Good news, SS has no cavities, but there's more orthodontics than anticipated in her future.

SS had an appointment with her new dentist Monday. The poor thing was dragging in the morning and I told her she could nap as soon as she got home in the afternoon. That was a giant lie because I had forgotten about her dental appointment. Thankfully SS went easy on me about the bald face lie.  Dr. L's office is pretty cool and SS really enjoyed the waiting room decor. Sadly we did not even spend 10 minutes in there, they run astonishingly on time.

SS really loved the tiger.

SS even got a kick out of the giant serpent on the tree.

Talk about lucky, one of the games is a Lego game that SS plays on her iPad. All that and free wifi.

SS was not scared at all, not even her usual anxious self. The dental hygienist was very nice and took her time explaining all the tools she would use.

We found out about Dr. L from the mom of SS's friends M and D. However we were not expecting the open setting. We like privacy so we are on the fence as to whether this will be SS's permanent dentist.  They also have TVs on the ceiling much to SS's delight.

When I completed SS's intake forms I did not note that she is adopted, because to us that is glaringly obvious.  Well it was not obvious to the dental hygienist and gave us a WTF moment. As she started the cleaning she mentioned that the biggest factor determining whether SS would have cavities is how many cavities we had. Huh? Yep, that's when we realized that a Hispanic Woman with a Caucasian husband, and an Asian child in common had not registered in her mind. I mentioned something about when SS came home from China and that is when the light bulb went on in her head. She then leaned towards us and said "Is she (then whispering) adopted.?" I told her there was no need to whisper, SS is well aware that she is not biologically our offspring. It did crack us up. Funny thing is that the hygienist is an adoptive mother herself. She is Filipino and her son was born in the Philippines, so in her case is not as obvious as our family. Then again not so obvious to everyone. 

SS did wonderful during the cleaning, not a single complain or anxious look our way.

Cavity free and only needing another cleaning in six months, that's the good news. Remember how SS had a tooth removed when she was five? The girl had an extra tooth, so it didn't bother us to have it removed. When the dentist looked at SS's X-rays he began to talk animatedly to the hygienist, piquing our interest. Nothing good can come out of a seasoned dentist talking rapidly while examining your child's X-rays. It wasn't good, it turns out that SS is missing two permanent teeth. Missing as in not there, as is she will have an even larger gap once all her permanent teeth come in.

According to Dr. L it is rather common to have one missing bottom permanent tooth, two not so much. I don't why but I felt eviscerated upon hearing the news. Just like with cavities it's a genetic factor, not a thing we could have done to prevent the missing teeth. P's first question was how do we fix it, and how soon can we start? We have always known that SS would need braces, this knocked the air out of us a bit. When SS is 15-16 we will have her get tooth implants. Dr. L said that is the age when most kids get self conscious, I do think it may be earlier for SS. We already paid for braces for JJ, in SS's case her orthodontic bill is going to be a tad more expensive. Mental note, if we are going for another child, PLEASE G0d let him have great teeth.

It took SS FOREVER to select a toy,and by the time I came out of the bathroom she had changed her mind and selected another toy.

While SS was having her cleaning P and I were trying to come up with what we wanted to have for dinner.  This really surprised the hygienists since it was not even 3:00 p.m. They were even more surprised when I told P that whatever he wanted I would make.I am comfortable saying that because I know P well, and he would not request a an extravagant dinner on short notice. And since we were by our favorite supermarket it was all part to the dental appointment trip.

When we arrived home JJ was eager to find out how the appointment went and if there were cavities. Little did he know what we had to share with him. P always the helpful news bearer grabbed by face while asking me to show my bottom teeth for demonstration purposes. He could have said that SS is missing the teeth on each side of the middle teeth. Not P, he needed to handle my face like one would a horse and opened my mouth for me. What can I say, my Prince Charming. As P is about to show JJ what teeth are missing he stopped mid sentence, his face contorted. Then in a high pitched voice he says to me "How the hell many teeth do you have."  I have no idea why I did not know, but I do have an extra bottom tooth. The man was married to a freak and had no idea.  I had to look in the mirror because I thought P was full of it. He wasn't I have an extra tooth while my daughter is missing some.

