Can I get a mouth-transplant?

The reason I have not blogged in the past week is because I'm sick and tired of writing about my stupid teeth. Some days I wish I could have them all removed and exchange them for a set of dentures I could take out every night and place in a glass of scope.

But I digress...

The root canal was easy. The healing, not so. I could go into a long, drawn out, soliloquy about how folks with TMJ (like myself) often have a hard time healing from root canals because the ligaments that support our teeth and jaw are overworked and underpaid, but that would likely be boring and nobody would make it to the end of my post (if you're still reading, I applaud you). So instead, I'll go on to more interesting matters.

My son. My son to whom I have taught quite a few signs. My son whom I still nurse. My son. His worlds of nursing and signing have collided and now my toddler has figured out how to "ask" for "milk time" (as we call nursing in our home). I cannot tell you how long I've been waiting for him to learn how to do this, but more than that, I cannot tell you how much I want him to quickly forget how to ask. Why? because now that he's figured it out HE WON'T STOP ASKING. There are parts of my body which were quite enjoying what they surely figured was the weaning process at work - but alas, it wasn't. it was apparently just a break.

Ah well. I haven't seen many college students still breastfeeding, so I can only assume he'll quit one day. And when that day comes, I'm sure I will be very sad and wish that I could still scoop him up in my arms and nurse the blues away. I'd better savor this.

Speaking of new things Levi is doing, he has also recently learned how to climb - nay, jump - up onto each and every piece of furniture in our home. Not only that, but has figured out that if he climbs onto a piece of furniture, he can climb onto higher things from there (i.e. the bay window, the kitchen table, etc.) Nothing is safe. Nothing. I am awaiting the day I come back from a short bathroom trip to find him swinging from the curtain rod.

I have cute pictures I'd love to post (like the one of Levi and jonathan, both chowing down on Gyro meat at our local Greek Festival. Who knew my kid liked spiced lamb?) but as usual my camera is upstairs with my light-sleeping baby. One of these days I'll surely remember to bring it down.

One of these days.

Do you say that a lot? I feel like I use that phrase ALL THE TIME! And yet I guess all it means is that my time is filled with the things that matter, and everything else takes a back seat. And that's ok.

Drum roll please

Well, I did it.

After a couple nights of wake-you-up-mid-sleep pain, I called and scheduled a root-canal on what I *think* is the problem tooth. I had it done at 11:00 yesterday.

And ya know what? it was - get ready - easier than getting my crown put on. Yes, that's right, I said easier.

I have a theory that the people who say "root canals are TERRIBLE!" are really just remembering all the pain they were in prior to the root canal, because let me tell you, once Dr. Rush numbed me up, I could have fallen asleep. It was the first time in DAYS I hadn't felt my mouth throbbing.

Ok, now all the poking and prodding was no picnic. It's not like I'd sign myself up for another one tomorrow just to fill some free time, but it was NOTHING like the horror stories I've heard, and very much like the few no-nonsense stories some friends and family members have told me. I did choose to go to an endodontist (a root-canal specialist) and that may have made a HUGE difference in my experience, but I don't have anything to compare it to.

For those of you who have had the procedure done in the past, yes, I did have to have "interpulpal" numbing (numbing inside the tooth), which is typically the most painful part of a root canal but I have to say it was no big deal. She said "I'm going to count to three and the in-tooth numbing will be over". And it was.

Remember back up at the top where I said I *think* it was the tooth that was so bothersome. Well, I still do, but there is a possibility that the one next to it is also problematic. I'm trying, for now anyway, not to borrow tomorrow's troubles by thinking about it. The whole area is rather sore, and I'm on a good deal of Ibuprophen to take care of all that gum-tissue pain that is expected with any invasive dental work, so we'll see how it all feels after I stop taking Advil in a few days.

For now though, everything in my mouth feels MUCH better. Whether I need more work or not, this feels like a great improvement. Granted, I haven't chewed anything on that side yet, and I'm quite hesitant to touch my top and bottom teeth together (although part of that may be because I'm scared that it will hurt and prove that I need more work done) but I'd consider the procedure a grand success.

