My family's first lost tooth!

Our 5-year-old twin daughter, Cora, lost her first baby tooth tonight! It had been loose for quite some time, since June 12, according to my Facebook post from the morning she first told us it was loose. We had just assumed that she was sort of afraid to lose it or especially to pull it, but this evening she said to us (while standing in the corner for having been too wild and noisy after dinner) that she thought her tooth might come out tonight. Hans and I both took a look and saw that the tooth could go completely horizontal, yet was still attached. We agreed that if she wanted to try to get it out tonight, she should be the one to do so. That way if there was any pain she'd be the one in control. In my family the story always was, but I don't think we ever really did it, that someone would tie a string around the tooth and around a doorknob to an open door and then would slam the door. Ouch! I definitely didn't want to force anything painful on her, especially for this first tooth.

She was such a brave girl and just sat on the sofa with some tissues to soak up the blood that it produced as she worked on it. I will admit that even though I was sitting right next to her, I didn't really want to watch that carefully. I'm OK with my own blood, but seeing other people's blood has made me queasy in the past. Side note: in college when I was an architecture (architorture) student at Georgia Tech, one of the many nights that most of us spent in the studio, as it approached morning (probably about 5 a.m.), a fellow student got off track when slicing some paper with an Exacto knife and almost sliced off the ends of three of his fingers. There was a TON of blood and only one other student there besides the wounded one and myself. Thankfully she had a car, so she and I helped him get cleaned up as best we could and she drove him to a local clinic. I, however, sat down at my drafting table and put my head down on the table. I guess that shows that I can be strong in the moment of need, but might need to recover afterward.


Anyway, back to Cora's tooth. So, there we sat on the sofa as she tugged and twisted on her tooth, the lower right incisor. She was making repetitive motions, so I wasn't 100% sure that she'd pulled it when she actually got it out. She was so excited and proud of what she'd done! Hans cleaned up the tooth and put it in a tiny plastic bag so she could put it in the pocket on her Tooth Fairy pillow. She was also delighted to call all of her grandparents and let them know the good news.

As I write this, the Tooth Fairy has already come to exchange the tooth for a bit of money. While we're on the topic, how much money did you get from the Tooth Fairy and how much money did/will your children get? I got one dollar per tooth except for the four molars I had to have surgically pulled to make space in my tiny mouth (some would disagree with that!), when I got ten dollars for the four teeth. Hans and I talked about how much to give her and finally settled on five dollars, at least for the first tooth. Someone suggested for future teeth giving each kid a random amount of bills and change so that they have to add up how much money the Tooth Fairy brought. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this, so please share. Cora already has a second loose tooth and it won't be long before Greta has some, too, that then there's Franklin and Carlton, so we're going to have plenty of visits from the Tooth Fairy over the next decade or so.

IKEA trip = Shelf for Sale

THE SHELF HAS SOLD, but the story is still interesting:

Short version:
For sale: IKEA Expedit Shelf, new and assembled and in Huntsville, Alabama. After getting home I realized this is not the shelf I intended to purchase. It has 4 x 4 cubes and I wanted the one with 5 x 5 cubes. I'd like the $129 I paid for it. Assembly and shipping from Atlanta to Huntsville are free to the purchaser.




Width: 58 5/8 "
Depth: 15 3/8 "
Height: 58 5/8 "
Max load/shelf: 29 lb










Long version:
For sale: IKEA Expedit Shelf, new and assembled and in Huntsville. After getting home I realized this is not the shelf I intended to purchase. It has 4 x 4 cubes and I wanted the one with 5 x 5 cubes. I'd like the $129 I paid for it. Assembly and shipping from Atlanta are free to the purchaser.

This trip to IKEA was a fiasco all the way around. Our original plan was to go to my parents' house near Gadsden, AL, (about 2 hours from Atlanta) on Wednesday of last week and then Greta, Cora & I would go to IKEA on Thursday in my dad's truck and return to Huntsville with our new shelves (the 5 x 5 Expedit and another one). Well, the girls got sick Wednesday night, so we had to wait until Saturday to go to Atlanta. This past weekend at IKEA was "kids eat free" weekend, plus it was a Saturday. There were SO MANY people there you could hardly move!!! We had a snack downstairs at the snack counter, but their frozen yogurt machine was down, so it wasn't the one we had planned on. I checked the girls into the play area and went to do the shopping. It took me forever to get through the crowd of people and it was so HOT in the store! I had help from two different IKEA employees in the warehouse area to get the two shelves loaded onto my flatbed cart (which was horribly heavy!). I had created and printed my shopping list on IKEA's web site and taken it with me, so I just showed it to the guys and they helped load the boxes. The second guy told me that the Expedit shelf I wanted was actually on the main aisle (instead of the side aisle that was listed on my shopping list) since it was so popular, so I followed him there. It was only two boxes, but I *thought* I remembered my mom saying it was 3 boxes since my parents bought the same shelf recently. I questioned him on it and he assured me that I had the correct shelf. OK, so off we went to check-out after I parked the cart and retrieved the girls. We were (I was) so worn out that we just wanted to get on the road back to Huntsville (about 3 hours), so we skipped the meatball dinner at the restaurant upstairs. After checking out I couldn't find anyone to help me unload the shelves onto the truck. Our cashier called twice, but the one guy who showed up said, "I'll be back in a minute" and never came back. I asked another employee who was corralling the carts and was told to go ahead down the elevator to the parking deck and that there would be IKEA employees there to help me. NOT!!!! I ended up asking a stranger to help me and it turned out that he was from Florence, AL!

