I have been working as a dentist for just about 8 months now - not a long time, but enough to get a sample of the different patients that come to a general dentist. I generally see a couple kids a day on average, and the dental I.Q. of parents really varies. Today I saw five kids that made up two families - these are families at one end of the education spectrum. In the first family, there were two children, ages 4.5 and almost 3. When I checked their teeth, I found thirteen cavities in the older boy's teeth. In younger girl's teeth, I found none. In the second family, there were three children, ages 6, 10, and 12. I found 7 cavities and one abscessed tooth in the youngest boy, one cavity in the middle boy's teeth, and no cavities in the oldest girl's teeth. The moral of the story is that girls take better care of their teeth. Ha! Just kidding. No, seriously, what the two boys have in common is that both sets of parents think that their kids are capable of brushing their teeth on their own. It is frustrating to find so many cavities in such young children, and it is really easy to blame parents. However, I think it is partly the dental community's fault for not providing better education for parents. So, this is my PSA for parents on how to care for your child's teeth!
1. Brush your child's teeth. If your child is not able to write in cursive, they don't have the manual dexterity to properly brush their teeth on their own. Encourage them to brush on their own, then check their brushing and give them feedback. There is a fun product you can buy called "Inspector Hector Plaque Detector" - have your child do their best to brush their teeth, then have them rinse with this mouthwash. The areas that they are missing will turn blue, so they can see where they need to improve. This isn't something you need to do every day, but it can be fun for everyone, even Mom and Dad, to see how good they are at brushing!
2. Brush your child's gums. Many cavities in baby teeth are found at the gumline, as this is where plaque or build-up accumulates.
3. Use toothpaste with fluoride once your child has teeth. Starting with the first baby teeth, use a small smear of fluoridated toothpaste (smaller than a pea). Older children that can spit can use more toothpaste.
4. Give your child milk at meals and water in between meals. There is no need to give your child juice as there is no nutritional benefit of juice - it is full of empty calories that can stunt your child's growth, and it can cause cavities! Even watered down juice still has sugar in it.
5. Please do not put anything but water in a bedtime cup or bottle. Milk, juice, Kool-Aid, etc. will coat their teeth all night long and feed the bacteria that cause cavities.
6. When giving your child a treat, pick something that they will eat and be done with it. Suckers, hard candy, grazing on M&M's for a long period of time - all of these will continue to coat your child's teeth with sugar, effectively feeding the bacteria for a longer period of time.
7. Take your child to the dentist for regular check-ups, starting at 6 months from when their first tooth comes in, or when they turn one. There are many dentists who don't want to see kids this young, and I get that. It's not easy, as many children are in the "stranger danger" phase and will cry when the dentist tries to look in their mouth. If you are consistently following the previous guidelines, you may not need to take your child to the dentist until age 3 or 4; however, for those parents who are unaware of how to care for their child's teeth, it can be too late if they wait until the child is 3 or 4. The bottom line is this: be proactive and look in your child's mouth when you brush their teeth. If you see dark spots, chips, discolored teeth, gum bumps or pimples, call up your dentist and have them take a look. It is so much easier to fix a little cavity than to deal with a hurting child with an infected tooth!
I bought two of these frames at Kohl's today. I had a $10 off coupon, so I only paid $1.80 for them. Nice! I ordered pictures for them, so then I can put them in Wyatt's and Henry's rooms.
Wyatt wanted to rock Henry today, which was really sweet. I think they are going to be buddies. :)
Wyatt wanted to take pictures, so here we are! 
Wyatt is very interested in Henry when Henry is awake. I think he would have liked to sit in the bouncy chair too!
He spent a lot of time awake this evening, probably the most he's been since he's been born. Maybe he will sleep well for me this evening because of it. Ha! :)
Daddy and Henry. If I talk, Henry gets squirmy and starts rooting... sigh. :)
We spent a lot of time here with the Boppy tonight too. He ate and ate and ate... I think he's going through a little growth spurt.
Sweet...
Love those expressive eyebrows! :)
Today Aaron has worked all day on the fence! He got up, took Wyatt to daycare, and bought the pickets to go on the fence. Henry and I hung out in the house all morning (When Aaron asked me if I have any plans for the day, I said "Feed Henry, change his diaper, feed Henry, change his diaper, feed Henry, maybe change his whole outfit when he has a diaper leak... and repeat!").
After lunch, I put Henry in the Moby wrap and we bundled up to go outside to "help" Daddy with the fence. Doesn't he look like a little doll in this picture??? He was very warm - I zipped up my sweatshirt over top of the Moby, and I put Aaron's windbreaker on over top. Then we helped carry pickets to where Aaron was nailing them on the fence. It was really nice to get outdoors for a little bit, but I'll enjoy it even more when it warms up!
