Name Change

We’re thinking of changing Max’s name to Chip. What do you think? Has a nice ring to it in a 50s sort of way. Why would we do such a thing? More on that later. First let’s start with a more pleasant story of Max….

Alex pulled into the driveway with Max after work last evening and I was quick to grab him up to squeeze and kiss him (Max that is). He wanted down and quickly scurried over towards his dad in the bedroom. I began walking that direction. Max spotted me and closed the door between us with a grin. Hey! I would attempt to open it and he’d peak out and giggle, closing it once more.

Eventually I did gain entry, scooped Max up and leaned over to give Alex a quick smooch hello. As I pulled back, I realized Max’s head was lunging towards my face. I looked over and realized that his mouth was half open and he had locked in on my mouth. Kisses! Max gave me repeated kisses which I accept as apology for his door closing shenanigans. Kisses will get you everywhere, Max. You are forgiven.

Now on to the story I don’t like. Alex was giving him a bath later that evening. When Max decides bath time is complete, he stands up and points to the towel hanging on the rod. Alex, sitting beside the tub, began to reach for the towel as I watched from the next room. In the blink of an eye Max falls forward and I see his mouth whack the side of the tub. Oh no! He lets out a silent scream and I run to scoop him up. I look in his mouth and there is blood at the roots of his front teeth….as well as a chunk out of one of his front teeth. Ohhhhhh noooooooo! It’s not to the point where it exposed a nerve but it’s definitely bad enough to require repair. The plan is to place a call to the ped this morning to get advice on a good pediatric dentist.

As you can imagine, last evening was spent with Alex and I trying to reassure each other that it will be just fine, this is a relatively minor injury, Max is not in any pain, etc. I had finally built myself up to the status of acceptance. Then this morning I realized that when I signed Max up for benefits, I didn’t sign him up for dental. Medical and dental are both free to us but I was practicing good stewardship thinking, “Why would I waste my employer’s dollars to pay for dental for a baby? It’s not like he’ll have cleanings, fillings, etc.” Now I know why I should have made them pay for it and I’m beating myself up that this will be out of pocket. My other option is to call him Chip until he loses that tooth at 6 or so. Thoughts?

*Update* We took Max to the pediatric dentist on Tuesday and she said "Oh, I'm not worried about this one!" Great, that makes one of us. According to her his milk teeth are still growing and it should fill in some. The tooth bottom should level off through regular use. Alex and I are going to keep an eye on it and consider a fix down the road if her prophecy doesn't prove true. In the meantime I don't flinch now when I see it and Max enjoys rubbing his tongue over the new texture of his tooth.