So, thanks for your prayers everyone, it was no fun, but it's over for now!

I'll post a picture of my tooth x-ray for you to ogle at when I get time.

NOT ME Monday

Oh gee, I make so many embarrassing moves each week, it's hard to pick so few that a post will be short enough to be enjoyable. Here goes.

This Saturday we had our lifegroup over for brunch. It was absolutely lovely. So lovely, that I kept reminding my husband, all afternoon, how wonderful it was to have everyone over. Before they came I baked a batch of cinnamon rolls (with a disgustingly simple recipe that I really should post sometime) and I certainly did NOT run out of both brown sugar and powdered sugar. Actually, to be honest, I did not look and find that I had two, nay, only one tablespoon of powdered sugar with which to make icing (who even KEEPS one tablespoon of powdered sugar anyway??). I did not proceed by asking my dear neighbor for hers. Which reminds me, I did not also borrow nonfat dry milk from her a couple of days ago for yogurt making.

My husband and I went on a date yesterday afternoon (thank you Blaskes!) and upon arriving at our favorite local restaurant (the green gateau) I was certainly NOT informed that they were in fact closed. No, I always check things like this BEFORE we plan a childcare-provided date with one another. I'm a GOOD planner after all. After said restaurant turned us away we did not walk aimlessly around downtown, noting that 90% of ALL the restaurants were closed on Sunday afternoons. (I should note that we DID have a fantastic time with one another after we found a local dive called yia yia's, and shared ice cream at ivana cone)

In preperation for Levi's friend Teague to spend the week with us I did a little preparing in the way of cutting up some fruit and veggies, and preparing some easy-fix dinners for the week. However, I did NOT forget two MAJOR ingredients for the roast I was going to throw into the crock pot this morning. I'm so organized, I would never forget ingredients. Not only that, but I would NOT forget to even put said ingredients on my grocery list. Ugh. Hope you like pastaroni hubby.

Upon looking at the thermostat in the house this morning (which read 68 degrees, very low for this time of year) I did not tempt fate and wear a sweater WITH a jacket out this morning. No, I did not ignore the weather man when he said that, despite the morning cool, we would indeed reach 90 this afternoon. I know Nebraska's Fall's well by now, I know that this is how it goes: cold in the morning, scorching in the afternoon. I am not still wearing said sweater because I'm scared that if I so much as move an arm muscle I'll wake one of the two sleeping toddlers.

...speaking of those toddlers... They have certainly NOT defied all my expectations of fit throwing and melt-downing by being complete cherubs the entire morning. They also did not BOTH go down for naps at the SAME TIME without so much as a peep of discontentment. Because we have a small house which is very poorly insulated I am NOT relegating myself to the couch for the duration of their naps - however long that may be. I do NOT have to pee (just keep repeating that to myself)

How about you? I bet you never do anything to embarrass yourself (you certainly don't misspell the word "embarrass" as much as I do, I bet. and even if you did I'm SURE those little red misspelling underlines wouldn't drive you NUTSO as you continue typing and then have to go back and correct them because you CAN'T STAND their red-lineyness. Is that even a word?)

Happy Monday everyone, happy Monday.

Sharing, or lack there of.

I don't know how my son learned his most recent behavior - I don't know if he learned it from one of us, or if he's just acting on his in-born sinful nature. Anyhow, here's how playdates go:

Scene:

• Teague (Levi's buddy) has a toy
• Levi runs up to Teague, screams, and pulls it - nay - rips it from his hands
• A laid back Teague moves on to a different toy
• Assuming this toy must be more interesting than the first, Levi runs up to Teague, screams, and rips it from his hands
• A laid back Teague moves on to a different toy
• Remembering that THIS was indeed the toy he wanted, Levi runs up to Teague, screams, and rips it from his hands
• I step in and hold said toy on my lap for both boys to use at the same time.
• Cue temper tantrum and all-out wail fest from my flesh and blood.

And... Curtain.

So, what do I do?

EVERY time someone picks up a toy - any toy - my son simply HAS to have it. It's thoroughly aggrivating for me, and I can only imagine how irritated his little pals are going to become. Of course, it's worse with the toys at our house than it is when we're in the homes of others, but it happens there too. He's determined to get his way.

