1st trip to the dentist!

My girl is getting so big! Today we embarked on a new adventure: her first trip to the dentist!! I remember when my younger sister when to the dentist for the first time when she was 2.5 years old and it was a traumatic experience for her b/c the dentist was so rough with her.

I brought Sophie with me to my dentist appt back in August. She sat and watched the dentist do everything to my teeth. The dentist had her "help" too, by helping push the button for the x-rays and the chair. Sophie was pretty interested in it all, and I think it was a good way to get her introduced to the dentist.

For the past few weeks we've been "playing dentist" and talking a lot about what a dentist does, so Sophie was very excited to go to the dentist today. When she first sat in the chair, she was a bit timid, and wanted to hold my hand. But then they hygienist, Carolyn, gave her a ride up and down in the chair, and Sophie loved that! Then Carolyn showed Sophie all the different instruments they were going to use, like the polisher, the air sucker and the water sprayer and she tried them all out for Sophie.

Can I just saw, I was so incredibly proud of Sophie. She opened her mouth nice and wide, was so compliant and they even got to polish all of her teeth. I couldn't have expected it to go any better. I think it helps that our dentist is WONDERFUL too (anyone need a dentist in Vancouver? Just ask me).

A little nervous, sitting in the dentist chair.


Getting her teeth checked




Getting her teeth polished


The best part...the prize drawer!

I have a sensitive one...

As Sophie has been growing up so much lately, in every way (growth spurt, vocabulary, understanding of things around her) she has also begun to become very aware of people around her; their moods, their feelings, and the way they treat her. We will be in the store and she will smile at a man, and if he does not smile back, she looks at me with sad eyes and says "Man don't like me". Ugh, makes my heart feel so sad today.

Well, this morning as I drop Sophie off at her wonderful baby-sitters, and get ready to leave for my day at work, another mom drops off her daughter. Sophie was so excited to see her (she's 1.5 years older than her and Sophie watches everything she does). Lately, this girl has not been giving Sophie the time of day. In fact, she is constantly putting Sophie down and being really rude and snotty to her. So this morning when Sophie goes running up to her to say hi, this girl notices Sophie's shirt, which has a little light that is flashing on it (a fun "Halloween" shirt). The little girl goes "that is neat! Hey Sophie, want to color with me?" Sophie turns to look at me with the hugest eyes and biggest smile and says "Mommy, (girl's name) is happy with me today!" I about cried. My poor litle girl who has endured this other girls taunts for awhile now, still thrives on that "Acceptance". It was the best thing in the world for her to be "accepted" by this other girl, and instead of being picked on, to be loved.

Sigh, I know it's only the beginning of all the hurt feelings and friendship issues and disappointments Sophie will have, and I definitely wish I could shield her from all hurt and pain, b/c as neat as it is to see her grow and all the new things she's doing, I also know that it opens her heart up to more pain and hurt. It's hard being a "Mama"...As my good friend Jen definitely heard from me, as I cried to her about this today at lunch, LOL