Preserving that Precious Smile

The day after Ethan's first eye appointment, we checked another first off our list with a trip to the dentist.

When we arrived for his dentist appointment, Ethan made himself right at home with a coloring book that he sprawled out with on the floor.

After about five minutes in the waiting room, it was time for Ethan's turn in the dentist's chair. We all cracked up when the dental assistant asked Ethan about his teeth and he made these funny faces while trying to show her his teeth.

Just like we lucked out with Ethan knowing our eye doctor since he's our neighbor, the dental assistant is also our neighbor. I guess that's what happens when you live in a such a small town. Anyway, she was wonderful with explaining what she was going to do to Ethan and making him feel comfortable. She brought out a large teeth model to show Ethan and he got a kick out of her chomping its' teeth.

They let Ethan hold the little mouth mirror while they counted his teeth - 10 on the top and 10 on the bottom.

After counting his mouth full of teeth, they brushed his teeth with a standard toothbrush. They want to work up at each visit with adding additional tools and features so that Ethan remains comfortable and doesn't get a fear of the dentist.

Once Ethan's teeth were brushed, the dentist came in to do the examination. Ethan's favorite part was the large, overhead light they shined in his mouth. The boy loves flashlights and thought that Daddy could use one of those things at home.

By the time we were finished, Ethan was getting a little impatient and nervous. He really wanted to sit on my lap, as he had done at the eye doctor, but he managed well in their booster seat.

The dentist gave Ethan a clean report on his teeth. Yippee! Then Ethan got to pick out a toy and he chose a plastic snake. It was kind of nice that they had normal toys to choose from and not just toothbrushes. Ethan loved the snake and took it everywhere with us for a couple of days until it was lost at the grocery store. (I hope someone didn't get a scare with a little snake peaking out from the grocery store shelf.)

We struggled with picking out our dentist for Ethan. There are two dentists to choose from in Phillipsburg and Jim goes to one and I go to the other. We ended up going with Dr. Miller's dentist office, which is Jim's dentist. They did a wonderful job, especially the dental assistant. I think it's probably time for them to update their examination rooms though. Things were looking very 1970's back there.

We have one more "first" next week and then Ethan will be done with appointments for a while.

Baked Shrimp Scampi - Barefoot Bloggers

For our second February cooking challenge, over at Barefoot Bloggers, Ina Garten's Baked Shrimp Scampi was the featured recipe.

The bread crumb, butter and lemon topping is what really makes this recipe. Can you see the flecks of lemon zest in the topping? For serving, we squeezed lemon wedges over the dish to bring out even more of the lemon essence.

Finding fresh shrimp in rural Kansas does not exist. I looked at our small selection of frozen shrimp and all that they had was precooked shrimp. The small package of precooked shrimp was about $12.00. I would have probably needed two bags to make this recipe. Since Jim doesn't even like seafood, I had no desire to splurge on an ingredient that wouldn't be enjoyed and savored by everyone and that would bust my grocery budget. I decided to make this dish with chicken instead. As a bonus, chicken breasts are on sale this week at Whites for under $2.00/lb. (I will only purchase chicken breasts when they are under $2 per pound and then stock up the freezer. I don't understand who is willing to pay over $4 per pound for chicken.) I also substituted standard bread crumbs in place of the panko bread crumbs. I could actually get the panko style crumbs in Phillipsburg, but they cost a lot more than traditional bread crumbs. Plus, I already had bread crumbs on hand.

The dish was easy to make and had strong notes of butter and lemon. You can't go wrong with that flavor combination. However, I think this dish is better suited for spring and summer. The strong lemony flavor just really says warm weather to me. I served the chicken and topping over a plate of egg noodles. I would typically use fettuccini noodles but I had these in the cupboard left over from a previous recipe and I try to use what I already have on hand.

Today, I'll use some of the leftovers as a topping to a salad for lunch. I think that sounds even better than my dinner serving over pasta.

The Eyes Have It

Ethan's beautiful, expressive, green eyes went for their first eye doctor's appointment yesterday.

Ethan's most commented on feature are his big eyes. They twinkle with mischief and imagination as they take in the world.

I've been meaning to make his eye doctor's appointment since he turned three and finally got around to getting it scheduled. I have been wearing glasses since I was six, and probably could have used them sooner, so I wanted to make sure Ethan's eyes were checked out early. When Jim and I would talk about what features we hoped our baby would inherit from each of us, Jim always hoped our baby would have his perfect eyesight and not my poor vision that requires a rather strong corrective prescription.

We arrived for our appointment and they got us in right away. Ethan was a little disappointed that he didn't have any time to play with their Legos table in the waiting room. To start off the check up, they had Ethan sit in my lap and I would cover one eye while he would identify pictures projected onto the wall. I beamed with pride at his ability to cooperate and identify all of the symbols that they tested him with.

Once the initial screening was complete, the eye doctor came into the room to examine his eyes. Ethan got a kick out of the flashlights that the doctor shined into his eyes and all the little games they played. Ethan passed all their tests with flying colors.

The doctor reported that his eyes were healthy and aligned correctly. He also told us that his vision is a little far-sighted (or near-sighted, I can't really remember - mommy fail) and that being a little off 20/20 at this age is good because our eyes get a little more near-sighted as we get older and this allows for some cushion in his vision. Maybe Ethan really did get lucky and inherit Jim's eyesight.

Dr. Ron Juenemann did such a great job with Ethan. He made him feel comfortable and had him laughing and his little games for checking his eyes. He actually is our neighbor, so Ethan is somewhat familiar with who he is and I'm sure that sort of helped out as well. (There was also a K-State football helmet on display outside the examination room that got bonus points, too.)

Ethan was excited to receive a race car sticker following the check up and he was also given a gift certificate for a personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. I was excited to learn that Dr. Juenemann's office doesn't charge for their first eye check up - yippee!