All I Want for Christmas is One Front Tooth

Ahhh, parenthood. We haven't had to deal with broken bones, stitches, or other mishaps up until now. During the week we decided to visit our friends, the Bybees, up in Chicago while waiting to pick up my father-in-law from a business trip. Nadia tripped and did a nose dive on a brick patio a few hours before we were supposed to pick up Grandpa. The result? Two chipped front teeth and one so badly cracked that it need to be extracted. Just writing this seems kind of anticlimactic considering the couple hours of trying to decide what to do and where to go. My dentist was completely useless when I called because "they don't treat children under 4 years old". My pediatrician was a little less useless by directing me to our local pediatric dentist that wasn't in on Friday and didn't take our insurance. My friend who is a dental hygienist was a lifesaver by telling me to see if the crack extended into the gum line and if it did, then it needed to be removed. We looked, and it did, so we got to looking for a dentist nearby that would take our insurance and would let us come in on a Friday.

It was unbelievable to me that so many weren't in the office or refused to take us in until Monday. Meanwhile Nadia refused to eat or drink and was clearly in pain. Finally a dentist's whose 1pm appointment had projectile vomiting let us come in. I was supposed to pick up my father-in-law at 1pm, but I didn't want Nadia to be in pain any longer than necessary, so my blessed friend Jessica picked him up while I raced off to the dentist. It took 3 of us to hold Nadia down while the dentist took the shattered tooth out and she still managed to give me a good kick every now and then. Poor thing! When all was said and done, we headed back to Jessica's to get Rowan and Grandpa and go back home. Unfortunately, I didn't bring reverse directions for the way back and got lost, adding another 30+ minutes to our travel time. Meanwhile Nadia was crying all the way saying "Mommy, owie!". Cue the mental breakdown. Again my friend saved me by calling and talking me through it and helping me find the street I needed. What a day!

Hill Billy Baby


The Back- you can see how it spilt all the way up

The front- a shattered mess

I was amazed how big the root is!


Our luck continued into the weekend when a football game and bad weather interfered with every activity we had planned to do with Grandpa. Reindeer farm? Too wet. Bowling? Too busy. Several not-to-be-missed restaurants? At least an hour wait. We still are so grateful for his short visit and the effort he made to come see us. The kids still got plenty of fun time with Grandpa and were clearly sad to have him go. Hopefully it won't be such a disaster next time!

Some of the good times...
I think Grandpa is in the midst of playing three different games with the kids here. Throwing ball, pillow fights, and tickling. Quite the multi-tasker!