It's looking good! Way to go Aaron!
Here is my sweetie, sound asleep. He has slept a lot today!
Here he is a few days ago - you can see his cheeks are starting to fill out. 
And here is big brother playing with "monkey." Too much fun! :)
Wyatt really likes to do what the baby does... I'm not sure if the bouncy seat can handle that much longer!
On Friday we left the hospital just before noon. Here is Mr. Henry right before we left - doesn't he look tiny in the carseat???
When we got home, Wyatt was very excited to see Henry. I was really surprised by how excited he was, because it took awhile for him to really notice Henry when he met him at the hospital.
Wyatt decided to try out the bouncy chair after Henry sat in it.
"What are you looking at???"
Henry had some good awake time today - we can't tell what color his eyes are. They kind of look dark, dark blue, which makes me think they may turn brown.
Sweet boy. :)
So, here I am at 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant. This is right before we left to go to the hospital! It was a marathon day on Wednesday - we went in at 8 am, started pitocin at 8:45 am, my water was broken at 1:30 pm, and then Henry was born at 8:52 pm! A long day! I managed to have him without an epidural - though in the last hour I did ask for one and they were in the process of starting one when he was born! I scared the nurse, because when I told her I needed to push, his head was already showing! She screamed, ran to the hallway and yelled for the doctor. Three minutes later Henry arrived! :) 
Henry James Manuel Barnes Brummer - 6 lb 13 oz., 21 inches long. Love at first sight!
I think he looks so much like Aaron!
Wyatt came today with my mom to meet Henry. He wasn't thrilled at first - he wanted to see Mommy and Daddy. After awhile he did warm up and touch and kiss Henry. Aaron took lots of pictures - I'll have to post more of those later when I get them from him.
A Hawkeye fan already! :) He is doing great - eating frequently and generally happy. We can't wait to go home tomorrow!
Henry's room is done, and not a moment too soon! Today the changing pad covers came, so it's officially ready. Here's the view looking in the door.
This is my comfy chair - it is a rocker/recliner, so I can hopefully catch some z's even when he's having a fussy night. 
Here is his dresser - it actually goes with our bedroom set, but it won't fit in our bedroom. We bought a smaller dresser that was initially for Henry's room, but it fits in our room better. Aaron used to use this, but he was willing to trade. 
The mural wall - Aaron ended up painting the fish and octopus because the Target stickers fell off after the first day! I think it's cute. :)
Here's a close-up of the sea-horses. I think they are so cute!
The changing table wall with the long awaited changing pad cover! :) 
Once Henry gets here, I can put some pictures in the frames. I hot-glued the fish and octopus on this frame from Target. I have some disposable diapers to use until his cord stump falls off. Then we are going to use the BumGenius diapers that Wyatt used - right now they are all put together and lined up by color in the drawer. 
Welcome to Wyatt's big boy room! Grandma Cheri's students made this sign for him - isn't it cute!
Here's the view looking in his door. For now the mattress is on the floor - when he gets bigger we will get a bed-frame to put it on. My mom sewed the blue curtains - they really help to make the room dark! I hope he sleeps later because of them! :)
The rocker and ottoman are still in the room - eventually we'll phase these out. It's still nice to have somewhere to sit when he wants me in there when he's playing!
His table and storage for toys.
I love the cars. :) I think he likes it!
We've been working on updating the upstairs - first the floors, then we found a rug and couch we liked. Here is where we are at now (I took a picture - it will probably not be this tidy for awhile :) ).
Aaron got a chair and ottoman that matches - it's very comfy and big enough so that he and Wyatt can sit together. That's important! :) 
Here is a picture of Wyatt before his haircut - he looks a little under the weather. No surprise, he has a mild temperature and runny nose. Poor guy. 
I love this scowl - "Why are you taking my picture???"
After a bath - the finished haircut. I'm calling this his summer haircut - short! He definitely looks like a little boy!
Post haircut and bath, counting Mommy's fingers. Oh, what fun. :) He will NOT say "one" no matter how hard I try. He will say "two, three, four, five." But not "one." Silly boy. :)
We got a lot of stuff done this weekend, and yet still had some time to relax. Aaron finished putting up the trim in the living room, dining room, and hallway - yay! I need to putty and paint it, and also sand, prime, and paint the doors and door-jams. Hopefully I will find some time to do that this summer.
Aaron also brought in the kitchen table and hung up the picture. He painted that back when we lived in Iowa City, but we had nowhere to put it. I really like it here. So does Reuben. :)
