Xavier's First Dental X-Rays
Greetings to everyone.
Rebecca and Xavier had dental appointments today. For Xavier, it was a routine exam and practice at getting his teeth worked on.
But today the dentist wanted to get X-Rays.
When Xavier learned this, he grew nervous. He asked us about the procedure, what the cards in the mouth were like, etc.
We drew some pictures of the films and apparatus, which calmed his concerns.
At the dentist's office, he watched Mom have X-Rays taken and her teeth cleaned. He had more questions, but this time about the X-Ray machine and how it worked.
We left Mom in the hygienist's hands and went back to the waiting area. There Xavier learned the basics of X-Rays. He wanted to understand how X-Rays can damage you when taking a photograph does not. When he learned that with a camera the light reflects from the object, but X-Rays pass through the object, he understood.
Soon, his turn came up. The hygienist tried the smallest films, but the corners dug to deeply into the soft tissues of his mouth.
She then tried the ring holder, but that also proved too large for Xavier's mouth and comfort.
At last she opted for two films which fit across his mouth, which he bit down on to hold in place.
This form of X-Ray loses a lot of detail, but still gave great pictures of his teeth.
We got to see all his adult teeth under the gum line, waiting for their time to push through. The dentist thought that will start when Xavier nears his eighth birthday.
Epiphany Celebration 2020
Greetings to everyone.
Today is the ecclesiastical celebration of Epiphany.
At the church we attend, the normal sermon/homily is replaced by the children telling and acting out the story of Jesus' birth, the shepherds and the wise men.
Xavier wanted to be in the show this year, and (unlike last year) we had it in our calendar to get to church early enough to let him be in the show.
Xavier was excited right up until we started down the hall to the dressing room area. Then, he decided he wanted to sit in the pews with mom and dad.
It took five to ten minutes of working with him to convince him to join the cast.
The initial "it'll be fun" etc. gave way to mom's declaration "you're going to do it." Still, that did not help.
We looked at the available costumes, going through cows, horses, ponies and lambs. We even found a chicken costume, which we tried to tie into Minecraft: "it's a Minecraft chicken" we told Xavier.
It was to no avail. We pulled him to the side and asked him to talk through his fear of joining the cast. His explanation distilled into a single phrase: stage fright.
We talked him through the stage fright by promising him mom and dad would get seats close to the front of the church. That assuaged his concerns.
Mom helped him dress as a chicken, and dad headed to the sanctuary to make good on the promise of close-up seating.
After that, Xavier was good to go.
His Halloween costume from 2018 was the homemade mouse costume. We donated it to the church. A young girl, four or five, thought the Manger Scene could use a mouse and wore Xavier's donation.
You can see the mouse sitting between Joseph and the bear.
Xavier said afterward he was glad he joined the cast. When asked why he did not keep his chicken head on, he explained he could not see with it on his head.