Wait - did I just describe a toddler?

Possibly, but there simply MUST be a cure for this type of behavior. How do I teach him that he cannot take toys from others - at the ripe old age of 15 months? I need a strategy here people. Help!

After writing this post, I found This article which describes, to the letter, what Levi does. Even the "proto-sharing" which he's an ace at. Proto- sharing is what we, in elementary school, used to call "indian giving" (VERY not-PC. I know. I'm not condoning the use of the phrase). It involved handing a toy out to another individual as though you were going to give it to them, and then pulling it back. Where do they get this stuff??

At a loss (and not a lose of nerve)

As in, I didn't (repeat, did not) have a root canal this morning

Although, I almost wish I had. Because I'm still in pain.

I showed up at the crack of 8:00 - which would have been fine had my adorable son not chosen THIS morning to sleep until... well, I don't know when he would have slept until because I had to go wake him up at 7:00 to head to our friends' home where he could be supervised while I headed to what I thought would be my first root canal.

And it wasn't. Did I say that already?

I arrived there, shaking, and practically in tears of both pain and frustration mingled with fear. They took an x-ray and I spoke with the hygienist for a while. When the Dr. came in she performed a number of fairly rudimentary tests. "here, bite on this, tell me if it hurts". "Let me put something cold here, tell me if it hurts." "Does it hurt if I tap here? how about here?"

The result?

The pain is actually radiating from BETWEEN two bottom, back molars. One, the furthest one back, is the newly crowned molar. The other has only a filling. A LARGE filling, but just a filling none the less.

The problem with this result is that it lead the Dr. to believe that the nerve was not damaged. In other words, it isn't worth removing. She postulated 3 possibilities: one, the non-crowned tooth has a crack in it that hasn't reached the nerve. Such a crack might be aided by a crown - even if it's only a temporary fix before a root canal is necessary. two, the recently crowned tooth is still calming down, as is the one next to it which was likely jostled around a bit. Three, the recently crowned tooth needs a root canal, but isn't to the point of yank-it-out pain yet. Such pain, she told me, may be characterized by waking you up from a dead sleep, keeping you from drinking anything that isn't room temperature, etc.

My fourth theory is that my horrific (yes, it has reached that level) TMJ causes some pain which radiates from my jaw to my molars. This theory becomes especially tempting to believe when I consider that I ONLY have TMJ on my right side, and ALL these teeth are on my right side as well - right next to my jaw. Go figure.

So, about my tooth (I'm sure you're SICK of hearing about this, but hopefully the end of the saga is imminent) The pain only occurs when the bottom and top teeth touch. So I can concievably eat an entire meal, and as long as I'm being VERY careful not to let the teeth touch, I can come out just fine. But the moment they do, wowee!

So I made an appointment to have the other molar crowned tomorrow. I may yet cancel it, not sure if I jumped the gun. Not sure if I should just wait it out and see if the tooth "settles down, but really, it's already been 6 weeks. Can't someone just wave their magic wand and make this all disapeare?

I'm going to re-name this year

... "the year of the dentist"

After all, that's where I'm spending the majority of my time - and our money.

The saga (in case you haven't been keeping up with it) all started a few months ago - maybe three - when I finally had x-rays taken. You see, although I don't miss my normal office visits, I hadn't had x-rays in over a year since I was pregnant with Levi for two 6-month check ups. Lo and behold, the x-rays uncovered two problem areas. Just two. I could handle that.

Because the first dentist I went to was new and totally uninformed (read: told me they were a preferred provider for my insurance when they certainly were NOT) I switched dentists. This new dentist took care of my one cavity, and one deteriorated filling (which needed a crown). Now, I had been having some pain in the spot where he put that crown, but I figured it was due to the deteriorated filling, so I figured the pain would subside once the crown was in place.

I was wrong.

Turns out, the pain is in a different tooth completely, but it's hard to tell which tooth is hurting exactly when they're all way back there in the far reaches of one's very large mouth. So, in I go again, to determine what exactly could be the problem. That was yesterday. What I learned was both what I had figured, and what I had dreaded. I have a cracked molar - or so the dentist thinks. It's very hard to tell because the ENTIRE SURFACE of that tooth is covered in an amalgam (silver) filling, placed 10 years ago or so.

