Where the Kids are At

It's been awhile since we posted about the kids, so I figured I should bring everybody up to speed.

Of course, the new school year has started, and now both Ben and Joshua are in school for a big chunk of the day. I think they are both having a good time, but it's hard to get any information out of them at the end of the school day. "How was school today," I ask. "School? What's school," they reply. Well, at least it seems that way. After coaxing and prodding I usually find out that school was "good."

Ben seems to be enjoying second grade so far. Most of his friends from last year are in different classes, but he sees them at recess, and he appears to be happy about that. He was fearful, at first, that he wouldn't get to go to the library, because it wasn't one of the weekly "specials" (e.g. art, music, computers, P.E.) for his class, but he got to go this week and was tickled about that. This kid loves books. His room is littered with them. He stays up late to read, and one of the greatest treats we can give him is a new "Magic Treehouse" book, which he usually devours in a week.

He's also a math fiend. They're doing math review, as they always do at the beginning of the year. Getting out of the car a couple nights ago, Ben told me with disdain, "it's Kindergartner stuff! Like writing numbers!" I'm sure they'll be up to something meatier in a few weeks.

Joshua is loving school. I wish I could be a fly on a wall to watch him through the day, because I can only imagine how genuinely pleased he must be with the whole thing. He has such energy and passion, and such a unique personality. He does have a "mean" girl in his class, who "growls" at him, but he seems to be handling it well. He tells her, "that's not nice." See, he's so matter of fact, and says what he is feeling. I wish he were that open about other things.

A few nights back, we heard one of those bloodcurdling cries coming from downstairs. When I came down, I found Josh crying, standing next to one of the pillars in our living room. He had a pretty nasty looking scratch running diagonally under his armpit. After inspecting it to ensure it wasn't anything of major concern, I began to interrogate him about how he got it, because these kinds of things are typically the result of horsing around and breaking rules. I tried coming at him from every angle, but in the end, it sounds like he was just playing near the pillar, and then it jumped out and attacked him. I dunno. Maybe.

Joseph is reveling in the king-like power that he has acquired since his brothers have gone off to school. I think there is a bit of envy there, but he handles it well. He puts on his backpack everyday when Amy takes the kids to school, and wears it as they walk to school. I think he likes to feel like he is part of the big kid action.

He's getting a lot of one-on-one time with mommy now. That's great! He can help out in the kitchen, which he loves to do, but which brings all the other boys into the kitchen, creating mass mayhem, when they're home. The T.V. is his, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The Game Cube is his (and mommy's, since she has to help with the more challenging stuff). He's loving it. The only unhappy time is when mommy babysits "baby Kirsten," who tends to encroach upon his enthroned position as Lord of the Manor. "Is baby Kirsten being nice to you," I asked during my daily lunchtime phone call. "No, she's bad!"

In any case, the boys are all doing well. They're enjoying the new school year, in their various ways. Joshua recently took a trip to the dentist, where we learned that premature kids, such as him, frequently have weak tooth enamel, and are prone to cavities. He had six (it doesn't help that this is the first time we've taken him to the dentist). Unfortunately, he's a very "active" kid, and did not handle the dentist as "smoothly" as we had hoped. The net result is that he's going to have the cavities addressed under general anesthesia at the Children's Medical Center on the first Thursday of October.

Of course, I always get concerned about general anesthesia, but this is the right thing to do. The dentist explained that they do this sometimes for children who are especially active and tense, because the standard local anesthesia that they use in a dentist's office tends to release inhibitions and accentuate the freneticism (a word that the spell-check says does not exist, but which does exist, and which I am now adding to the English lexicon if it doesn't) of nervous kids, creating a very dangerous situation in the dentist chair. On top of that, the nature of the work that they have to do (they'll be extracting two teeth, capping three, and filling the last one) could traumatize a kid already nervous about the dentist.

So, they recommend putting him under. For him, it will be an unremembered blip, and when he awakes, the dental work will be done. The Children's Medical Center in Dallas is one of the best around; it's an excellent hospital, and he'll be overseen by a pediatric anesthesiologist. My insurance through Microsoft covers the whole thing (which stunned the dentist's assistant), because the hospital is in our PPO network, so we don't have to pay a thing. His dentist will perform the work, and it's an outpatient procedure. The dentist has a standing agreement with the hospital to do work like this on the first Thursday of every month, and he said that things work like clockwork at the hospital.

It's big news, and it means that Joshua will be losing his two front teeth a year or two early (which I don't think he'll mind). All will be well, though. I'm glad we're finally getting all of this taken care of. Obviously, I wish we had done it sooner, but that's in the past now, and we're here today. I'm very happy with the dentist we've chosen. He's one of the best in Dallas, and I feel very confident with him. The kids love the dentist's office, even if they don't necessarily love getting their teeth cleaned. And getting this taken care of now, and being consistent hereafter, will set the kids on the right path for the future.