The Dentist - Take I

Today was Weston's first trip to the dentist.  He was fairly apprehensive about the whole deal and his mood didn't lighten upon arrival.  We brought Miles for a little moral support and he took his role very seriously. Actually, it started last night while the boys were snuggled in bed -- Miles coached Weston about what to expect and encouraged him to try the cookie dough flavored toothpaste.  I'm pretty sure Weston thought the whole conversation was a joke...cookie dough toothpaste?!  This dentist thing ain't real! No way!

Sorry buddy, it's for realz.

Behind the scenes, Westy is a loud, silly, wild little boy.  He always has a song playing in his head and a mischievous twinkle in his eye....life is one big game and he can't wait to rally the team for another round :-)

When it comes to things like haircuts, doctor appointments, and now dental visits, his little world is disrupted and his fight-or-flight instincts start screaming for him to flee.  Poor little guy!  Actually, the haircut experience has improved tremendously...so I'm optimistic that we can overcome this fear of the dentist some day, too.

Ever since the first toothbrush worked its magic in Weston's mouth (a good 2 1/2 years ago), we've talked with him about the importance of keeping his teeth healthy.  Part of that means having a checkup with the dentist.  Miles contributes to the discussion by talking about the special tickly brush, the flavored toothpaste, the light above the chair, and the awesome bag of goodies you get when you're done. We looked at some pictures of Miles last trip to the dentist a few weeks ago, and that was that.  Easy peasy.

Weston had other plans.  He wasn't ready for fancy toothpaste and he could not have cared less if he had 20 teeth or 200 teeth.  He sat on mommy's lap in the dental chair and cried big dinosaur tears.  After a bit of coaxing, he opened his mouth so Dr. Huxford could take a peek (from 4 feet away).  Suddenly the sadness turned to nervous giggling, and words of praise came pouring out of Miles' mouth.

"Good job, Westy!"
"Open bigger, Westy!"

Dr. Huxford was pleased with the color of Weston's teeth (we are trying to keep him away from coffee so as to minimize the staining) and with how nicely they are arranged.  I must say he does have an impressive little set of teeth....fingers crossed his adult teeth line up so perfectly, too.  I can't imagine orthodontics are getting any cheaper by the year.

We spent a little more time in the dental chair checking out the various tools that the hygienist uses to clean teeth.  Miles was her right hand man (literally), retrieving tools and putting them back in place when she was done demonstrating them for Weston.

Here's the one picture I snapped of the event.  A proud little boy picking out a toothbrush and pencil...with a little advice from his big bro, of course!

Today's experience proved to us once again that although Miles and Weston have a lot of similarities, the very core of their personalities is quite different. Which is how it should be since they are two special and unique little boys :-)  Miles' first trip to the dentist was a total breeze.  Below is the evidence (along with the same - extremely patient - hygienist!).  A little nervous, but playing it calm and cool.

I wonder what kind of comparison we'll make in another 13 years when Weston takes his driver's license exam?!  Eeeeek!

HGE 2013

It’s that time of year for the Potts family to prepare for the annual Holiday Gift Exchange – or more simply put, the HGE.  I have the honor of serving as the (un)official HGE Coordinator.  While I’d like to say that I was The Chosen One this year because of my status as favorite Potts child, the truth is…well…several weeks ago I mentioned to mom that a superhero theme would be fun and she said, “So you’re volunteering to be the HGEC then?  Great!  You’d better get going on it so we all have time to plan.”  Deep down she knows she is the only one who really plans anything in this family, so I’m not too worried about the timeliness of this initial communication to the crew.  It’s quite likely most (if not all) shopping will be done online anyway.  And it’s also quite likely that most (if not all) online orders will be shipped to mom’s house for storage (and maybe a little organizing, because she’s good at that).

So here we are, folks.  For those of you who haven’t heard about the Potts Family HGE, it’s the annual exchange of gifts between adults to celebrate Christmas and a little bit of Hanukkah (we pride ourselves on being a blended family).  Participants include parents Jill/Larry, siblings Elisabeth/Charlie/Annie, and the characters who married into the family – Evan/Angie/Tanner.  The event itself usually doesn’t kick off until well after 9pm when all minions have (mostly) fallen asleep.  It may or may not include adult beverages (i.e. mostly Diet Coke, but some potent lemon liquor has been consumed in previous years).

The rules this year are fairly basic because nobody has time to for it to be complicating.  Here we go… 

In no particular order:

• In case you didn’t pick up on it already, the theme is SUPERHEROES!
•  Every HGE participant (giftee) will be assigned a name (giftee) for whom they are to purchase a gift.
• Multiple gifts are allowed, but may be construed as “favoritism” toward the giftee.  Totally fine if the gifter is Larry/Jill and the giftee is me.  Perhaps a bit awkward if the gifter is Evan and the giftee is Angie.  Just sayin’.  Keep in mind that superheroes do not have favorites – they come to the rescue of all people, regardless of race/ethnicity/gender/religious beliefs/scent/smartness.
• Maximum dollar value to be spent on gift(s) = $50.  Quit freaking out, Tanner.  I said it’s the maximum amount.  You can spend less.  But you might be called a jerk.
• No gift cards allowed.  Mainly because that’s always been a rule it’s a good one.
• The gift you purchase for your giftee must somehow tie back to the superhero theme.
• Creativity is always welcomed and generally required when purchasing the gift(s).  Refrain from buying someone a Batmobile or a catwoman suit.  Way too obvious (but totally awesome ideas!).
• As usual, you will be required to defend your gift at the time of gifting it to your giftee.  Props, songs, poetry, and other forms of entertainment are encouraged.

