Why so serious?

I have a semi-permanent frown going on, thanks to local anaesthetic provided by my dentist. Things I discovered during my two hours in the chair this afternoon:

• Even an ipod turned up loud won't drown out that evil drill.
• It's okay to ask for more anaesthetic. You won't even feel the "pinch" of the needle later on, so it's awesome.
• Massaging dental chairs?! Brilliant! At least my back was happy.

I also learned that amalgam fillings like the one reeeeaaaaallly far back on my back tooth... yeah, they don't set right away. I learned this when we were doing some sort of bite test and I guess I bit down too hard and the filling that they just spent about an hour doing cracked. So that filling was drilled out and re-done. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. I didn't have to listen to light rock, so I was okay. (And yes, I do know that amalgams have mercury. I haven't seen any evidence solid enough to convince me that the slight risk from this outweighs the benefits of amalgams, so I'll take 'em - at least in the back where no one sees them and I can pretend my teeth are all white.)

I talked to my brother after the appointment and he relayed this story about our nephew Felix. It's a conversation the two had the other day (Felix is 7 months old):

Justin and Felix are sitting next to each other on the couch. Felix looks at Justin and says, "Dada?" Justin thinks it's a fluke, so he says, "Did you just say 'Dada'?" to which Felix says, "Yes."

I love our nephews.