Small mercies

1. When we arrived at our friends' house yesterday and found that their neighbors' kids and their friends were all playing at the house, Liza didn't dissolve into a puddle of weepiness OR demand that they all go home. She pretty much ignored them, actually, and admitted that one of the assorted strangers was pretty cool because he volunteered to help turn the handle on the ice cream maker.

2. When we babysat Liza's best friend this afternoon, both she and Liza went down for naps at the same time, virtually without comment from either of them. We expect this from Little Miss Angel Child the friend, but recent naptimes have been more off than on as far as Liza's concerned. So instead of having to deal with one or two tired, cranky preschoolers all afternoon, I had an extra 90 minutes to get ready for the dinner we were hosting tonight.

3. Tonight when Liza's 8-year-old friend hit a line drive with the plastic t-ball softball straight into Liza's thigh from less than 10 feet away, it was nothing that couldn't be fixed with a frozen pea ice pack and an apology. Technicolor bruise photos to follow later this week, I'm sure.

4. One I keep forgetting to post ... Last week Jason had to go to the dentist for his regular cleaning appointment, and we took Liza along so she could watch and see what visiting the dentist is like so hopefully she won't totally lose it the first time she goes for real. She watched Jason get his teeth cleaned ("Is he done yet? This is boring."), then she got to ride in the chair ...

She was so excited about being in the chair, the hygenist went ahead and counted her teeth and did a quick check to make sure there were no massive issues we need to take care of.

See that? Not only is she not sitting on my lap, she's not even holding my hand, and she's not attempting to strangle the lady or bite off her hand. Liza was completely calm the whole time, and she really liked the hygenist, so I think we'll go ahead and try to schedule her for a real cleaning as soon as we can. Strike while the iron is hot, or rather, while the kid has good memories of the dentist's office (and the stickers and prizes she got to take home when she left).