First Lost Tooth

It’s been an exciting evening over here! While Wallace was in the bath, he lost his first baby tooth, bottom front left. He said he was biting around the edge of the hat on my rubber ducky and it popped out and went under his boat in the tub. He freaked out a bit and there was some blood and a few tears. I couldn’t hold him in my lap and hug him because he was in the tub.

He calmed down once the blood stopped and was able to get out of the tub. He had some applesauce and a drink of water and I brushed his teeth without toothpaste. He wants the tooth fairy to come and all I’ve got on hand is a dollar, so we are going old school.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed the angle of his front bottom teeth looked different. I asked to see if they were wiggly and 2 of them were, the one that just fell out was the most wiggly. He’s had lots of friends lost teeth alread and I wasn’t sure how long it would take for him as my mom and I were both on the later side.

This is one of those parenting times I wish I had someone along for the ride. Someone who is just as invested in the ups and downs as I am. But that’s why I started this blog so long ago, to have a place to put it all, to process and remember.

Wallace Said Wednesday: Inaugural Post

I decided I should start a little series cause my kid says some hilarious and poignant things. I have always been fascinated by his language development and he has so much to say. The goal is to create a post and add to it until Wednesday, publishing it then. I will attempt to provide some context for the quote, because some of our inside jokes and daily life might not make sense or be funny to others.

“I am glad she sent them to us to listen to cause now I have nice country music for my body.”

In discussing CDs my mom’s friend gave to me thinking I could sell them on Amazon (I can’t), but now would like them back instead of me donating them to the library book sale. We will keep the ones we had picked out to listen to, which are mostly Celtic, classical, and a little country, and might pass them back to her.

“You know I can plan the future with mind.”

Maybe channeling some law of attraction concepts? I asked him if it always works how he plans and he said no, but was totally cool with that.

“I think the thing you love most is me… then babies.”

Yes. That’s pretty true. I wasn’t sure fora second what he was going to say after him. Was hoping for chocolate, but babies makes sense. I got to hold my friends’ baby today, she was my first doula baby. He then said he thinks it’s funny I ask baby questions. I ask if they want to be picked up. I ask how they are or, today, I asked why she looked so serious.

“I’m exploring the raisin parts of my body.”

After a bath of course.

“You know that kids aren’t a thing. They’re just robots. I’m a robot. Doot deet dot dee doo!”

This one came out of nowhere.

Whispering, “I don’t know why my voice doesn’t have any color.”

Huh? Sometimes I think he is tripping.

“I mean, you’re pretty much nuts.”

I was singing along to a favorite album in the car.

School clothes.

Book Review: The Little Red Stroller

The Little Red Stroller is a picture book about a stroller being passed down to different children over many years. It takes an interesting journey and is a sweet story with colorful and detailed iillustrations.

Wallace says: I think it’s cute and nice. I think it’s really nice because they’re lending it to everyone. I like that there’s two mommas in one page, just to see that in there. It makes me feel happy. I like the trail of dots.

Momma says: Someone recommended this book to me and I had to request it from another library. I really like the diversity in families and showing the children helping other kids. I wish it had different titles for the parents as not everyone says mommy and daddy.

Tongue Tie: 5 Weeks Post Surgery

I began referring to it as surgery after a week of people not understanding the complexity of the procedure. Though I was awake with lots of numbing medication, it was very much an in office surgery with a long healing time. I had been planning to have Wallace stay with his friend and her grandma, but we needed to go see my grandma that day (she died a few days later).

We drove over an hour to the dentist and began to get settled. After numbing me, they asked what I’d had to eaten so far that day, which was a gf bagel with vegan cream cheese. Not enough, and so they gave me a gross but filling protein drink to chug from a straw without the feeling of my face.

The worst part of the pain was from the numbing injections in the back of my jaw and the fact my jaw was propp open for quite a while. My tie was very deep, fibrous, and asymmetrical. During the procedure, I could feel areas of my body release and smooth out – front of neck, back of neck, shoulders, and even my pelvis.

The drive from the dentist to the hospital was an hour and half, which allowed for half of my fave to thaw, relieving a lot of the pain ftom the medicine. Visiting my grandma was very hard and eventually a doctor told us Wallace couldn’t be on the ward due to his age. I didn’t take any pictures of my grandma and only got to spend a few munites with her, told her how much I love her. (Tearing up writing this.) Wallace brightened my grandpa’s day, so that was the highlight.

I managed to eat an apple sauce pouch by gently squirting it in my mouth and I had some bites of brownie. As the numbing and the intense deep pain from that went away, I was left with a raw and pinching pain under my tongue. I knew I had to keep moving my tongue but instinct was to let it lay flat at the bottom of my mouth like a scared animal. I used homeopathy to help with shock and pain, but by the next day had to start taking extra strength tylenol.