So, we were rolling on I-75/85 north and I noticed the looming dark clouds. I called Dad to ask if he by chance had a tarp in his truck. He didn't, which surprised me - this is the man who WAXED the top of our clothes dryer when he had it to repair! So, we located the nearest Wal-Mart, dashed inside asking where tarps were the entire way back to the hardware department, grabbed a tarp, paid for it and I started putting it over the shelves in the truck bed. Well, suffice it to say that the bottom fell out in short order. I was soaked through to my underwear and since I didn't want to drive home soaking wet on a cloth seat, I locked the girls in the truck (telling them not to let anyone else in except me, but mind you there was nobody else around since it was pouring rain) and went back inside to get some new clothes to wear home. The Wal-Mart employees in the ladies' clothing section were quite helpful and were putting up the warning signs for a wet floor where I had dripped into their department. I bought new undies, a new dress, and a towel, dried off, checked out, and made it back to the truck (in light rain). My sandals that were already on their last legs were completely soaked, so I wore them across the parking lot and took them off to ride home.

Since we hadn't eaten dinner yet and were near a Varsity location (YUM!), we went through the drive-thru and got dinner, including a milkshake to share. We got stuck in three traffic jams on I-75 north. Once we exited I-75 headed west to Alabama, I figured we were in the clear, right??? Well, along US-411 nearing Rome, GA, we had a milkshake explosion onto the floor of Dad's truck, so I had to pull off (thankfully it wasn't raining) and clean it up as best I could. Dad didn't have any napkins in his truck(!), but did have a towel under the front seat and I had some melted ice water from a drink earlier, so it cleaned up pretty well. In the clear, right? Uh, no. The tarp was flapping pretty badly by the time we got to the state line, so I pulled off at the last gas station in Georgia and a nice Harley rider helped me resecure the tarp. Clear now? Well, we had to stop to get gas in Ft. Payne, AL, but otherwise the rest of the ride was uneventful, thankfully. We arrived in Huntsville at about 8:30 p.m., let the girls show Daddy what we'd gotten after we unloaded the truck bed checking for possible water damage (thankfully there was none!), and sent them to bed. I was not far behind them after the day I'd had.

Sunday morning while I was cleaning up the kitchen after a nice breakfast (my parents kept Franklin & Carlton overnight, so that helped) and Hans started putting the Expedit shelf together. I glanced in a time or two, but didn't notice anything was amiss until I set up the FIVE cloth drawers I had purchased and found that there were only FOUR cubbies per row! OH, was I upset with this last thing that went wrong with our IKEA trip. I emailed IKEA with the basics of what happened, noting that their employee led me astray, and this is what I heard back: "Unfortunately, as our IKEA Atlanta would be unable to offer a pick up delivery service to your area, we can only recommend bringing the item back into the IKEA Atlanta location and speaking with a Manager." Um, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

SO, the bottom line is that this is indeed a wonderful shelf and we would keep it if we had room in the house to keep both it and a 5 x 5 Expedit shelf, but we do not have enough space. It is fully assembled and obviously has already been "shipped" from Atlanta to Huntsville (shipping cost if purchased online from IKEA for this $199 shelf is $348!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). I'd like to find someone who needs such a shelf for their kids' toys or books and stuff. The 4 x 4 was only $129, so that's what I'd like to ask for it. Please email me at barbara (at) babydipper (dot) com if you or anyone you know is interested in this shelf. Thanks!!

My Review of Avalon 40" W Desk with Hutch and Chair in Honey

Originally submitted at CSN Stores

This child size desk, hutch and chair set is the perfect place for your kids to release their creativity. It features a generous work top area, a front drawer for storage and a hutch with many small compartments to keep pencils and other utensils close at hand. With solid w...

Avalon 40" W Desk with Hutch and Chair in Honey

Amazingly sturdy desk for kids!

By Ms Nouveau from Huntsville, AL on 7/28/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Drawer Slides Smoothly, Easy To Clean, Smooth Writing Surface, Easy To Move, Attractive Design, Space Saver, Easy To Assemble, Sturdy Construction

Cons: Lacks Drawer Security

Best Uses: Kid's room, Bedroom

Describe Yourself: Budget Shopper

Primary use: Personal

We recently purchased two of these desks for our twin girls who are in first grade. These desks are the perfect size and are super-sturdy. Our girls enjoyed helping assemble the desks. They love the hutch with its little cubbies and the built-in drawer for stashing all of their things. I think we will have this desk for many years to come.

Dad and girls putting a desk together.

Tags: Picture of Product, Made with Product

Two desks in place for two girls

Tags: Using Product, Made with Product, Picture of Product

(legalese)

CSN Giveaway on A Few Short Cuts

Here is another fabulous giveaway, this time for a $60 gift certificate to CSN Stores, a network of 200 + stores. This giveaway is hosted by A Few Short Cuts, which is also host to many other wonderful giveaways. Stop by the A Few Short Cuts blog and check it out!

Shop Market Mommies to Help Moms Out

I would like to give a shout out to Market Mommies to help get the word out about their listing of mom-owned businesses and blogs. And, yes, of course Baby Dipper is listed on there, too.

Market Mommies is just about to unveil a complete redesign of their web site, so are really trying to get the word out and I'm more than happy to help out. Please visit Market Mommies to shop at some fabulous mom-owned businesses and read some spectacular mom-owned blogs.

Oh, and if you are a mom who owns a business and/or a blog, be sure to add your link to their list(s). It is FREE and helps support you and other moms, too!