Teeth

Rolland had his first dental experience on Monday! It went very well. Justine was great, and Dr. Lubbers was kind. Rolland kept his mouth wide open the whole time and probably remembers nothing except how to spell S-H-A-R-K. Why?



Ah yes, the secret weapon of a family dentist: The Great Distracter of Children. I kind of wish he'd been a little more conscious of the experience, but maybe this will give him a foundation of positive associations with the dentist.

Teeth-wise, he's great. No cavities--not even a "cavity bud," which was a new term for me. And for those who wonder, he chose strawberry.

On a related note, Dave thinks Opal has a tooth coming in. I say maybe...

Things I Wish I Knew

How can I share the hope of Jesus with a dying world if I can't even answer a three-year-old's honest theological question: "How many nipples does God have?"

Tidbits

Opal not only bounced non-stop during story time at the library today, but she clapped along! That was the first time I'd seen her clap. And this evening when Dave said, "Okay, it's time to put the trains away!" she crawled right over to the box and started dropping tracks in, one by one. Very impressive. Later I told her, "Opal, put the horse down," (a command she's known how to obey for a couple weeks now) and she whacked me in the face with it. She's already a selective little genius.

After supper when we announced that we were doing baths tonight, Rolland affirmed, "I could use a bath!" And during the bath, when his duck had to take a timeout in the sink for splashing water out of the tub, he declared, "The sink is no place for a duck!"

As for Dave, he is presently grading papers while listening to the opening night of Founder's Week. He could use your prayers as he tackles the final project for his masters program. He tries to find quiet places to work on Saturday mornings, and it's kind of a challenge. Last week he was distracted by all the scanning and beeping at the library, and this weekend he went to a coffee shop which was fine, except for (I am not making this up) the ukelele jam session around lunch time.

I found out recently that one of our new neighbors is originally from South Africa, and her husband is half Chinese and half Indian. So, I'm pretty much forcing my friendship on her. I didn't realize I was so desperate for some international interaction. And she makes and sells decorated cookies. Could it get any better?!?

Hair cut

Thirteen inches later:

Pronounciation

Yesterday Rolland pronounced the word “orange” correctly. I almost cried. Not tears of joy or pride, but of wistfulness. My little boy no longer says “or-jin,” “yo-grit” (yogurt), or “o-me-o” (oatmeal). Sigh.

Fortunately, as a Bible-focused family we have a ready source of difficult words. Words like Thessalonians, Achaia, and Eutychus. (Can you tell I’m studying Acts?) And, fortunately, numbers still present an amusing challenge. Not only can Rolland not pronounce “thirteen” (He says: “th-th-th-fourteen!”), but his counting from 10 to 20 goes something like this:

Ten, eleven, fourteen, nineteen, eleventeen, twelve, fourteen, TWENTY!

Yep, some numbers make the list twice, and eleventeen is always included with gusto. Why do kids never say “twelveteen”?