There has been much smiling. Real smiling. With lots of white, straight teeth.
She has used whitening strips every morning and night to remove the very, very, very slight yellowing around where the braces hit her teeth. And I think at last count she was at 16 trips per day into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Nice oral care, girl.
Also – new hats over at the craft site!
b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l!!!!
Man, what a great feeling. I remember it well. I hate to sound like a motherly type but it’s because I have a lot of regrets in this department. TELL HER TO WEAR HER RETAINER! They don’t stay that way. You need to work at it still. :]
That’s all. Sorry again.
mihow – she totally carries them everywhere. did you ever find a cute container to put them in? she wraps them in papertowels and has them in her bags. it makes me moi nervosa. i think she’s only wearing them at night.
NO! do not do the towel thing. I had to wear something called a “Bionater” before I got braces (to fix my horribly massive, white trash like overbite). I had to wear it 24/7 for three years. I was 9 when I got it. I would wrap it up when I was eating lunch at school so kids didn’t have to stare at it. And I threw it out on several occasions. There were several times I remember digging through the trashcan in order to find it. Totally sucks because most of the paper towels in the trash did NOT hold my retainer. I had at least two replacements made because of this failed technique.
When I got my braces off and was given two new ones, I only had to wear them at night so they never really left the house. But I finally lost the bottom one about two years ago and, much to my dismay, there is no way of having it made again. :[ Now, I just hope my teeth don’t move too much.
You know something, you should totally try and make something for this very purpose. I am not sure what that would be made out of, but a container is a great idea, sort of like the Nana/iPod cozy craze.
I guess something knitted would get kind of gross. And I’m not sure about anything when it comes to bending/molding plastic. But something cutesy to hold retainers would be pretty awesome especially for teenagers, etc.
My god that is a beautiful girl!
This reminds me of that scene in Parenthood where the high strung kid throws his retainer away during a pizza party. And then the parents have to dig through the trash in order to find it. If I remember correctly, they have no luck finding the thing but the wife gives her husband a certain something, something to “relieve his stress” on the drive home.
I never found any of my retainers, either. And I certainly didn’t receive any happy endings.
i must agree. beautiful girl… and its not just the wrapping and the white teeth (though they do look terrific) I can see there is an inner sparkle that really shows…
–Jenn
those hats are AWESOME!!! and !!!!
and those teeth? absolutely gorgeous!! and !!!
my mom is making baby blankets, as soon as she gets some that are not already betrothed, i’m putting her stuff up at the craft site.
seriously, i lurve your hats.
Get out the baseball bat. You’re going to be fighting off the boyfriends now!
I have to agree with the others that she is amazingly beautiful. I thought she was extraordinarily cute with the braces, but that smile, my god is it heartwarming/heartbreaking. It makes me hope/fear for when my daughter is that age (at least I have several years yet to enjoy watching her grow). Congratulations Alex! Those Braces definitely paid off!
Beautiful! Just beautiful! I can remember getting my braces off and I don’t think I stopped smiling for a year!
It has been three and a half years since my braces were removed, and I put that day up right next to Wedding and Birth of Babies.
Congrats!
You have got one gorgeous girl over there.
I remember when I got my braces off. I was in awe of how slimy they felt.
She looks awesome! I agree with others-the retainer must be worn!
@ sleepingkelly – she totally says that every 5 minutes. ‘mom, my teeth feel so slimy!’ and i keep asking what that means, like if there is a film or something on them, but i think it’s just the difference between metal and naked teeth…..?
My oldest is getting her braces off in a month or so. She’s a wee bit excited about it as well.
slimy means smooth. it’s a crazy feeling but you get used to it and it becomes “normal” again.
it has been my experience that retainers don’t do anything, but that is just MY experience [and i’ve had a lot, we’re going on let’s see…started when i was 8 and now i’m 23 still with metal in my mouth!] but yeah.
anyway, about retainers – they didn’t give you a plastic case for it? they always gave me one for mine and you got to pick the color – they had lots! i would have chosen green then, neon probably, but they had pink! anyway, your orthodontist really should have let you pick a cute container, for free.
That girl of yours is beautiful. She kills me every time. Sunshine all over her face.
And that last hat. Whoa. You really need to sell them!
Like, to me. How much?
Incidentally, what I also need is a crocheted “cap” that’s cool for summer. I need a hat to keep my hair out of my face and protect my forhead from sun, but I can’t wear a billed cap and still take pictures, which I’M PRONE TO DO! A rocheted cap, like with ecru cotton thread or something. Not that I know what I’m talking about, but that’s the kind of hat (cap) I want that I can’t find anywhere.
Oh.my.gosh. Did she just age 5 years or is it just me!? Yikes.
Mandie got her’s off a month ago–and said the same “slimey” thing. She got two containers for her retainers… one for at home, and one in her purse.
Also–without care–the retainer will start to smell like… FEET.
1/2 a polident tablet for 10 min every night to keep them fresh and clean.
Beautiful Leah–she’s adoreable.