And some food for thought:

• Watch out for supervillains – they are not superheroes and nothing about them would make for a nice gift to your giftee.
• Remember that not all superheroes have super powers. For some reason that kind of makes me feel a little sentimental….hold on a minute while I wipe this tear from my eye.
• Okay.  Better now.
• Howard the Duck is considered a superhero, greatly skilled in Quakfu.  Interesting, no?
• There is a world superhero registry.  I’m pretty sure this would be a great resource for dad’s genealogy research.
• In your spare time (admit it – you have plenty!), I encourage you to create your own superhero:  http://marvel.com/games/play/31/create_your_own_superhero
• I was going to assign a superhero to each person but let’s be honest…you’re all superheroes just the way you are, so there’s no need to give you alternative identities.  Sigh.

And for a little inspiration, I leave you with Miles’ latest coloring job.  Who is this woman?  A superhero’s wife, of course.  He said it, not me….

You’ll receive the name of your giftee in the next day or two (I’m a little parched from this initial post) via email.  Check back on the blog for ideas, inspiration, and the occasional new or changed rule.  Keeps things fun when the game changes a bit.

Big Birthday Weekend

The Big Weekend of Birthday Fun lived up to its name!  I'll let the pictures do most of the storytelling.  You can use your imagination for some of it, too...the wilder, the better.

Things kicked off on Friday morning with Ms. Jen and the Kindergarten class.  Miles was busy working at one of the writing centers in his class room when I arrived.  He had to label some Thanksgiving-themed pictures.  He debated how to label the pilgrim's footwear... Are they shoes?  Boots?  Is there a fancy word for pilgrim footwear that we don't know?  We went with boots.  I think that's a safe bet.

Next it was time to pop bubbles as the class sang a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday.

Then Miles gloved up so he could serve puppy chow (not the REAL kind, as all 15 kindergartners took turns explaining) to his friends as a special birthday treat.  I think wearing the gloves was secretly the highlight of his morning....

At Miles' request, we went to Newt's in Rochester for supper on Friday night.  Newt's is known for their burgers and fries.  As far as Miles and Weston are concerned, the place is known for their popcorn, lemonade, and mac & cheese.  Add to it a birthday sundae!  And a dollar bill from some grandparents sitting near us who were clearly lonely for their grandchildren and were obviously fooled by Miles and Westy's mostly appropriate behavior during supper!  It was a fun night on the town.

Finally Saturday arrived, which meant official present opening day.  Miles didn't miss a beat.

Weston did, however.  He was quite upset over the fact that he couldn't tear into packages and bags himself. A tough reality check for this 3 year old.  He angrily threw tissue paper around the room until he decided he'd gotten enough attention.

Ethan, Owen, Uncle Charlie, Grandma Jill, and Grandpappy spent much of the day celebrating with us in Otown.  It doesn't look like any adults were around based on these pictures, but I promise there were...

After lunch the boys insisted on playing outside in the frigid November air.  It was ~10 degrees, but under 0 with the wind.  Brrrrr.

If you do a head count, you'll notice one boy is missing.  Ethan decided it was too cold for his own good and went inside.  He proceeded to take off his pants to warm up.  No pictures of that, but it must have worked because a couple other boys followed suit (or lack thereof) and immediately stopped complaining about being cold.  Hmmmmm.

On to Sunday.  We bundled up and went to St. Peter to continue celebrating Packer style at Grandpa Dave and Grandma Doreen's house.

Uncle Will and Auntie Anne were taking care of Kobe for the weekend, which meant the boys had another playmate for the day.  Miles loved helping with all of the dog-related chores, and Weston (who is usually terrified of dogs) got a kick out of playing fetch with Kobe.  Kobe is very sweet and tolerated the boys very well....and that takes a very special kind of dog.

After a little (or big) cookie cake --

Miles decided that being 6 means he can sit on the counter at Grandma's house.  When he was 3, he was quick to tell Grandpa Dave that sitting up there was a "sad choice".  My, how times change.

The NC cousins helped us celebrated Miles' birthday, too, with a very cute birthday video message.  Here's a shot from their performance....

We missed having them around for the excitement, but do appreciate their e-participation.  And their attempt to make us feel better about the cold weather -- nothing like wearing winter hats and summer dresses (with little cardigans, of course)!

Happy birthday, Miles Jay Grimmius.  We love you all the way to Z and are so glad you were born!*

*On a side note:  As I was snuggling Miles in bed on his big birthday night, I spent a minute reminding him how much I love him and how the last 6 years have been so awesome - he brings so much joy to our family and makes us so proud.  I didn't think I was over-doing it, but apparently I went on a little too long about my deep, unconditional love for that boy... He smiled and giggled, then leaned over the railing on his top bunk bed so he could see Weston and said, "Hey Westy, have you ever watched a dog go up or down stairs?  It's really funny because they have four legs.  I'll have Kobe show you tomorrow!"  I got the hint, smooched the boys good night, and let them get back to other important dog related topics.  Sigh.