Bo's 4th skating lesson

We arrived a little late to lessons today due to the bad weather and traffic. Because of this, Bo had an expert tighten his laces on his skates. Here are three videos from the lesson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkE68zpYgm0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rv8TA4RDGE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lScyXCgAaE

This past weekend Daddy and Bo went to the rink for open skating for about 1 hour. With holding my hand, we went around the rink a couple of times. A few times he let go of my hand and skated on his own. He even raced me to a code that was 10 yards away which was all his idea. With that experience, we hoped that he would have a little more confidence for this lesson.

Each lesson he has done a little bit better. He still just seems a little scared out there unless he has that security blanket of someone standing there next to him so he can grab on. If you notice in the one video, he grabs on to one of the other girls as they go by. By the end when the rest of the class was going to the half line and back, he told the teacher he was done. She pointed to the exit and he skated (or walked like a penguin as Bo calls it) to the exit doors fairly quick.

The first thing he said when he came off was can he play video games now. Then later in the car he asked when he could play hockey. He wants to be a hockey start. I would say he is being braver each time and gaining confidence. Before you know it, he will be skating circles around old Daddy. That will make him laugh.

Mommy's birthday

Last week was Mommy's birthday. Since the weekend before she stayed at the hotel & spa, it was a low key birthday weekend. We went to dinner that night and there was a balloon lady doing requests for the kids. Emmy got Cinderella.

Bo had Buzz Lightyear.

Then Mommy was surprised with a funny hat.

What would be a birthday without a cake (especially a Whole Foods chocolate cake).

The kids had fun singing happy birthday and blowing out the candles. Sorry we couldn't fit 40 candles on this cake.

Bo trip to dentist

Last week, Bo had an extra trip to the dentist to fill two cavities. I think he was excited to go until he was sitting in the chair and laid back in it. This did not go well. Since they were going to be numbing his mouth, they were going to use some laughing gas on him to help keep him calm. The dentist pitched it to him as a Buzz Lightyear mask.

After breathing in the gas for about five minutes, he was very relaxed. The dentist gave him two shots on each side of his mouth to numb it. Bo really didn't even flinch when the needle went in but just said "Owh" very casually. The dentist did a great job of moving fast and explaining things in kid terms. For example, he put a special tool that locked Bo's jaw open and a raincoat over his mouth with a hole for the tooth to be worked on.

Things went well for the one side. At one point Bo looked over to see if I was still there. Then he had me hold his hand. When the dentist switched to the other side of Bo's mouth, Bo started to get antsy. It seemed to me that the gas was wearing off. You could see that Bo was breathing through his mouth quite a bit since the "raincoat" was moving in & out. Since the doc was working on his mouth, the gas mask was only over his nose.

With about 5mins left, Bo had had enough. He was trying to rip the stuff out of his mouth and pushing off the table with his feet. The dentist asked me to hold down his legs so he couldn't push off and the assistant to hold his hands so he didn't pull at his mouth. The dentist then held Bo's head on the table with one hand while sealing up the cavity with the other. During this process, Bo took a big bite into his lip that bled quite a bit. Bo was a little worked up plus his whole mouth was numb. He just wanted out of there and I can't blame him. He was probably laying back for about 45mins which is a long time for anyone, especially a 3.5yr old.

The dentist said it would take a couple of hours for the numbness to wear off and to be real careful on what you give him to eat so he doesn't bite into his cheek. Ice cream, milkshakes and pancakes are usually things kids want. Since Bo had not eaten or drank anything since he woke up, Bo was hungry. It was almost 11am and he didn't want ice cream, only pancakes.

We came straight home and he was still a little frazzled. I tried to get him to drink a juice box but he just was so sad and said "it isn't working" referring to his mouth. He kept repeating "it isn't working". I told him that I would make him pancakes and he could play his ipad while he waited. This helped get his mind of everything and the picture below was him playing while he waiting. This seemed to calm him down. Also you can barely tell with his fat lip but the whole front of his shirt was wet with drool. He had no idea nor cared at that point.

I cut the pancakes up into real small pieces and drenched them in syrup so he wouldn't have to chew. After finally trying one, he wolfed down the rest of them and his drink. By this time, he was starting to cheer back up a little. An hour later, we went to pick up Emmy from school and went to have lunch at McDonalds. Bo ate all his chicken nuggets and half of Emmy's while playing on the indoor playground. It was snowing outside so he wanted to go home to get his sled out after lunch. Needless to say he was back to normal.

Overall, Bo did very well and his lip is already basically back to normal 5 days later. Hopefully, he won't be afraid to go back to the dentist next time. Maybe it will turn into a lesson to brush his teeth every night a little better.

Bo's Ice Skating Lessons - Week 2

This week Bo was not too excited to go to lessons. He was a little nervous and said he was scared. After we got him dressed and in the car, his attitude was a little different. He said he didn't want to skate too fast and get hurt. So we talked about just keeping your balance, getting up when you fall, and just staying on the ice. Don't worry about going fast, we just wanted to stay out there for the whole lesson.

Here is a video of clips of the lesson http://youtu.be/KH-RipBr8yg

When we got there and laced up, all the kids were just circling up on the ice. I helped Bo on the ice and he kept his balance. Then he fell on his bottom but got right back up.

He stood there for awhile watching everyone. I think he was afraid to move because he thought he would fall.

