Extractions

Monday afternoon Josiah went to the dentist to get two teeth pulled.  His initial worry was that they were going to take his canines and those were his favorite teeth.  He was relieved they were the teeth after the canines, but still he was apprehensive about the whole procedure.  Honestly, Todd and I felt horrible for him and wondered if we were doing the right thing.  His whole life, every dentist he's been to has mentioned he has a lot of teeth for his mouth, so getting a few pulled wasn't hugely surprising.  However, it was such a final decision.  We made it to the dentist office and I had warned him that the numbing needles were going to hurt.  He confirmed that they did indeed hurt...a lot...after we got home.  The first tooth took a while and when the dentist showed me the roots, they were facing outward like a fancy U so the tooth was really hooked into his mouth.  The second tooth came out smoothly.  In talking to Josiah later, he said he felt no pain.  Even after we were home for a while, he said his nose was still numb.  I think the dentist gave him a good bit of the numbing medication to ensure he felt no pain.  His bleeding stopped nicely and he enjoyed a week of soft foods and salt water rinses.  His favorite part was that the dentist told him he could have ice cream for dinner the evening of the extraction.  Todd and I felt really bad for him and his holey mouth.  The 'tooth fairy' owl was quite generous in it's compensation.  A little parental guilt paid out in cash.  Now that he's nearly a week out from the procedure, his mouth is looking a lot better.  He's healing nicely and, hopefully, in two years' time we'll look at his beautiful teeth with no gaps up top and see the benefit to all of this.  

Henry had a very good week at CC.  Last week he had forgotten his Essentials paper at home and he was so disappointed.  He loves reading his papers to his class.  So, this week he was able to read his older paper in his morning class as his presentation, then he read his newer paper in his afternoon class.  The afternoon class also had a title contest.  The tutor put all the students' titles on the board and they did a blind vote for the best one (you couldn't vote for your own).  There were six titles.  Two titles got two votes each and Henry's title got five votes (parents were allowed to vote as well).  He was so happy.  The winning title was Patriots Step Up.  His paper was loosely based on the Boston Massacre, however we are currently in the creative writing section, so as long as the conflict remained the same, the kids had freedom to change the characters, setting, etc.  Henry told the story of the Boston Massacre using New England Patriot's players names.  He was sooooo excited to read his paper.  He was stifling a laugh every time he read a new Patriot's name.  

For Caroline's CC presentation, she told jokes.  She had written out ten jokes from a book we have at the house.  She did a good job telling them and by the last joke she was really getting into it.  Her peers were laughing, too, which was encouraging to her.  What we didn't plan on was the timing.  The presentations are supposed to be around 2-3 minutes.  It took a long time to tell ten jokes because after she asked the joke, she'd pause, wait for someone to say, "I don't know.  What?" then finish the joke.  Including laughter, she was up there for a good ten minutes.  This is one of our favorite things about the whole CC program - the fact that the kids have to give a presentation every week which teaches them public speaking skills.  It has become normal to them and they often look forward to it.  They have no idea the skills the are gaining by this activity.  
A sampling of her jokes: 

What do pandas fight with?             Their bear hands.

What plays music in your hair?        A headband.

(Caroline's favorite) What goes ho-ho-ho, scratch-scratch-scratch?        Santa Claws

Why couldn't the beaver work on his computer?        He forgot to log in.

Knock, knock.    

    Who's there?

Yah.

    Yah who?

What are you so excited about?

Caroline also learned how to play the game Sorry! at lunch.  

The church we use for CC also has a pumpkin patch, so after classes were over we headed outside for some pictures. 

Henry refused to be Linus because he didn't want to appear to be sucking his thumb or holding a blanky.

Caroline and Henry made an obstacle course in the backyard.

 

It started off with jumping over tree branches on the ground, then they had to throw a ball to hit another branch balancing in the neck of our tree, then they picked up a victory stick and ran to the finish line.  While they were making the course, Benson proved non-cooperative.  Especially at the throwing the ball part.  In fact, for much of the weekend, while the kids played out back, he often made a beeline for any dropped ball.  He mistook their playing for the game of keep-away and he gripped Henry's football or baseball in his mouth for dear life.  He crushed the game of keep-away, and because of those skills he was detained inside.  But he's a dog who loves his human friends, so he just stood in the window watching them with a big grin on his face.  Barking and whining at times because he wanted to be a part of their fun.  

Also, Todd and I both seriously regret not naming Benson, Rooster.  He has the perfect image of a rooster in his white fur.  

Josiah should have a much better week ahead.  Not so much the doing school part, but the eating more solid foods part.