Happy day

Having a child with a disability definitely makes you appreciate little things. For example, Taylor went to the dentist on Monday, fully cooperated, and even let the dental assistant take x-rays of his teeth and the clean them. Really CLEAN them, like with the noisy, somewhat scary tools they use to scrub the teeth and the suck out the spit. We didn't have to drag him in, hold him down, or even bribe him with ice cream. It was a total miracle. I thought I was going to cry. Tim and I left the girls at home and took him that morning, prepared for a battle at worst or to give lots of encouragement and comfort at best. We thought the dentist would just do what he did 6 months ago, which was look in Taylor's mouth to check things out the best he could, giving Taylor lots of high-fives and encouragement (not to mention Spider-man stickers). I guess what we'd forgotten was that Taylor has a memory like a recording device, and all that positive praise from our awesome dentist stuck with him.
We had prepared Taylor Sunday night for the following morning's outing (it is always best to prepare him, even for unpleasant things). He was a bit reluctant until we reminded him of the cool video games and other toys in the waiting room and TV screens showing movies on the ceiling above the dental chairs. Monday morning he shocked us by getting ready and reminding us of our impending trip to the dentist. The dental assistant didn't know of his past reluctance, so she just took him back for his x-rays, and since he cooperated, we let her. He did great with that, so we also said nothing as she began cleaning his teeth. We just watched in utter amazement. This was the first time EVER in the child's 13 1/2 years of life he has had x-rays or a cleaning without first being completely sedated in a hospital setting. Wow. Oh, and he had no cavities, by the way (miracle #2).
To top it all off, we got appointments for the girls to have cleanings the following morning. When Breanna woke up reluctant to go and was crying about it, Taylor joined in comforting her, telling her about the chocolate-flavored toothpaste and the toy. You know, I take back what I said at the beginning. Having a child with a disability doesn't make you appreciate the little things. It makes the little things become big things, and then you appreciate them that much more. Because Taylor going willingly to and then actually enjoying the dentist is no little thing!!