eHow Dolly's Excellent Adventure: Dolly's visit becomes a mission to soothe my Puddy Girl!

Dolly arrived on the day my daughter came home from school with a toothache. Well, sort of a toothache. Her permanent molar was pushing through and had pushed her baby tooth over sideways, where it was growing sideways, out the side wall of her gum! Poor baby! She's autistic, and does not handle mouth pain very well, among other things. So, Dolly's first weekend here was probably the least pleasant of her entire journey. She was probably hoping she had gotten waylayed in the post office so she could have partied with postal workers again.

But Dolly is a real trooper and she pitched in to help keep Puddy as comfy -- and distracted -- as possible.

On Monday, Puddy went to the dental hospital at UNC-Chapel Hill to have her tooth cared for, and Dolly volunteered to go along.

She enjoyed the nearly an hour long ride there. She got to see the James Taylor Bridge, named after the famous singer who grew up in Chapel Hill, NC.

And she crossed the Jordan Lake, which is a pretty and active place in the summer, but looks fairly drab in February. The only green I seemed to catch was out hubby's window. The bottom picture is out my window! How'd he keep all the pretty to himself?

Bleak though it was, the ebullient Dolly seems to find joy in the smallest of sights.

Finally, we arrived at the hospital. It's a big, confusing place, but we've been there so much, it's old hat. There is a lot of construction going on, and has been for the two years we've lived here, so it's not very pretty, but probably will be when finished.

As bad as she had wanted to get to the "tooth doctor" to get help, Puddy was starting to get scared, but Dolly told her jokes and gave her hugs in the waiting room and cheered her right up.

Dolly suggested we take pictures of the experience to help Puddy the next time she has to lie down on the dentist's chair. She does not mind saying "Ahhh!", but she hates lying back in the chair and having no escape. In fact, this was the first time she has been able to do this. I think it might have been Dolly's pep talk. Dollly also demonstrated a few times for Puddy, but I missed those photo ops!

They gave her cool sunglasses to wear through the ordeal. That helped keep the bright light out of her eyes, but she was still worried about lying in that chair. After sitting up a few dozen times, and listening to Dolly reassure her, Puddy finally lay back and allowed the dentists to work.

No needles at all! This was her first dental procedure without full anesthesia! Mommy, Daddy, and Dolly were all so proud of Puddy!

And her reward -- besides STICKERS, YAY! -- was a photo op with the famous Dolly! She won't go anywhere without her hats on her head, by the way.

On the way home, Dolly wanted me to take these pictures and to tell you all that the snow was not her fault -- this is her proof: Look at that sun streaming through! No snow curse going on here!