The instructor got out a bucket of balls (like bean bags) and threw them around. The kids were to go pick them up without touching the ice and bring them back to the bucket. The assistant held Bo's hand and took him over to a ball that he picked up. She let go of him and then he just stood there so she helped teach him how to move/walk skate.

They then got in a circle again and tried doing marches or big steps in place without falling. Bo kinda just watched everyone but did keep his balance the whole time.

Next they tried to do a little boogie or shake in place to a slow move forward. The assistant really encouraged him to do this and he slowly started moving.

Bo was out there a total of about 20mins and then started to lose interest. He was becoming sad and wanted off the ice. The assistant encouraged him to stay out there but he started moving for the door. I made a deal with him to stay out there. If he skated down along the wall and gave me five through the glass then he could come off.

He made it part of the way holding onto the wall and then the mean instructor hollered at him to get in line with the rest of the class. Then tears came and the assistant took him off the ice. There was only about 7mins left in the lesson so he almost made it to the open skate part.

From the door, he headed straight to the bench and was done. This was a great improvement from last week and I was very proud of him. I would say if he improves this much everytime then he will be skating very soon.

Bo's first skating lessons

Chesterfield Ice rink offers skating lessons for beginners. It is a 7 week course and they start from putting on your skates to getting on the ice. The lady who runs it is kind of like a drill instructor but she knows what she is talking about.

We of course got there late because Daddy was cutting it close getting home from work and when he arrived home Bo had an accident in his pants. So we basically had to take a bath. We also forgot our helmet but luckily the lost and found had an a few extras. Ours was a Power Ranger one so that had Bo's approval.

We laced up our skates very quickly since it was 10mins past class start. It was also noted to be sure to be early the first day because they give a talk on what to expect, how to put on the skates, what to wear, etc. Bo didn't like them at first because they were too tight but I made him walk on them across the floor to get used to it. He had the hang of it pretty quickly.

Just as we got to the door, they were lifting the kids on the ice one by one. Then the kids were suppose to stand there and practice balance. Almost all of them fell from what I saw. They got back up. They practiced putting their arms out and touching their toes without falling. Then it was sort of slowing marching in place without falling. Then it was practicing falling the proper way so you protect your skates from hitting anyone else or yourself.

During all of this Bo basically had a one on one lesson with the assistant girl. Once he fell the first time, he didn't really try to get up. He just sat there and sort of whined because it was cold. She picked him up and he fell. This happened a couple of times until he was crying for Daddy. I waved from the glass no and to stay out there. That made him cry more. She let him sit there for awhile until she came over to him and picked him up to carry him to the door.
This is Bo sitting on the ice and it is "coooold".

This is him getting his "private lesson" before coming off the ice for the first time.

I met them there and she said he had to go potty. Basically Bo figured out that the only way she was going to get him off the ice, this is what he had to say. Bo and I had a talk for a little bit because he said he wanted to go home. But we decided to give it another try. The assistant came back over and took him to the group. By this time the others were starting to try to move around a little. I'd say about half could move a little and the rest of them kept failing.

This time he did really well for about one minute. He kept his balance and even touched his toes without falling. Then the teacher moved away from him and down he went again. This time he really cried loudly and she carried him off again. We took off his skates and watched the rest of the class for the next 15mins. After 30mins of lessons, they have a 20mins open skate. Some of the kids stayed out there and tried to go to half line and back. Others were down for the day. We watched a little more and then went to the other rink to watch the hockey practice. He liked that.
This is Bo after keeping balance for a little while the second time out there when he refused to get back up.

Ideally, I like to take Bo to practice again before the next lesson so he is a little more comfortable with the whole experience. He was very confident about it and gung-ho about it the few days leading up to it and even on the way there. I think it is another thing to be out on the ice basically by yourself. He was brave at first and hopefully with some practice he will get the hang of it. We will see again next week.

Emily's first dentist appointment

Today Emily had her first dental check-up. As you can see she was all for it in the beginning. The place is very kid friendly. Bo calls it the Disney dentist because all the Disney characters on the walls, etc. They have a huge digital fish tank, video games, plus other games in the waiting room.

Here is a picture of Emmy as she first gets to her "princess" room.

This lasted about 3 minutes until the dental assistant tilted the chair backwards. She did not like that at all. Therefore, Mommy had to hold her on her lap belly to belly then tilt her back so her head was in the assistant's lap. Then she could look in the mouth. Emily did not like this at all. She screamed very loud.

Daddy got there from work about 15mins into this. Mommy immediately switched with Daddy so he could have a turn. She calmed down at first until she had to tilt her head back again. Then it was screaming again. She tried to floss them but she was lucky to get some of the paste on there and sucked out. Then the dentist came in and didn't have much to say. She has 22 teeth and no cavities. He did say that she has a small space between her upper and lower teeth caused by the binkie. He said it was "age appropriate" for her to have it but you need to start weenie your way off it.

Although she was quite hysterical for the dentist, we tried to praise her. We asked what she wanted to do. She said go home but she was a little over exhausted from the dentist. We took the kids to the library where they picked out movies and books (their favorites). Then we went to get Emmy's favorite spaghetti and meatballs plus ice cream for dessert.
Emmy was excited to cut her own meatball

While Bo was excited because we sat in the caboose train car to eat.