Dentist

Today we took the boys for their 6-month dental exam. I sat in the room with Surprise and the dentist while Oldest was next door, alone with the hygienist.

They got their first flouride treatments, and as soon as I saw it, I remembered the feeling and the smell of the little cup that the dentist pours the flouride into.

Other than telling the dentist that he has a book about Spongebob not having any cavities (a book that, by the way, is very difficult to read aloud), Surprise was silent and compliant. The whole time though I could hear Oldest yapping in the room next door.

He has a sweet voice, very clear and sparkling, a bit high pitched for a boy of five, but wonderful to my ears nonetheless. It was even nicer to hear it as an observer, a break from what I hear it say all day: "Why?" "But I just..." "Why?" "You're a stupid head, Surprise!" "Why?" that gave me new appreciation of the pure joy of it.

The snippets that I heard were something like this:
"I can't close my eyes" (he insists that it's impossible for him to close his eyes, ever...the fact that he sleeps for 10 hours a night with his eyes closed is lost on him. At the dentist, this means that he is forced to stare at the large light above him.) The hygienist must have offered him sunglasses.

"Yeah, I can wear those glasses."
"Can I wear your glasses instead?"
"I'm five. My birthday is in April. I was here before when I was four. Now I'm five."
"Umm, bubble gum flavor. Hey! My friend B at school likes bubble gum!"
"Yeah, I go to school. Not every day though. Today was a mommy day."

And other things I forget now. He was very funny to me, maybe not to the hygienist. I was trying hard not to laugh, and look like a dope sitting there laughing at nothing.