Six months ago, we found a dentist who was trained in the U.S. and had advertised in the base paper as able to accept United Concordia (who our dependents' dental plans are with...although it's changing soon). Her name is Ellie Suzuki and her little dental clinic was South of Yokosuka along the coast on the other side of the Miura Peninsula. She was fantastic, took care of Amy's cleaning and x-rays, and tried to work with RJ to clean his teeth and get x-rays. He was NOT into it at all then and was nowhere near able to get an x-ray taken. He wasn't very fond of having her clean his teeth and take a close look at his mouth, either, but he survived.
A couple months ago, Dr. Suzuki opened an office right outside the back gate to the base where she can more easily cater to the Americans. She even called the new office the Womble Gate American Dentistry. We were very excited for her, and I'm willing to bet that she's doing a booming business.
Today was check-up time for Amy and RJ again, so we parked near the back gate and walked out to her office. Her new office is great. It's very obviously aimed at us gaijin because we didn't have to take off our shoes like we did at her other office, and her office staff are native English speakers. There are two dentist's chairs, an x-ray room, and a small children's play room as well as the normal waiting area. We got settled and first on the agenda was to try to get RJ's x-rays taken again. Long story short, Amy and the assistant were sooooo close in getting his shot. He moved at the last second so it didn't turn out, but this time was much better than six months ago. Maybe in six more months, he'll be even more receptive to getting his "picture" taken. Here's a photo of him with his pink lead blanket on and a toy Buzz Lightyear used as a distraction device (they had several different toys and stuffed animals there to help kids relax). A note about the red mark on his cheek--he tripped going up the stairs last night and got a bruise/rug burn on his cheekbone. Poor kiddo.
After the x-ray attempt, Dr. Suzuki cleaned RJ's teeth. This wasn't very easy with all the tears and the repeated "I need to sit up" cries. She did eventually get an exam done and a quick cleaning, and after a few minutes of calming down following the check-up, he was back to his old self playing with Buzz and the other toys. Amy was then able to get her teeth cleaned while I got Ryleigh to sleep and played with RJ.
After the dentist, we (being Amy and I) had lunch while RJ slept in the red chair. He's fallen asleep on the way home so we carried him in and let him recharge. After lunch, I went into work for the afternoon to take care of some more crises that had come up.
When I came home after work, I brought with me a couple boxes containing the new high chair we'd ordered for Ryleigh. We bought the exact same model that RJ used (and is currently still using) because it grows with the child. We put RJ's infant seat on it and later will replace it with a red cushion just like we did with RJ's green cushion. The design of the chair allows for adjustment of the levels of the cushion and of the foot rest so that it can be converted from a high chair to a padded chair that adjusts to the height needed for the kiddo. Regardless, RJ wanted to open the box right away and put it together. He was a great helper and we made a good team. The following are some pictures of the construction.
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| RJ was very good at putting screws into holes--maybe not the right holes or the right screws... |
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| RJ offering his assistance. |
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| Me explaining what a "dowel" is to RJ--he didn't care. |
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| RJ putting the right screw in the hole and attaching the piece. |
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| RJ carried the instructions around so I could refer to them if needed. |
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| Without any guidance or instruction, our little Engineer figured out exactly how the seat was supposed to fit into the frame. |
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| As I was adjusting the straps for Ryleigh, RJ snapped this photo. |
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| RJ also took this one. |
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| Here's Ryleigh taking her high chair on its maiden voyage. |
Ryleigh actually did very well with the high chair and sat there all the way through dinner. For me personally, having her sit up at the table with us really made me realize just how quickly she's growing and how big she's really getting.
Here's to having a good chair and being able to sit with your family at the dinner table!
-Jip
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