My girls.

Today, this morning, my Adrienne lost her first tooth. Most kids are delighted by this event, and the knowledge that they are going to find a dollar or something under their pillows the next morning. Not my girl. Nope. She was devastated.

Now, this had actually been a long time coming. Back at the end of May she was playing at the Pear Blossom Cottage (in Korea, mere days before we left the country) and she ran around a corner... just as a little boy was running around the corner in the opposite direction. As luck would have it he was just about a head shorter than Adrienne. Her front tooth got knocked loose, I had to take her up to the ER and the dentist. They assured me that if she was careful she would be able to keep her tooth and it would firm up again. If not her adult teeth were already there, visible in the x-ray, and she would begin losing teeth in a year or so in all likelihood.

Well, the thing is, my dear sweet Adrienne is NOT careful. She's a bit clumsy. She comes by it honestly--in this respect she is SOOOO much like her Daddy it's laughable. When I was a kid I skipped and ran everywhere. She skips, runs, and trips. Takes it all in stride. Unfortunately these habits have brought her at least three re-injuries of her tooth. Once she ran into her little sister Genevieve. Once she tripped while brushing her teeth and banged her mouth on the sink (ouch, I know). And then she somehow managed to bang it on the drawer of her dresser while getting ready for bed (I have no idea how).

She's been to the dentist here. During the first visit he noted that it was still mobile. Apparently he didn't mention it at the second visit (she's got a couple cavaties, the dentist blames it on her sleeping with her mouth open and her having "an acidic mouth", she is actually very good about teeth brushing). Well... third visit she's going in one tooth short. Because it fell out while she was eating breakfast this morning.

I was laying on the couch relaxing when she comes running up to me wailing and crying. I looked up and asked her what was wrong, imagining that she'd injured herself. What I see is her holding her tooth between two fingers, a gap in her front teeth, and tears pouring down her face. Devastated. I had told her for awhile that she would lose the tooth. For awhile she was asking me every night if she'd lose her tooth and when I said "yes, someday you will. everyone loses their teeth and grows new ones" she would cry and insist that she wanted to keep her tooth. "I'm not going to lie to you just to make you happy. Some day it's going to fall out." She was never happy with that answer. Today after cuddling with me for a few minutes she calmed down and said "You told me that some day my tooth would fall out."

She's pretty chipper now... but I think if I tell her that she will lose other teeth someday she will FREAK OUT.

In other news we are now a two car family for the first time ever. Matt has been taking the car every morning but he came to the realization that with dentist, dermatologist, pediatrician, and whenever I decide to call and make the appointment, OBGYN appointments to get to it will be a pain in the butt to try and bring him back and forth. We don't go anywhere and the kids are bored and kind of lonely. They need outings to the library and such. It's hard meeting new people sometimes, but (before i started getting morning sickness) if we go out and do stuff they are satisfied. Now, hopefully, the sickness is easing up and I can start functioning normally again. (Knock on wood.) We went out both Friday and Saturday and I fared really well. This was huge because it's been WEEKS, early October at least, that I've been anywhere outside my own front door. Please God let this part be over for me! Anyway, my original point was it's kinda weird looking out at our parking spaces and seeing two cars. It's also nice to know that when I go into labor and Colleen is here with my kids she'll have transportation if she needs to take them anywhere, neither she or Matt will be stuck anywhere. Nice to know that I won't be having to get up early to drive Matt in to work when we have appointments, too. I'm lazy.

Oh, speaking of the dermatologist... I am happy and sad in a way. Genevieve's eczema is finally starting to clear up, but it comes with the downside that I have steroid creams to thank for it. She's been through a couple treatments before, back when we were in Korea that were ineffective. (Elidel and hydrocortisone cream--which did nothing to help, and Triamcinalone--which actually did work but 3 days after stopping the 2 week treatment she flared back up again. AND the derm said is too strong for a child Genevieve's age... makes me want to call Dr. C. and tell him he's a dumbass.) So the doctor prescribed 5 medications. A antibotic for the underlying infection from scratching (always recurring in children with eczema), three steroids (of different strengths for different degrees of severity in her flare ups, and a daily lotion (available by 'scrip only). We started with the mid-range steroid (I kind of think the doctor wanted me to start with the strongest but I got confused and Genevieve's skin isn't THAT bad right now so I started with the middle strength), we've been using that for two days along with the daily cream (I put it on her ar night right before bed, it helps control her night itching--two nights and she hasn't woken up crying for lotion because she itches, this makes me so happy, it has been SO long since we had good nights with her) and her skin is already looking better. Hopefully we can wean her fron the steroid creams once her skin clears up, but for now... I'll do what I have to to give her relief. No more dry, scaly, scabby skin for my baby, Please! Thank you Dr. Lane.

I love the way we are.

I went out to the kitchen to get myself a snack (something which I do at least hourly these days) and Adrienne (5) comes out to me and says "I'm hungry."

"What do you want?"

"A toaster strudel."

"Ok, you can make one." (Her father taught her how and she is very careful. We have these little wooden tongs for taking the bread out of the toaster so no one gets burned.)

"No, I want you to make it."

"Slave driver!"

"That's not a very nice thing to say."

"No, it's not. Do you know what it means?"

"No."

"It means you want me to do all the work while you sit on your butt."

"But, I'm tired."

I laugh, "So am I! You're just sitting watching TV. I'm making a baby!"

She smiles and says "Yeah." and leaves me to make her toaster strudel.

I just ate a mozzarella cheese stick and now I don't feel so good. I shoulda stuck with the dang grapefruit.