We found several deer track and a couple of dog tracks too. 

We went for about an hour at a very leisurely pace and then stopped for a water break. 

We ended up going for just over two hours and the girls completed 3.5 miles. We weren't sure how long or how far the girls were going to last, but they did an incredible job. Ellie only had about 10 minutes riding her personal chauffeur. 

 We plan on making this a recurring family outing.