Picture Catch Up

I've been a bit behind on the blog so here are some pictures from the last month.

We went to the petting zoo again.  Violet is old enough for the pony rides now.

Violet is talking up a storm.  She is learning so many new words every day.  It's truly impressive to witness the learning capacity of a young child.  She is talking in three and four word sentences.  Everything is hers ("My ipad!  My iphone!).  She even knows how to call Nana and Papa on skype herself.  She is also is starting to assert her independence and wants to start doing things herself.  She is developing a vivid imagination and will pretend to talk on the phone or play with her dolls.

She's also becoming a bit of a daddy's girl.  But lucky for me, at least for now, mommy is still number 1.

Violet Sees the Dentist

Since Violet recently turned two, she had her first dental appointment.  They didn't do too much with her other than count her teeth and examine them.  The dentist did spend 20 minutes educating me on brushing and flossing her teeth.  It reminded me of the  "New puppy exam" where the owner brings in a new puppy and you just spend 30 minutes talking to them about care.  This was Violet's new puppy exam for her teeth.

Pediatric dentists and their offices have come a long way since I was a child.  We walked into a plush office with a large fish tank filled with all the Nemo fish.  There were toys and books and game systems that the kids could play while they waited.

Once we were called to the back, Violet sat on the chair.  There were three different dental employees that served as child wranglers.  They took turns entertaining her while the dentist talked to me.  They had these creepy stuffed animals that had an entire set of teeth so Violet could practice brushing.

Note creepy stuff animal with human teeth.

The dentist was nice.  He told me that she would need braces when she was older and that I should start saving now.  Awesome.

The toy chest has come a long way since my day.  I remember it being filled with superballs and plastic rings (i.e. really cheap toys).  I wish I had taken a picture of the toy selection.  First of all, the toys were in a displayed on multiple shelves.  Also, they had some pretty nice stuff.  I was trying to steer Violet towards picking a good toy.  For a while she was playing with red and green cars that looked pretty cool.  But instead she insisted on these red beads.  The kind that one might pass out at Mardi Gras.  Probably one of the cheapest toys they had but to her the beads might as well be diamonds--she loves them so much.

Violet showing off her beads.

Of course Eric and I are trying to teach her to lift her shirt for them but so far with no success.

The coolest part of the whole experience was the free photo booth in the lobby.  Seriously?  They gave us a token as we checked out so we could use the booth.  Unfortunately, Violet didn't entirely make it into the pictures, but they're still super cute and fun.

Pretty cool for a trip to the dentist!