Liam Goes to the Dentist and Takes Up Medicine

I'm really glad I like our dentist so much because we are going to be spending some time there in the coming weeks!  It turns out that Liam has some cavities.  We went today for a routine cleaning and they did some X-rays.  The trouble is between his teeth, so there are three different places they will need to work on with possibly as many as six cavities.  We've been alternating between fluoride and non-fluoride toothpaste since the fluoride stiff is minty flavored and he hates that.  It turns out that the flavor he likes comes with fluoride too, so we'll need to get some of that.

Here are some pictures of Liam at the dentist.  He would have worn his "Cars" sunglasses to keep the bright light out of his eyes, but we couldn't find them, so he had to borrow mine.  He didn't actually like wearing them much and took them off whenever the light wasn't actually in use.

He did his best to bite down hard on the X-ray plates.  They did a few extras to try to be sure of where the problems are, but in one spot we will still have to wait until they get started to find out if it's in one or two teeth.

They like to use "laughing gas" on kids to help them relax and make them easier to work on.  So that should be an interesting experiment.  Liam explained to me that the reason he was "behaving so well" today was that he was very comfortable in the chair and felt sleepy.  They do a great job of explaining what they are going to do at this office, but I do think that the filling process could be a little intimidating.

When we got home he wanted me to read to him or play with him or let him play computer games or SOMETHING.  I wasn't very responsive - just needed to sit and veg out for a few minutes.  Finally he used a piece of an invitation to a birthday party that he cut up several weeks ago to take my temperature (in my elbow).  He discovered that my temperature was "50 degrees warm."  When he asked me I told him that definitely meant I was sick, so he gave me some medicine.  I said it made me feel much better, but he said it didn't work that fast, I had to wait five days - or sleep a lot.  I said I"d be happy to sleep, but he clarified that I would only be sleeping "pretendly."  Then he got a comforter and some stuffed animals (including a "love monkey" which, as he clarified is actually a "love squirrel" and needs to be naked when it sleeps) from his room so that we could snuggle as that's what one does to "pretendly" sleep.  He also brought some stories, but when I wouldn't read them he gave up on the scheme and started building a Thomas track.