But wait, it gets better. I was reviewing what the dentist said to make sure I heard the information correctly. I said to P "Well, the dentist said it is genetic, so there's nothing we could have done." My husband's brilliant response? "Yeah totally genetic, her birth mother must have been missing permanent teeth as well." Wait a minute, her birth mother? How about her birth father? Are women the root of all evil that P could not even consider the birth father as being genetically deficient? SS was the product of a man and a woman, not just a woman. I did rag of P quite a long time that evening over his faux paus. 

Camp Spooky Fun.

Yesterday we made our now yearly trek to Camp Spooky to turn SS loose with her costume. The poor thing has been waiting a year to wear her Red Power Ranger Mega Force costume.  After three season passes SS is very easy going when we visit Knott's, she knows it won't be her last time and acts accordingly.That is really good because we are no longer crazy enough to want to spend an entire day at an amusement park.

There is usually a hearse parked at the front during Halloween Haunt (aka Scary Farm), but this is the first time they have had a monster hearse as well. It was hidden by the exit, but I spotted it by chance. This is usually a P photo op, but SS took off running as soon as she saw it and it had to be the two of them. SS totally has the short person syndrome, bigger is better in her book.

Cool Jack-o-lanterns.

Can you find our spooky goblin?

The attendant really got into the Halloween spirit. She suggested that SS ride the broom, then jumped in to ham it up.

SS really likes this ride and has asked me to ride with her several times. I am not a fan, because it bounces too much for my liking. There is no height requirement, only to ride with an adult if under 42 inches. I have seen many infants on it and it makes me uncomfortable. Don't know why, since we are roller coasters freaks.

As you can see, the more weight the more bounce, and that is why we have refrained from riding with SS.

SS LOVES super hero poses.

Seven years old and still "needs" her stroller. I was putting on SS's costume in the parking lot when we arrived, in the back of the van. There was a woman with a kid and stroller across from us and she approached us about our stroller. She was waiting for us to bring it out to take a look. It wasn't until she asked when we bought it that it hit us that we have had the Hummer for 8 years. Yep, way before SS came home. We still love the stroller, and the lady had not seen SS, so she was surprised that we were still using a stroller. We showed her the storage space and she was sold. SS is seven and should walk, but using the Hummer means we can bring a cooler with water and Gatorade, and do not have to carry a backpack in the heat. Did I mention how much we love our stroller? And it accommodates two kids, as in two full size kids.

SS had a great time chasing after Baba in a bumper car driven by JJ.

Meanwhile P was having fun ramming into random kids. Check out the smile on his face.

We still can't get over this face, should we be worried? Because it's pretty scary specially from such a sweet looking child.

SS was able to say hi to quite a few characters. It's why we love Knott's, because as much as we love SS there is no way in hell we will stand in line for two hours (if not more) to see a stupid D*sney Princess. Nope, not going to happen, not that SS has any interest. Just as we walked into Camp Spooky SS met Linus, who of course had his blanket.

Count Snoopula made sure we would get a good picture for our 2015 calendar.

We just wanted to see her beautiful face.

Sally and Franklin were being ushered out but graciously agreed to pose with SS. The things you do for your kids, because in that heat they surely needed the break. But I had to ask, because it made my SS happy. I am shameless when it comes to my kids.JJ inadvertently photo bombed SS.

When Charlie Brown came down from the stage SS surprised us by going up to him and gave him a high five.

The show started about 20 minutes after SS took her picture with Snoopy.  When Snoopy came on stage SS's reaction was priceless. She shrieked like she had not seen him in a year, it was so beautifully pure and it made our day. P and I were grinning like idiots, but it was such a great memory making moment. There is nothing better in the world like experiencing things through our child's eyes.

Then there were the Dia de Muertos decorations, we had a blast taking it all in.

See those two behind us? That's us twenty five years from now.

Such a cool stage, SS loved it.

Again, P and I in a quarter century.

I would not mind having this planter hanging on my doorway.

