1st Dental Visit

Brookston had his first dental visit today! I'd say it was pretty successful and a great kid environment. He went to a pediatric place that is very kid friendly. Normally parents do not go back, but because it was his first time, they said I could come see and stay if I'd like. Out of curiosity I did and also a little selfishly, Kaisley was having more fun in the dental room/play area, then in the waiting room! :)

Anyway, when you first walk in there's a tooth brushing station. They want the kids to brush on their own (even though I always help out before or after his turn), but they want to assess what level they are on and how they are doing, then give the child tips and things to work on. He got a new tooth brush, kids toothpaste and a blue timer that shows how long he "should" brush! :)

Then, on to the dental area. There are probably 8 or so chairs all in an open area with tons of activities all around for the kids too. Brookston's favorite was the basketball hoop and waterfall. They start off letting the kids play, so not to torture them by going in the chair first thing when seeing all of the fun stuff. So, he got to play around...Kaisley following and enjoying as well. The lady said they give them at least 5 minutes, but it was more like 20..which got a little old for mama, but at least it's entertaining!

I mentioned ahead of time that I was starting to worry about the yellowing of Brookston's teeth, even though he rarely drinks juice and has limited candy and so on. But, more recently, I realized we were still using toddler training toothpaste, and maybe it was time to switch to kids toothpaste! The dental hygienist had the dentist talk to me for a minute before hand and said yes, start using kids toothpaste and that it was probably just normal build up on his teeth. He said the cleaning today would take care of it.

Boy was he right...Brookston's teeth are now SPARKLING white after seriously a 2 1/2 minute cleaning by his super speedy dental hygienist! It was quick!!!! Followed by flossing and some stuff run across his teeth. Brookston was not a fan of the cleaning. You could tell he was uncomfortable and he was boarderline crying, but he sat there, mouth open, and when he was done you could tell he was proud! About half way through I thought it may be the noise (he's quite sensitive to loud things), so I suggested to him to cover his ears, so he did and I think it helped. One bad thing about being there watching though was Kaisley saw Brookston crying and she did not like that one bit! She was worried for him!

Then, he got to play again while he waited for his turn for the dentist to see him. When the dentist came by, he counted Brookston's teeth (20), looked around and said he looked great! He commented that he has WODNERFUL spacing between his teeth and that he will most likely never have spacing issues...let's hope! :) Although apparently it's somewhat genetic for teeth to fall out late and mama had to have a baby tooth pulled at 17 years old...so, he thought he should probably mark that in his chart...nice! :)

I didn't take any pictures, but they did take a picture of Brookston and made this little card for his first visit!

Kaisley's 18 month pictures

Kaisley wasn't quite in the mood to be photographed today. I guess it helped keep our costs down! LOL! It wasn't that she was in a bad mood, she just had NO desire to stay on the back drops or look towards the camera. She was either having fun, being cute and smiling when she was on the opposite side of the studio. Or, she was right by the back drop with the props, but looking down or with her back towards the camera.

The photographer certainly worked HARD to get some shots and she did get some "cute" ones. But, I just kept thinking they really weren't HER! The photographer tried to sell me saying, well, this is just her at 18 months, but it's not. Looking at the smiles and expressions in those pictures, it just didn't say, "My Happy Kaisley".

Here she is...18 months:

This is the one that I felt like was mostly her smile and expression, so this was our package.

This is an example of how it seemed, cute, but just not her happy, beautiful, usual smile.

Sort of close to "her"....a little of her mischievous side! :)

And of course now she's running around me, smiling with those priceless faces that make me smile back with love, and she's just being so cute! I wish we could have captured THAT!

Why?

"Why"...my 17 month old's newest word! Seriously? She's barely 1 1/2...she just started talking like 2 months ago!! Thank you big brother for teaching your baby sister this lovely word and the exact way to say it to make it a typical toddler question.

I know she probably doesn't completely get it yet. But, she certain times it well. Kaisley, let's go get in the car...why? Kaisley, leave the sink drain alone...why? Kaisley, it's time to go to bed...why? I think she's learing very quick how to be a "big girl!" I'm just shocked that this question has already started!!!!

Brookston's 1st week of school

Brookston started his new school this week! Yes, they started on August 2nd! Early huh? Only a week earlier than the public schools, but a MONTH earlier than his old school (Mother's Day Out) would have started! Mama was excited about that since I could tell he was getting a bit bored of our daily grind!

Anyway, we were planning to go back to the same MDO program as last year (3 days a week for 4 hours), as we had no complaints and really loved it! Certainly helped that it was RIGHT across the street from our neighborhood so I could leave at 8:55am and have him there by 9! But, we got a phone call from the school we had been on the waiting list for since Brookston was just 18 months old! The call was only like 10 days before school started, so we had little time to think, react, or plan. It's 5 days a week, for a half day (8:30am til 12:30pm), but will go to 5 days a week, full day next year. So, we were a little hesitant. But this was what we've wanted all along, so we went for it!

Brookston LOVES "new"! New school, new teachers, new friends...he was excited! He walked right into his classroom on the first day and barely looked back to wave! Apparently the only thing that upset him was when it was lunch time on the first day, he wasn't done with his painting for Daddy! But otherwise, he's been having a blast!

School is a bit further (takes about 13 minutes and it's interstate, so I'm always worried about traffic or an accident making me super late), the hours for half day are 8:30am til 12:30pm, so it's a bit more difficult to plan the rest of the day to have any entertainment for Kaisley...but so far, it seems like we've made a great decision.

