We finally convinced Miranda that it’s “Frosty the Snowman”, not “Johnny the Snowman”.

We went to Legoland and Sea World. Luckily, even though rain was in the forecast, the weather held up for most of the day on both days.

So my resolution for 2008 was to decrease the amount of yelling at my children, and it was basically a success. Probably, the kids maturing and turning 3 years old also helped. I have to say, the “terrible twos” are a real phenomenon. In general, I learned this year that the best and most difficult virtue to have as a parent is patience.

My resolution for 2009 will probably be easier. I am banning all parenting books, blogs, and articles from my sight. After being a parent for 3 years, the best advice I can give to other parents is not to read parenting advice. There is nothing more contradictory, judgmental, and anxiety-provoking than the crap that is out there. I am speaking of sites such as Parentdish, which used to be Bloggingbaby. I stopped reading this when the kids were 2 months old. I have come across hundreds of other sites however, and 90% of them are awful. I’m still trying to research pediatric advice sites, to try to have some things to recommend to parents–90% of these are really bad as well.

For quite a while now, we’ve been telling our kids that they can’t bring different things to school (toys, stuffed animals, markers, etc.) because the other kids might like it too and they might take it. This was especially true when the kids first moved from the toddler room in their old school to the pre-school room. At that age, the kids’ classmates actually were apt to just try to take what they wanted.

This morning, as we were driving to school, Eleanor told me “I can’t bring my stick to school because they might take it away”. I didn’t think anything of it, so I said “that’s right”. I have no idea what stick she was talking about.

Then, Eleanor said “Miranda gave me my stick and I said thank you”.

I thought about it a moment and it occurred to me what happened. I asked Eleanor, “Did someone at school take away your stick and then Miranda got it back and gave it to you?”

Eleanor said, “And I said thank you”.

I told Miranda that it was very nice that she got Eleanor’s stick back, and I complimented Eleanor on saying thank you. I wonder though, what actually happened. Miranda’s the smallest one in the school, but apparently she was able to defend Eleanor. I hope she did it in an appropriate way though.

Some time in the middle of October, we took the kids for their first dentist visit. Agnes found a dentist that specializes in kids’ teeth, and we brought them out for their appointment. At first, we had planned on showing them the Jon and Kate Plus 8 episode where they went to the dentist, but we didn’t remember in time.

In the waiting room, I tried to show the kids the Jon and Kate Plus 8 dentist episode while Agnes filled out forms, but the Scooby Doo that they had on the TV in the waiting room was too loud, so we let the kids just draw instead.

We tried having the dentist examine Eleanor first, and she seemed to be okay until the dentist started adjusting the chair. Then she started squirming and looked uncomfortable.

We decided it probably made more sense for Miranda to go first. Miranda tends to be better with new and intimidating things and Eleanor becomes more comfortable with doing something after she sees Miranda do it.

Miranda noticed that Sponge Bob was playing on the TV above the dentist chair.

The dentist showed Miranda that he had nothing in his hands, and then felt around her face and jaw. He then had her open her mouth so that he could visually examine each tooth. He told her that he was counting her teeth as he touched each one. Then he let Miranda know that it would tickle as he cleaned her teeth, and proceeded to do so while his assistant suctioned excess saliva.

Miranda was asked to purse her lips together into a kiss to form a seal around the suction when the cleaning was done. Since things went well, the dentist suggested getting an x-ray of Miranda’s front teeth as well (the side teeth are too hard to x-ray since the film is tricky to hold in place). Agnes held Miranda on her lap, and they both wore lead vests.

All this time, I pointed out to Eleanor what was going on with Miranda’s examination. We also looked at the mural of sea life on the wall, and played with the sets of teeth on one of the tables. After Miranda’s x-ray, it was Eleanor’s turn, and she was much more confident about it.

Miranda played with the teeth on the table, and checked out what she got in her dentist goody bag (tooth brush, floss, and toothpaste).

Eleanor also got her teeth x-rayed.

After everything was done, we took at a look at the x-rays. The dentist said that Miranda’s baby teeth looked like they had plenty of room, but that there was some crowding of her adult teeth on the x-ray. One of her teeth was starting to turn as a result. Eleanor’s teeth were the opposite. Her lower baby teeth are a little crowded, but her adult teeth seem to have plenty of room. We’ll just need to watch this over time.

We were told to make sure the kids start spitting out the toothpaste or that we switch back to a non-fluoride toothpaste, and that we be more diligent about flossing. We went home, taught the kids to rinse their mouth (and not swallow the toothpaste), and we got some floss sticks to floss their teeth. It’s become part of our regular routine ever since.

We took the kids to see our old house one last time. Escrow closes on Wednesday and we let the kids know that we no longer own the house.

The October 2008 photos are up.

Over the past month we went to Santa Barbara, we took the kids for their first dentist appointment, and we took them trick or treating for Halloween.

In the past month, we’ve watched a lot of the Sound of Music, but we’ve also transitioned over to Mary Poppins. The kids are fascinated by all of the songs where the Dad sings in that movie. I don’t think they realize that Julie Andrews is in both movies though.

November pictures should be up soon, hopefully.