Tooth Be Gone

While having a mid afternoon snack today, Pryce yelled "my tooth!" The tooth fell out, without incidence, while he ate a pretzel. We are all anxious to see just what the tooth fairy brings....

Blankie

As a baby, Colin slept with a little blue monkey that his Aunt Rachel gave to him. Pryce was my pacifier child. Part of this was his choice, the other part mine. I love pacifier children, they tend to be a little more quiet than the ones without. Pryce would need two, one in his mouth and one in his hand, in order for him to fall asleep. Before we got MK, Pryce would ask if we could buy her some "p-ps" (his name for the pacifier). Being that she was going to be over one year old when we got her, I told him that the "p-ps" would not be needed and we would find something else to soothe her. The item of choice for Mason-Kate is a blankie. She specifically prefers her little bunny blankie that we gave to her in China. She places it up to her cheek/mouth and sucks, not on the blankie, just goes through the motions. It is so very cute. The blankie is her comfort and it goes with us wherever it is needed. In addition to her bunny blankie, she prefers to have her other special blankets placed all around her crib. She has a special one made by Ryan's Aunt Peg that has to be on one side of her crib and another blanket that was given to her must be placed on the other side. If these are out of place, it is known and must be corrected for a better sleep enviornment for MK. The girl enjoys her comfort!

The Boys

Irony is a funny thing. Yesterday Ryan and I sat in a room at the local children's hospital with Mason-Kate. While there, we began discussing our health insurance options as it is that time of year to make changes if we choose to do so. Ryan brought up the fact that we are paying "x" amount of dollars per month for eye insurance. We both discussed how we don't have eye problems so why are we paying money for something we don't need???? Well, we decided that we would continue to pay the money because sure as we cancel the policy, someone in our home would have an eye problem. Fast forward 4 hours or so and Colin makes his after school entry into the van. He had mentioned a week or so ago that he had done a vision screening at school, he even went as far as to say that he thought he had failed the screening. Well, wouldn't you know that there was a note to "The Parents of Colin"....and wouldn't you know that our Colin failed his eye exam! So off to the eye doctor we went first thing this morning. The good news is that he doesn't need glasses just yet. The bad news is that he will need them soon. He was diagnosed as being "nearsighted" and he has a astigmatism. We will follow up in a year unless we feel that Colin should be seen prior to that time. Now for a tooth update on Pryce. Quite sometime ago I wrote about Pryce finally having his first legitimate loose tooth. He lost interest with trying to get that one out, so it still rests in his mouth alongside yet another loose tooth. Yes, now we have two loose front teeth. We are anticipating the release of "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth...." as sung by Pryce in December. That is all for now!

Good News

Today we had our very first official Cleft Team appointment for Mason-Kate. Thankfully I have read many blogs so we knew to expect to be at the hospital for quite sometime. After almost three hours of visiting the different specialists, we were released with instructions to follow-up with the team in one year. ONE YEAR! That is awesome! The cute thing that Mason-Kate did during the visit came when the nurse wanted to take her vital signs. Mason-Kate crossed her arms and placed each hand over the very spot that the nurses had used for her bloodwork....she let the nurse today know that under no circumstances was she going to be putting anything into her arm without a fight. No needles were needed during today's appt. thank goodness. While we were waiting to go back, a lady approached us with her newborn son who has a cleft lip. I have never actually seen a child with an unrepaired cleft lip(I have only seen pictures) so it was neat to meet this little guy. He was such a cutie and to make him even more special, his name is Collin. So that is our news today and we are feeling very encouraged.

Pryce's Half Birthday

Today was a special day. We celebrated Pryce's 1/2 birthday. He is so proud to say that he is 6 1/2. It was the usual celebration with the "You Are Special Today" plate decorated with half of a cake. Breakfast was chosen by Pryce and included a piece of cake served on a half of a plate. At dinner I commented on how they were all getting so old and he promptly told me that he would "be seven in just six months!" He seems to be enjoying school more and more. He is excelling in math and is tolerating reading a book to me every night before bed. He is growing up way too fast!