SMILE

Brought Nat and Matt to the dentist yesterday as we've been wanting to have their milk teeth checked. We noticed Nat has a huge cavity in her molar tooth and were pretty concerned. Didn't even realized it till MIL told us.

As for Matt, his 'stained' teeth has always been bothering us. Whenever he smile, we can't help but noticed the bottom row of 'black' teeth. So, I finally found a dental that does consultation for children and made an appointment. Didn't want to delay it too long in case the children teeth get worse and I definitely don't want them to go through any kind of extractions! It's traumatizing enough having your tooth being pulled out. And it's another seeing the huge amount of blood dripping out from your gum!

I hated visiting the dentist myself as I do not have a healthy set of teeth. I remember the horror of being called up to the school dentist when I was in Primary Sch.. it was like a death sentence being passed whenever the nurse comes up and call up the student's name. It was supposed to be a routine check-up but still, it was pretty unnerving whenever it came to my turn.

So I've always tried to avoid visiting one myself after leaving school.. which to my dismay, worsened the experience as the teeth gets cleaned only once every few years. SO you can imagine the amount of plaques and bacteria that's formed!

Anyway, back to the kids.. yes, they were... surprisingly.. Very well behaved at the dentist! Matthias went in first and the dentist spent half an hour polishing and scaling his teeth. Though it was his first experience, he was surprisingly calm about it. I carried him on the chair and held him as the dentist cleaned his mouth.. I guess it also helped that she talked to him about it first and let him feel and touch the machine before putting it in his mouth. She also kept talking to him during the entire process, letting him know what to expect next.

Nat had similar experience.. and she was in fact waiting eagerly to go inside the room (she was doing some coloring outside). But to our horror, the dentist discovered 10 cavities in her teeth! And 1 or 2 of them are pretty huge and require fillings! Gosh.. didn't realise that Nat's teeth were so bad. They looked fine from exterior but they are actually not.

Understand from the dentist that it could be due to a combination of accumulated bacteria, frequent snacking, and irregular brushing. We have to really help her brush her teeth now and ensure she do not snack on too much sweets and biscuits which are bad for her teeth. Even if she eat them, she has to rinse or brush her teeth everytime. And before she sleeps at nite, we must ensure her teeth are bruched. Another important point to note is to stop her from drinking milk from the bottle. It's also another way that speeds up the formulation of bacteria in the mouth as compared to drinking from the cup.

Guess these are basic habits which are important to the kids and we have to instill in them the need to keep their teeth clean and healthy, just like why they must bathe and wash their hands clean.

New School for Matthias!

Matthias started his full day childcare lessons at Ascension Kindercare yesterday.

The teachers in the centre advised us to slowly adjust him to full day care. So we were intending to start by bringing him after 3hours.. if he cries v badly, we will bring him back earlier. If not, we shall play by ear... and probably let him stay on alittle longer.


~~~~ 1st day in sch ~~~~

He was surprisingly enthusiastic and was pretty happy to join his new frens in their lessons and play. He listened to his teachers and followed instructions. During break time, he sat down and joined them for snacks, finished up his biscuit and cup of water and washed his hands dutifully. When prompted to pass urine, he also followed the teacher into the toilet, and washed his hands thereafter.

I brought him home after lunch and bath around 1pm. Surprisingly he wanted to stay back and play with the trucks and fire engines. After much prompting from myself and the teachers, we finally managed to convinced him to leave. However, not before putting up the fuss of not wearing shoes and refusing to walk. Guess he was feeling pretty cranky and tired.. afterall, it's nap time for all the children and they were all preparing for their afternoon sleep. So it was time for Matt's nap too... and true enough, soon after reaching home, he drifted off to sleep while sucking on his milk bottle.

Overall, the 1st day seems better than we expected. And we were pretty relieved that he welcomed the new environment and people. :-)


~~~ 2nd day in sch (today) ~~~

He went in happily and joined his class for breakfast, which include a bowl of cornflake and cup of milk. After that he proceeded to his free play of toys that were displayed on the shelves. Soon after, i left for work while po po stayed on to watch over him. However, the teacher later asked her to go back, as Matt seems to be pretty independent and didn't look for her.

Thought it was a good sign.. and probably today he could stay till after nap time.

Lo and behold.. the teacher called me at 1230, and said he kept asking for me.. and no matter how she tried to pacify him he still asked for me. So eventually po po went down and picked him up. Turned out that he was actually tired and wanted to sleep. But he needed his usual milk before he can sleep.. and after the teachers made the milk for him, he drank on the way home and eventually fell asleep in the pram! Soo... it's just a matter of understanding his needs and wants. But it's a 2-way process.. guess it'll take some time for the teachers and even Matthias to understand one another.

Nevetheless, it was still a good 2nd day.

And..

I look forward to the next few days ...

And..

The weeks ahead ...

;)