P thinks this lamp would look awesome in SS's bedroom. Can you imagine her waking up in the middle of the night and facing the skulls?

Gargoyles, we were treated to fountain gargoyles. We had a great time, had an early dinner and SS was in bed at 8:00 p.m. She must have had a lot of fun because she was very tired this morning. She did her best poor me I can hardly move drama, but off to school she went.

Where does she get this stuff?

SS is now able to secure herself in her carseat, although she can't get the bottom part open yet. But it is a milestone and progress. Last week SS was on her carseat and had something on her mind. "Mama, you guys have to buy me a new carseat, this one is old, REALLY old, like 1970 old." Seriously, where does she get that from?  The thing is that SS is right, her carseat is past its expiration date.  And yes, carseats have expiration dates, and living in Southern California, the heat does a job on the integrity of the plastic.

P and I are a bit at odds as to what to get SS. I would like to keep SS in a carseat for as long as possible, due to her petite frame.  P feels that since SS is nearing her 8th birthday, a booster is more appropriate for her age. Most of the kids her age are using backless boosters, but I really don't care. Backless boosters are not safe, and most kids SS's age out weight her by at least 30 pounds. Looks like a compromise is in order, a five point harness booster seat. I can live with that compromise, because SS will be secured in the same manner she is in her carseat. We found a Britax booster at Babies R Us, all we have to do now is read Consumer Reports to find out the safety rating. Yet another milestone that brings home the fact that our baby is far gone, we are definitely in big girl land. The more SS grows, the more we go back to reconsidering whether we want her to be our last child. I know, here we go again, but we are talking and considering extending our Summer of 2015 deadline to decide if we are gong to put ourselves through the emotional rollercoaster that is adoption. On the bright side, the outcome makes up for all the emotional suffering.

Last week SS and I had our Saturday in pajamas and movie day.  We watched Transformers: Age of Extinction. As soon as the movie was over SS hopped out of bed and made a beeline to her Legos. She spent hours making her own Bots. We are still amazed at her concentration when she is creating something with Legos. It is not a phase for SS, she is deeply entrenched in her Lego world. 

Very proud of her Bots.

October is a fun month and since there are cool Halloween shirts to wear, uniforms get a break.

SS is doing really well with her reading and exceeding the required 15 minutes a day. Last week she wanted to read her Lego The Movie book. The book is basically the movie in written form, and is a long book. SS read for 90 minutes, and P had to stop her, because she was showing some fatigue. It's tough to read out loud for that long, but SS loves anything Lego or Super Hero. I talked to the school librarian Friday and she told me that it breaks her heart to deny SS super hero books. In Kinder and first grade SS could check out whatever books she wanted. But in second grade she can only check out AR rated books. I told the librarian not to fret, because SS has plenty of super hero reading material at home. That made her feel a little bit better, but she said it still upsets her having to deny SS. 

She's making a list, she's checking it twice; wants us to believe there is not a single naughty, all is nice.

SS has her Holidays down and does not waste any time. She had her Halloween costume the last week of August, and that was a long wait for her. SS usually chooses the next year costume the day after Halloween, and sticks to her decision an entire year. We are still fascinated about that, but SS likes what she likes. We are praying she remains that way.

Over a month ago SS asked for a Christmas gift, and repeated it several times. I was honest and told her that she would have to remind me closer to Christmas, because I knew I would not remember. SS took care of that immediately. She made a list in the reminders app of her iPad. The girl is no dummy because her iPad is under my name (SS can't have her own account since she is under 18 years of age), and that means the reminder also appears on my mini iPad and phone. Damn you Steve Jobs!!!!! That and RIP, sorry.

The first item on SS's list cracks me up because it's a hieroglyph to me, but SS reads it like it's the most natural thing in the world. Even the items I can read go right over my head because my brain does not process Lego speak.  Thankfully we have JJ to translate for us, otherwise we would be lost.

No need to fret about not getting the list, SS is quite adept at reminding and explaining to us what she wants. Sorry about the messy face, she had just eaten.

Recently I posted about how SS can crack an egg in a backward way. I found the video, and it still cracks us up.