Brackets and Wires and Pain. Oh My!

It's done. Isaac has braces. Let me give you some detail...

I picked Isaac up from school and off we went. It was the day he'd been waiting for. Braces. When we arrived at the Orthodontist office, I told him I wanted to take his picture out in front. He bolted and got into the office and signed his name on a paper and sat down before I even got out of the car. Not excited, are ya? He then got to sit while the girl who would brace him was finishing with another patient. This is Isaac showing his plain old not braced mouth while not missing a moment of Horton Hears A Who on the TV.

When his name was called, he bolted once more back to where he would be braced. The girl had the metal stuff that would go over his back molars and across his top palate on a mold of his teeth. He liked looking at the mold of his teeth. She fitted them on him then got the glue out. When those were in place she said he was done and walked away. He went to rinse his mouth then came back for the doctor to check it. The doctor says, "Why don't we put the brackets on?" She asked me if I had time for her to do that. Ummm. I thought that was what we were doing today! Yes, please, hook him up. She got the 4 brackets out and the doctor placed them carefully on his top 4 front teeth. Aaahh. The wonder of metal on teeth. Isaac was nervous and I watched his eyes and the anxiety in them. But before you know it, those were all on and then the doctor wanted to put a 5th bracket on a baby tooth. So he quickly did that and then it came time for the wires. Wires! She connected them quickly and when those were done I asked Isaac how he was and he gave me a thumbs up! Then I looked at the braces and called him "Metal Mouth". He laughed. He looks awesome in braces!
Soft foods for right now. He got fries on his way back to school. He got a mouthful of M&Ms when he got home from school and quickly learned that a mouth full of M&Ms is not cool. He sounds like he has something in his mouth when he talks and seems to always have a mouth full of spit!

Last night the pain was too much and this morning, even after Tylenol and a bit of soft eggs for breakfast, we decided he should stay home and get used to them. He hurts, but he's keeping busy. We need to practice eating and talking without too much embarassment. He is needing to repeat himself a lot until we figure out what he's trying to tell us. It's gonna be a fun 8 months!