Eight

That's the number of teeth that Parker has left following his visit to the Children's Hospital on Saturday. We knew that Parker had extensive tooth decay when we first saw his pictures. Although we surmised that quite a bit of dental work needed to be done, we didn't know the extent of the problem. After a visit to the dentist chair shortly after we arrived home with him, our suspicions were confirmed. We decided it was in Parker's best interests to do all the dental work in one sitting at the hospital. This would limit his discomfort.

I am proud to say Parker handled his visit to the hospital like a champ. We were concerned with how he was going to react to all of the new sights and sounds of a hospital, but to our extreme delight, he did great. In the end, the doctor removed 9 teeth, and he was already missing 3, presumably they were lost or extracted while in Ethiopia. So he is down to 8.

Even without any front teeth, he is as handsome as ever.

Here's hoping that his permanent get a move on and come in soon.