Tooth Today Gone Tomorrow

                                                      CHAPTER 33

  This last Saturday we ended up having to take Troy to the dentist, he had a toothache. When we got there we found out it was abscessed and needed to come out right away. Mind you, Troy has Autism and is non-verbal so when they brought in the "papoose" to strap him down I knew we were going to have issues. Poor little thing was so scared, they had to strap him down and give him a couple shots to numb up the area, no gas...nothing. He screamed the entire time, luckily it took the dentist all of about 2 minutes to get the tooth out but I could tell my little guy is going to be traumatized for awhile. In all we spent the better part of the day up in Salem (about 27 miles from our home-town) at the dentist. Meanwhile our other kiddo's were at babysitters. I think I owe the babysitters an extra special "thank you." It's amazing,Troy seemed happy as a clam by the next day. When I got a tooth pulled I felt like I had been punched in the face and was sore for several days. It's amazing how children handle things like this so well.

  On Monday I met with Paul's teacher to discuss possible changes to his IEP. The meeting went well as always. She said Paul is her top student and is doing very well academically and socially. Though the meeting went well it was bittersweet because her classroom only goes to the second grade so this is Paul's last year in her classroom. He will be attending a similar classroom(emphasis on communication) at a different school in town. So the last half hour of the meeting was spent discussing this huge transition and how we could possibly make is go smoother for Paul.

  Our other kids are doing great, Emma is talking up a storm. Yesterday we went to a restaurant with my parents. When the waitress came to the table she asked if we would like anything to drink to start. Emma quickly replied, "pop!" I think she's had pop all of about three times and each time was a taste out of a straw but boy does she remember. Anyways, she is her sweet,happy and healthy self. Gabriel is also doing well with school and such. Not much to report with him. He's just pluggin' along being his goofy/happy self.

  Update on the party: We have bought several sets of white dishes and a couple sets of silverware for the party. I think we will need one more set of dishes and then I can get to working on the menu some more and the invitations.