Thursday, March 5, 2009


Thumbs Up for Reilly!

Nothing was working. Not tape, not gloves, not a threat from Santa, not the derision of three older brothers, and certainly not the nasty toxic fingernail polish I bought on the internet for $7. I think he was in collusion with his cousin Indy. At my wits end with thumb sucking, I took Reilly to the dentist last month and insisted they install "the appliance" in his mouth. After hearing my plea, the dentist took one look at Reilly and said, "I can put this $500 appliance in there, but this is obviously a kid who is smart enough and determined enough to bend it and jam his thumb in there anyway. Isn't there anything in this world he wants that costs less than $500 that you could use to bribe him?" With great trepidation, I turned to Reilly and asked him. He immediately responded, "Yep. I want a baseball bat." OKAY! I could be out of this for around $40! We've been denying his request for a new bat since last summer, pointing him to the well-stocked, hand-me-down bin in the garage. But now we were talking! With the dentist as witness, we brokered a deal for one month of NO thumbsucking in exchange for weekly slurpees and a baseball bat at the end. We had one re-start three days in, but as of this Tuesday, Reilly has gone a whole month thumb free! Tonight Dad took him to the sporting goods store and they picked out a beauty... but nothing's as beautiful as that smile!.... and it only cost us $22.79!

You're Un-B-lievable!


Reilly finished wrestling season by competing in the Anne Arundel County B League Tournament where he walked away with a lot more wins than losses and a ton of good experience, capping off a 7-3 novice season. He wasn't sure he was ready for competition back in December and mom tried to talk him into quitting, but Reilly surprised all of us with his decision to stick with it. He impressed his coaches with his commitment to learning correct technique and his determination to succeed. Great job, Reilly; those good lessons will take you anywhere you want to go, both on and off the mat.
So this is what teeth are for!



After a month of drooling, spitting, and crying half the night, Pierce finally cut a big tooth on the top to go with two little ones on the bottom. Dad treated him to pizza night to celebrate! Way to go, Peeper!