Open up ya mouth, ya grill gleamin'

In case you hadn't noticed, A's got a whole mouth full of chompers these days. His affinity for dark roast coffee makes me worry about how we're gonna keep 'em pearly white (and come to think of it, probably has something to do with his recent sleep issues), so we broke out the baby toothbrush and paste for the first time. Never having brushed someone else's teeth, let alone a baby who has no idea why I'm jabbing a brush at his mouth, I wasn't sure what the best method of attack should be.

The most sensible approach probably would've been to have Timothy hold him while I attempted the brushing, but then who would take the pictures? So I sat him up on the bathroom counter, where flying spittle would require little clean up. Problem was, I only had one free hand to hold him still and make sure he didn't fall over, and I really needed both hands to pry his mouth open and stick the brush in.

So the second dumbest idea I had was to lay him down on the counter. Even if he squirmed, he probably wouldn't fall off the counter with me in the way, and I had two free hands to work with. Dumb as it may sound, it worked! He didn't mind the brushing really, although he made a funny face when he tasted the fruity bubblemint toothpaste (better than it sounds).

I think I managed to clean each of his six teeth, so Operation Bright Smile seemed to be a success. But I'll let you be the judge. Hey Alex, show 'em what you're working with!