We arrived in time for him to play with the little Melissa and Doug color puzzle he fell in love with at Oma's visit.
Upon being called back, he bounded to exam room one and made himself at home on the giant tooth stool in the corner.
And he checked up on the sink he discovered last week. Why must all kids explore drains? The thought grosses me out, even though I was reassured that it had been cleaned the night before. A drain is still a drain, you know?
Miss Cathy, Baylor's hygienist, asked him to sit in the exam chair and he, surprisingly, went without a fight. I thought for sure he would balk at it, but he was amazingly brave and got into it with little coaxing. Of course, it helped to have Mr. Bear there for added support.
When Miss Cathy informed him he needed to wear sunglasses, he let her put them on and left them there for the rest of the visit. I was beginning to wonder if this was, in fact, my son; he hasn't kept on sunglasses that long in his entire life! He even wore the little bib without a problem! Amazingly enough, this was just an inkling of the awesome visit to come.
Cathy did an amazing job with Baylor. Before each step in the cleaning process, she carefully and creatively explained what she would be doing and made sure that he was comfortable. She also, wisely, kept him very interested in the whole cleaning process.
At Oma's visit, Baylor was very unsure of the chair moving, so I was prepared for him to get upset and scared of being laid back. But again I was pleasantly surprised as he allowed Miss Cathy to recline him without complaining or crying for even a second. Whether it was the increased support of having Sheep and Harry the Hippo with him, his level of trust and comfort with Cathy, or sheer luck of the draw, but he seemed really okay with the whole thing.
Cathy even let him hold some of the instruments, a sure-fire way to get Baylor jazzed about an upcoming experience with a particular tool. His pediatrician did the same thing with his otoscope and Baylor has never once been afraid to have that little tool up his nose, in his mouth, or in his ear. Even when he dropped the little suction tool, Cathy just took it in stride, cleaned it all up again, and replaced the suction head with an airy lightness about her.
Like most kids, Baylor isn't usually too thrilled to have his teeth brushed, so I knew the polishing process at the office might be our first stumbling point. But, as with the rest of the visit, I was delighted that I was indeed mistaken; Baylor did what she asked to the best of his ability and acted like he'd been getting his teeth cleaned all his life. Getting to choose the grape toothpaste probably helped, but my little guy was brave beyond his years.
She even fish-hooked him a little bit and he took it in stride!
The water scaling process was not his favorite, but he got the hang of the suction tool really quickly and she was able to clean the tartar off most of his teeth. (He had had an excess build up of tartar on his front teeth, likely due to his saliva pooling there for extended periods of time and our inexperienced child teeth brushing skills.)
Then, as he had hoped, he scored a pink toothbrush just like Oma's! Sometimes it's the little things in life, you know?
While we waited for Dr. Stewart to come in, we played with his Magna Doodle. I wrote, "I love you" on it, and he read it to me! And then asked me to write it over and over again.
Dr. Stewart soon came in and Baylor, ever comfortable with most adults, started in telling him about his cool new pink toothbrush.
After a quick look at Baylor's teeth, Dr. Stewart told me that Baylor had beautiful, healthy teeth and that he had done an amazing job at the visit. Of course, that little conversation made my day. I'm so proud of my little man!
Once the exam was finished, we headed to the checkout area to schedule another appointment. There, Baylor got five Hot Wheels stickers and a Buzz Lightyear pencil. He did an amazing job, which makes me cautiously optimistic that he might do well at subsequent visits. Regardless of how he does in the future, for now I am just so insanely proud of his behavior and bravery at this visit.
I say bravery because, upon talking to him in the car on the way home, he revealed to me that the experience had been "scary", particularly the toothbrush that made a "rrrrr-rrrrr-rrrrr" sound. While that admission broke my heart (that he had even been scared and that I had placed him in that position), it made me even that much more proud of him and his ability to overcome a little "scary".
Kudos to you, Baylor! You should be very proud of yourself!
I love you!
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