The teachers are great (and I know Brookston loves them as he gave them hugs when he left today), he's having fun, he's already come home with some new facts (like yellow and blue make green, which he learned when he was finger painting with yellow and blue), he's done some fun projects (like gluing shapes together to make a schoolhouse), and did I mention that THEY provide breakfast and lunch! Yes! That's right, mama doesn't have to pack anything! :) Plus, I'm already developing what I hope is only an involved parent/teacher relationship, not an annoying parent/teacher relationship! I like getting a few details from his day...last year I felt like I stayed too quiet and never knew a thing about Brookston's day!

Okay, last funny fact. Nap time for those kids that stay all day is from 12:30 til 2:30, they start winding down at 12:15. Pick up for half day kids is at 12:30. So, the last 15 minutes for half day kids is quiet time, reading books or coloring. Well, Monday through Wednesday Brookston's only complaint was that he wanted to sleep on the little blue bed (a cot), just like the other kids! So, we brought his blanket and baby (his lovie) with him on Thursday and he was happily laying (wide awake) in a cot! He was excited to lay on the little blue bed. Guess who wasn't laying down today, Friday! LOL! Guess the excitement was over once he tried it and realized it's not that special! :)

North Carolina - Random

Just some random pictures from our time in North Carolina...

Kaisley wanted to be like Brookston (watching TV...although she looks like she still had a mouthful from breakfast!!)

As we packed the car for the beach, Kaisley climbed through the passenger seat, to the drivers seat and thought she was super cool!

Brookston in Papa's kayak (or as he called it, the gondola)

Kaisley ready to go to a friend's house for dinner

Brookston just hanging out

Kaisley and her "PAL" buddy, Cullen. They came for a visit from Winston-Salem!

Nana and Papa's neighbor kids had a Lightning McQueen car that they let us borrow for a couple days! Talk about a 3 year old boy's dream!!!

Kaisley couldn't reach the pedal (luckily because it went FAST!), so Brookston pushed her a little! So sweet!

Nana, Papa, and Brookston were supposed to play Putt-Putt golf while at the beach, but it rained both times they were planning to go. Since Brookston was so geared up and excited to try it out, they ended up going once we got back "home" from the beach! He seemed to have a blast!

Papa, Brookston, Kaisley, and Nana

Well, this is my last North Carolina post...in case you missed there's a "beach", "Marble's Museum" and "Tweetsie Railroad" post below, all from our NC trip!

North Carolina - Beach

The second half of our stay in North Carolina Daddy had to head back home to work. But Mommy, Brookston, Kaisley and Nana headed to the beach. Papa joined us for the weekend.

Last fall Brookston had a blast in the sand. But he was very fearful of the water after his first attempted ended in a wipeout! This year, on day one he stayed away from the water and both kids just played in the sand and a big old tub full of water. But, by day 2, both kids started getting brave and having fun in the ocean!

The big bucket of water...hours of entertainment!

Happy Hour on the beach...Kaisley's way of "chillin"

Brookston being Mr. Cool

The first day of the kids and their new love for the ocean!

Brookston jumping waves with Papa

Brookston heading to the beach

Kaisley headed to the beach (just like her brother, of course!)

Brave little girl, testing the water

More fun in the water

Mommy and Brookston waiting for the water to get us!

North Carolina - Marbles Museum

I could tell you about the hundreds of things to do at this awesome kids muesum! Seriously, we could have gone back for 3 days in a row and still not done it all. We probably should have gone again during our visit! We also went last summer during our visit, but this year Kaisley was old enough to enjoy, along with Brookston of course! There is just so much fun stuff to do, it's really just a blast!

I tried to limit myself from the 60 pictures I could post...

Dressed and ready to hop on the fire truck

Kaisley feeding the little piggy a bottle

Kaisley was playing in the garden...all over the place!

Brookston enjoyed dressing up and coming out onto stage...I think he enjoyed the attention when he came out from behind the curtain!

Water time!

Kaisley ended up soaked!! No big shocker there!

Surfing was a blast!

Brookston and daddy at the work bench

Kaisley loved the room full of balls!!!! They were EVERYWHERE and there was a million things to do with them, places to put them, things to climb on...you name it!

Kaisley playing doctor

North Carolina - Tweetsie Railroad

We just got home from a 2 week vacation to North Carolina, to visit Nana and Papa. Daddy was able to join us for week one, while the kids and I stayed for an additional week.

Our first stop was Tweetsie Railroad, a kiddo theme park, designed around an old coal train. We did a countdown until our trip to NC for almost 3 weeks! And each day I asked Brookston what we were counting down until, he said to visit Nana and Papa and to go on the train. He was SO excited about the train. When we first arrived he was so eager to get on, he sat down so excited, all smiles...until the whistle blew...then it was all over. He is very sensitive to loud noises and that ruined it for him, he hid in Nana's lap, covering his ears then entire ride.

Mommy and Kaisley on the big train

Nana and Brookston on the big train (before the whistle blew) see the HAPPY face!

Luckily there was plenty more to do and he had a blast with everything else!

Flying the airplane

After his airplane ride

Brookston driving the car with Nana

Flying the fighter jet with determination

Riding the boat...and ringing the bell

Panning for gold

Kaisley just playing in water

Now this train Brookston was excited about!

Our family on the train

Kaisley helping to push Brookston at the playground

Feeding the animals (in ice cream cones)

Papa, Brookston, and Nana on the chairlift

Even Kaisley did the chair lift!

Daddy & Kaisley and Brookston on the horses