I was given a list of exercises to do by the dentist as well as a mouth wash to prevent infection. I had to find addition exercises online, make up my own, and massage under my tongue. I think it has healed a bit tight, but I’m hoping it will continue to relax as it heals, which is a long process. I have had a decrease in daily neck pain and have some things I do to help with that as well, but I have not yet had a decrease in migraines.

I have a sleep study scheduled for two weeks from now, so hopefully we can see what is going on with my sleep that makes me feel so terrible all the time. The dentist would like me to do a protocol that would expand my palate, realign my teeth (I’ve got an over bite and evidence of grinding), and open my airway. It has cosmetic benefits but the point would be to reverse or prevent the number of health issues associated with disordered breathing during sleep. It is quite expensive and not covered by insurance, but continuing on as I have is not an option.

Pride 2019

I had a goal of getting Wallace to a pride parade or festival this summer and I’m so happy we did. We drove about an hour to a larger city as we had missed our smaller city celebration. We had gone to that one once before but it wasn’t great and Wallace was only two. So really, this was his first time.

We packed snacks and water, decked ourselves out in rainbows, and hit the road. I was able to find a parking structure a couple blocks from the event and we walked over.

We started checking out booths and picking up stickers, tattoos, and candy. It was great to see so many different types of people that we don’t often encounter. Wallace is on the gender creative side of life and he needs to see that it’s normal and fun. He said he didn’t mind when people misgenderrd him “because it’s Pride.” He requested a little rainbow flag and a rainbow hair bow.

We got to attend two Drag Queen Story Times, watch drag, belly dancing, and burlesque, and mingle with lots of people. We got candy, stickers, tattoos, and bracelets, too. I had to convince Wallace to leave the drag show and head to the car for lunch. It was cool in the garage and we ate and relaxed before heading back into the rainbow chaos.

It was amazing watching Wallace soak it all up and I teared up a few times. He was enthralled by the drag performances, noticing every detail of their outfits. At one point, a performer who was done was standing behind us talking to friends. I pointed her out to Wallace and he was star truck, but wouldn’t talk to her. We then had a conversation about how people can dress up in different things for performances or for how they feel each day. Some days a person might feel more like a boy and other days more like a girl. We also met a woman who shaves her head like me. It was great to show Wallace I’m not the only one.

We left tired and happy after many hours in the sun.

Micro Update: Tongue Tie

I have so many things I could write about, that I need to write about, to process and find my footing. But that’s all too much, so here’s my micro update. One step at a time.

In one week, I am having my tongue tie lasered. I have so many worries and concerns and fears, but I am solid in my decision and that this is the right time. I have had increasing neck pain and now have MRIs to show some of what is going on. Between hypermobility, neck trauma, and constant tension from my tongue tie, I have increasing neck pain and migraines. I want to try all the things that I can before neurosurgical intervention, so this is right now.

It is a minor procedure compare to many other things, but it’s my mouth, which I use all the time. I talk, breathe, eat, kiss, and I am worried about how this will all change when that tissue is released. There is a chance my tongue tie is contributing to the sleep issues (I am getting a sleep study done soon), the neck pain and migraines, the body pain, the digestive issues, the brain fog… on and on.

I have been dismissed by multiple doctors and dentists and though I found the one I am seeing a bit lacking in kindness and compassion, she did not dismiss me, connects all the dots, and is very knowledgeable. I don’t think she would do it if she didn’t see the issues I see. She also thinks my residual lip tie, it broke when I was about 13, might also be worthy of a laser.

She would have done it then, but prefers to have me do some tongue exercises for two weeks before the procedure. There will be more stretches and exercises after as well. These ones consist of sticking out my tongue and wiggling it around in different formations. Flattering and challenging! The exercises have also made my mouth and neck more tense and might have contributed to some more neck pain and migraines this last week.

I could go on and on about this, having learned so much when going through it with Wallace, but it’s late and I need to wiggle my tongue once more before going to bed.

Monarchs!

A couple weeks ago, we were shown how to find monarch eggs by some friends at the nature preserve class. We have tons of milkweed in the undeveloped area around us, so when we were out for a walk, I started looking. Yesterday, I found 3 likely eggs! We went home and watched some videos on finding and taking care of monarchs.

Today, we went out again, but had no luck finding eggs. We did find two monarch caterpillars that look close to the next stage, and one super tiny one. Wallace feigns interest in searching the leaves with me, but totally slacks.

We are excited to do our best to increase their chance of survival! It’s a fun process to learn about and witness.