Goodbye to Ms. Bunny

We entered phase one of orthodontia today. Maddie has a very small palate and no room for any permanent teeth. She's already had 8 baby teeth pulled (she loves to tell people she's only "lost" 2 teeth!). The two teeth on either side of her top front teeth came in behind her baby teeth and were affecting her bite. So enter phase one of braces!

The pre-smile

One last look at the bunny teeth (Theo thinks they are hysterical!).

I really like Dr. Sonis, the orthodontist. He's funny and kind. We had to pick out Maddie's back to school outfit before her appointment so she could chose the bands that would match - pink and silver. She actually has all of her bands picked out through December! What a fun treat at each appointment. They didn't have that option when I was in braces.

Hooray! She made it. She was so very brave.

She had a lot of pain the first two days. And no wonder...

Look at how her teeth were before braces.

And two days later - the movement of the side and front teeth!

He's Our Underwear Guy!

It's such a big deal to say goodbye to diapers. After five successful days, we decided to have an special party for Gabriel. How lucky to celebrate this milestone with Nana. Gabriel was very tickled to be the center of attention.

A few thoughts -

• I cannot believe we are at this stage already. Though when I think about 8 1/2 years of diapers, I can believe it.
• Gabriel has done an amazing job with potty training - very few accidents. Of course, one was about an hour after his party...
• He just loves all of his special underwear and is so good at running to the potty or giving me a bit of notice when he needs to go. Hooray!!!

International Cliff Divers

Nana's here and it means adventure. Aside from the usual museum, shopping and beach trip (even a date with Nathan!), we took advantage of the International Cliff Diving event and headed into Boston, where there are no cliffs.

It was a spectacular day! And if you know me, you understand that I was a bit concerned about the crowds - how to get into town, find parking, deal with all the people, etc. But, our adventure went off without a hitch. Parking - check, crowds - manageable, cliff diving - amazing.

The "cliff" was a platform extended off the top of the Institute of Contemporary Art. So the divers plummeted into Boston Harbor. It was truly amazing. We had a great view and oohed and ahed at these athletes. Nathan and I had seen cliff divers on our honeymoon in Acapulco (how sad that we wouldn't even consider going to Acapulco today with the crime in Mexico). Interestingly, diving off of this building was more difficult for the divers than a cliff because they use the contours of the cliff to judge the distance to the water (the building juts out over the harbor so you lose your visual about 1/3 of the way down).

We loved our Nana time and wish it were more frequent!