How in the World Will Ian Scratch his Tongue now?

We saw the pediatric dentist this morning. Can I just say I love Dr. Deb? She went out of her way to explain to us that these things do happen to children of good parents and to try and not feel guilty about it. She told us about the orthodontist next door whose 5 year old had to have a tooth extracted last year, and about her own daughter whose adult molar already has a large cavity in it. Not that I revel in other people's misfortune, but it really made me feel better. Just to know they aren't thinking we're neglectful parents, putting together a file for DSS in the back room. Anyways, they took x-rays and did determine that his tooth had indeed died, and needed to be removed. She wanted us to see an oral surgeon for this as with an infected tooth, it can be tricky to properly numb it. The oral surgeon who deals with this sort of thing every day would know exactly what to do. She felt they would probably want a consult with us, and then come back for the removal so they called over to see if we could get the consult today so we didn't have to make multiple trips over the next week. Thankfully they were able to squeeze us in, and once we were there, they offered to take care of it right then and there. The only thing we had to deal with was the fact that at this point Ian was under the impression that the dentist was just going to look at his tooth, and talk to us about it. They were so wonderful with him, I just can't say enough about how appreciative I am for them taking care of us so quickly and kindly! We also found out in conversation that the oral surgeon had two adopted children after Ian mentioned that we were adopting his baby sister. While we were waiting, the nurse gave him a "sticky hand" toy which he took great delight in sticking to various things in the office (including my foot and face and a few occasions) and a notepad and pen to draw with. He drew a little stick figure of himself, with tears on his face and told us he was sad that he had to have his tooth pulled. Talk about a punch in the gut! We told him we were sad too, but that it needed to be fixed or it could cause harm to his other teeth. He then drew a picture of our family, complete with Ana in my arms, so cute. The dentist came in and explained what they were going to do in kid terms; Ian seemed really nervous, but he was such a champ through the whole procedure. I held his hands during the extraction and was able to see what they were doing (something I'll never unsee, but glad I was able to hold him while it was being done). It was so fast and he said he didn't feel a thing, success! We left the office with a little envelope of gauze rolls, a gift for the tooth fairy and a prescription for ice cream (literally, a written prescription for an ice cream, how super cute is that?). On the way home Ian was pretty grouchy, he was really thirsty for water, and didn't have any appreciation for the gauze stuffed in his mouth. As soon as we got him water while filling his prescription for ice cream at McD's, and he was able to remove the gauze from his mouth, all was well with the world. After the gauze did come out, this is what he had to say:

"I'm not happy I had to have my tooth out today, do you know why?"
"Why honey"
"Cause that's the tooth I use to scratch my tongue."
then after a long pause and Greg and I trying to suppress our giggles, "no, wait I am happy"
"Why is that?"
"Because now when I blow air out through my teeth, it makes a farting noise like this" blowing air through the gap sure enough makes his cheeks expand, and makes a lovely raspberry noise. I knew then that he was going to be just fine!

Ian's all important prescription