Leo, Our Little Lion Man

  What’s up with us these days? Here’s where it’s hard, where it’s been good, with a little bit of learning sprinkled in. Teeth: Can you pray for Leo’s teeth? And for how we handle teeth grinding? We moved up our dentist appointment for fear of damage to his teeth. Few things in Leo’s life have left me feeling more helpless. It is beyond infuriating to hear the grinding and be able to do nothing to stop it. If I start to think in terms of preventing it I assure you I will go crazy. We do think through, “What is he communicating? What does he need?” Teeth grinding is often a request—or need—for oral stimulation. One therapist suggested that maybe it’s Leo fidgeting. You know how you and I might tap a leg or twiddle thumbs? Well, his teeth are really the only two things that he can control bringing together. Does that make sense? He can bring them together and create stimulation. He can’t really do that in other ways. We also definitely notice teeth grinding when Leo is in pain or