yea...no cavities

So, kaia's almost 3 and a 1/2, so i thought that it's probably time to try to get her dental exam (our first attempt was when she was almost 2 & she REALLY wasn't ready then). so, i call the dentist yesterday to get an appointment & i ask them, "how do most kids do when they're this young?" and they tell me, "some do okay, but if they're not cooperating, we can strap them down with your approval". i was waiting for her to say "just kidding"...no, nothing. so, i proceed to ask them (still in shock by what i just heard), "what do you mean strap them down, like with belts?" and she says, "yes, we'd just put a belt-like strap around each wrist and around fer feet and hold her head still." i just tell her, "well, we WON'T be doing any strapping down, but we'll bring her in and try it & see how she does. i couldn't believe that they would acutally strap down a kid to clean their teeth...it's not like it's life-or-death. anyways, i was pretty leary about even going to this place after hearing this. but, we kept the appointment & went today.
everything started out really good...they were able to get 3 x-rays (kaia didn't like the thing they had to put in her mouth to get the back teeth, so they just got the front teeth)
now, we're in the exam/cleaning room & things are still going smoothly.
here, you can see that things are starting to go downhill. as soon as they started to recline the chair, i could see the fear in her eyes, then they ask her to open her mouth & kaia says, "i want mama". so, i ask if i can sit in the chair with her, that worked for a minute. she opened her mouth for them & then the tears start flowin'. i thought they were gonna whip out the restraints & i was gonna have to pick her up and run outta there, but they just asked me to hold her tight and they QUICKLY polished her teeth. she was NOT happy, she was screaming LOUD and i softly kept whispering in her ear that she's gonna get a lollipop as soon as they're done (i know...that's not what dentist's want to hear) :)

we had to take a break and bribe her with princess toothbrushes...and FINALLY we were done.
as soon as she sat up in the chair and her tears were wiped away, i said, "see kaia, that wasn't too bad was it?" and she says in the sweetest voice "no mama". and i continued with, "dentists are nice aren't they?" and she says, "yes". i never thought she would have aggreed to either of those questions after what had just occures 2 minutes earlier.
so, not 1, but 2 toothbrushes and a lollipop later & far away from the dentist office...kaia's happy.