Dentist refers me to endodontist (mouth-nerve-specialist) to figure out, with her special equipment, what is wrong with my tooth.

So, I call Dr. Rush, the endodontist, and schedule an appointment for Thurday morning, bright and early. This is the point where i get weak in the knees, as I discover that I have made the appointment and cannot really turn back. Why is this scary? well, you see, once Dr. Rush looks at my teeth she will then immediately take care of it/them. Likely with a root canal - because that's usually what's done with cracked teeth.

The two words "root canal" are enough to make me faint. This is is the girl who got PUT UNDER for the removal of ONE wisdom tooth. ONE! I believe the very kind receptionist when she says that Dr. Rush is very good. I have no trouble believing she is - I, however, am jumpy. I am scared. And I lack MAJOR faith when it comes to the dentistry department. Remember This post?

Anyway, according to her office, the entire procedure (whether it be a root canal or something different) will take one hour. One. I endured 24 hours of labor - and at least three of those were in transition, at 9.5 centimeters, without pain medication. You'd think this would be NOTHING! But man, it's freakin' me out.

So say a prayer for me on Thursday morning. In the week that follows I'll also have to get a crown put on the root-canaled tooth, yet another dental process I'm none-too-thrilled with. When all is said and done we'll be out over $1,000 (oh yes, that's AFTER insurance. ouch) but I'm sure it will be well worth it to be able to eat hard things again. It's been a while.

the "FISH" philosophy

Do you know what that is?

It's an inspirational team-centered video series.

like the kind you have to watch with people you're going to be working so closely with that you're bound to get sick of them sooner or later

Basically, the video series focuses on teamwork and cooperation in a work-place setting.

The FISH philosophy includes four points:

• Play
• Make their day
• Be there (aka be present)
• Choose your attitude

I hate to admit that when I sat down to write this post, I remembered not four, but ONE of the bullet points. I'll get to that later.

I first saw "The FISH video" when I was in High school. I was taking a class called cullinary arts - it was actually a class and a for-profit catering business rolled into one (and you wondered whether or not Jonathan and I were really foodies from the beginning - silly you). Our teacher, who I strongly disliked, I'll be honest, had us sit down and watch this video as a way of motivating us to work together towards the greater purpose of pleasing our customers.

And it worked - mostly. Actually, the incentives of gift certificates to area restaurants were really what made most of the class shape up and get work done (without being paid, might I add, but instead for school credit) But this post really isn't about that class - it's about the philosophy, so, I digress.

I have found, recently, that the FISH philosophy applies to me now more than it EVER did in any work environment. I mean think about it, what do I do all day as a stay-at home mom (yes yes, aside from laundry, cooking, cleaning, and driving all over tarnation) I play, I try to ensure Levi has an enjoyable day, and I try to be as present as possible, interacting with him.

but wait. I missed one.

Yes, it's that last one that I truly rememberd. It's that last one - the one about choosing my attitude - that I've had such trouble with lately. If you're a mom you probably understand that it is VERY EASY to allow little things, like totally worthless naps to completely ruin your attitude. And it only takes ONE LITTLE THING to do it.

Today Levi woke up at 6:15, happy as a lark, and I rolled over and commiserated to my pouty self that the morning would probably be no fun at all. No fun, because when he wakes early, he's ready to nap early. Duh. When he naps early, he's ready for bed early. Duh. When he goes to bed early, he wakes even earlier. Duh. And this cycle took my attitude and shoved it so far down the toilet, I'm quite sure the plumbing system couldn't handle the load.

And it is in moments like these that (warning: here comes some self-talk) I have to remind myself that Levi is not in charge of my attitude. I am. I decide whether something will make me irritable, and I decide what I will brush off. And since that ball is in MY court, I, as an adult, am responsible for setting the good example of a happy heart.

So today I challenge ME to choose MY attitude - and I will not allow all the junk going on around me dictate how I will respond, in what tone of voice, and with how many eye-rolls. So there.