Blogging and brushing

I have successfully convinced my sister to join the blogging world. Yay! Read about her life here at www.mytwopercent.com. She actually does stuff, like goes to concerts, so it may be more interesting than mine. But if you don’t return to mine you’ll never know why I was cleaning poop off my bathroom floor two nights ago. Can you really go to bed tonight without finding out what that’s all about? Back to that later though. I just want to mention that there is a story behind her twopercent web address also. If you’re like me, you’ll see it then think, “Oh good, someone else messes up their cliches too.” Just ask Steve about the time I told him something threw me for a stump. But she actually did it on purpose. And you’ll read why when you look at her blog.

If I’m rambling it’s because I just had this awesome, icy java chip coffee/ice concoction from the coffee shop down the street. It was heavenly. I am off the doubleshots by the way. But I’m not sure this is better.

Anyway, when my neighbor asked me the other night if I brushed Ella’s teeth everynight, I kinda laughed and said “no. Do you?” Meaning with her twin boys. She said every night, even though it is not fun. Until now, as Ella’s teeth sporadically came in, I’ve been using this “teeth and gum” cleansing gel and only sometimes. You’re not supposed to use toothpaste on babies. It came with a little rubber finger thing and I put some gel on it and used to rub her gums and teeth. As she got a little older I got her a toothbrush and because I thought if nothing else it would be good practice. So, I would let her rub it around in her mouth as she watched me brush mine. But now, especially since it’s been brought to my attention, I totally feel like slacker mom because Ella has gotten so many new teeth in the last few months and I haven’t really started to brush them. Am I a total slacker mom? Have I doomed Ella to having plaque and cavaties already? I don’t know and from what I can tell on the Internet, they say that as soon as the molars appear use a brush, before that just use a wet washcloth in their mouth. Ella just got her molars, so maybe we’re OK.

Anyway, I bought some toothpaste, which they make without flouride for toddlers, and new brushes for her to use. It’s been going OK. I brush mine as she pushes her brush around her mouth, then I help her. If I keep opening my mouth, she mimics me and lets me brush her teeth a little. It also helps if I give her a toothbrush and let her brush my teeth at the same time. That’s only fair right?

Anyway, toothbrushing usually follows bathtime and on this particular night, I was letting Ella go au natural because of the diaper rash she had over the weekend. So, we were brushing away and suddenly I heard a little splat. I looked down and sure enough, she had gone potty on the floor. And as I was processing how gross it was to be standing next to a pile of poo while brushing our teeth, she stepped in it. Uugh. Some help from Steve, another rinse in the tub and a load of laundry later, we were cleaned up and good.

So there you have it. And now I’m reading that I need to brush her teeth twice a day. That’s going to be fun to squeeze in at 6 a.m. Oh well. As long as she has a diaper on, it can’t be that bad.