Bella goes to the dentist

This Wednesday Bella had her very first dentist appointment ever. As with anything new I wasn't sure how well she would do, especially because when I picked her up she was completely out, asleep in her little cot.

It was also the very first time we visited that dentist, but I had high expectations because the place is specifically for children. The name says it all: "Sea of Smiles".  Still, I was pleasantly surprised by just how prepared they really were. It all started right at the lobby, which was decorated with underwater motives and even had a pirate ship. The exam rooms had elaborate paintings on the walls, some with boy themes and some for the girls. Although we ended up in the not so girl friendly Transformers room, it was still pretty cool.

When Bella sat down on the exam chair I realized they also had a small TV hanging above her. So as kids are sitting there getting their teeth cleaned they can also watch TV. This is a pretty good strategy if you ask me. Bella was so interested in the TV that she did everything they asked her to do. She didn't whine, not even once!

We are definitely going back. Not only for Bella, but for Sofia as well. This is no average dentist experience, and both my girls deserve the best.

Taking her afternoon nap at school

 Lobby

With sunglasses to protect her eyes from the light

Wall painting at the Transformers room

Timeline

Recently Sofia had a school project where she had to take pictures from when she was younger. I wasn't sure what to pick, but I already had pictures of her birthdays handy. So she took those to school and turns out made a really cute - although someone inaccurate and grammatically challenged - timeline.

Personal Timeline

I was born on April 13 2005, When I was one I learned to crawl. When I was two I learned how to walk.



When I was three I went on vacation. Then I had my forth birthday. When I was five I went to Kings Island. When I was six I am to Sands Montessori. 



Sophia Who?

The other day Sofia wrote her name as "Sophia" in a school paper. Lionel and I were not thrilled, although we know why she wrote it that way. Everybody always gets it wrong, and assumes her name is written with "ph".

We told her we did not know who "Sophia" is, but that "Sofia" is definitely our girl.

Magazines - The End

I am happy to report that today, FINALLY, those magazines did NOT come home!

Magazines - Wednesday Episode

Good lord!! ... those magazines came home again today! Sadly that means that all of Sofia's Halloween candy is going to work with me tomorrow. I hate to do this to her, but I gave her fair warning. Tonight's threat is that if she doesn't turn them in by tomorrow she is not going to friends night - which is at Tia's house. And if she doesn’t turn them in by Friday, she is going to miss Samantha’s birthday party on Saturday.

I don’t like to take things away from her, but she has to learn that being irresponsible is simply not ok.

It's not that difficult!

Couple weeks back Sofia's teacher sent a note home asking for magazines so they could use them for their projects.  So last Sunday night I put a few catalogs in Sofia's backpack and asked her to give them to her teacher. But Monday night, after we all got home, I noticed the catalogs were still in there. When I asked her about it she told me she forgot. I then told her to do it the following day. But Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night it was the same story all over again. By the time Friday morning came around I told her that if she didn't turn them in the next day she would lose her job (feeding the dog and vacuuming the kitchen floor) for this week. Unfortunately she once again did not turn them in. That brings us to this week.

Yesterday and today she once again came back with the magazines in her backpack. I couldn't believe it ... It is not that  difficult!! ... So tonight I told her that if she does not turn them in tomorrow I will take away all of her Halloween candy, and will take it to my job so my co-workers can eat it. If that does not motivate her, then I swear to God I don't know what will!!!

Sloppy!

One of the things that bothers me a lot is when people do things "half assed". So I was naturally annoyed when Sofia was doing her homework and, when she made a mistake, she simply scratched the whole thing off. Of course the first mistake was allowing her to use a pen instead of a pencil, a mistake I wasn't there to prevent.

I explained to her that doing that was not Ok, that it was sloppy, and that turning in homework like that was simply embarrassing. I even gave her several analogies to try to drive the point home, like telling her that she wouldn't like it if we served her a cold dinner, or if we dropped the food, picked it back up, and gave it to her to eat. I then told her that tomorrow she needs to ask her teacher for a new homework sheet, so she can do it correctly this time around. And last, since I normally have her write a phrase a few times to practice her writing, I decided to have her write something relevant to my teachings of the day. The phrase didn't fully make sense, but I had to make it short enough so she could write it, and at least partially learn the point.

Sloppy - Exhibit A

Sloppy - Exhibit B

"I need to be clean with homework"