she lost it!

Tuesday March 11, 9:30-ish PM.


every night before bed, after the toothbrushing chore we'd ask her if her tooth was getting a little more wiggly. to which she'd reply with a shrug of her shoulders and an attempt to show us just how loose it was. it hung in the balance by a thread for the last 3 days before she lost it and wouldn't let any of us touch it. she'd attempt to pull it out herself and had her own little routine of doing so. always with a torn corner of a paper towel in her hand to put over her tooth for better grip when pulling because it was too slippery. but to watch her, she'd put the little corner of paper towel over her tooth, grip it with pointer and thumbkin and act like she was trying with all her might to pull, but in reality she wasn't doing anything but pulling the paper towel upward over her tooth as if she was just wiping it dry. no muscle in that pull, at all. then she'd take in a deep breath and let out a *sigh* in discontentment over her lack of success.

it was a cute little routine we had going.

a few times over the past week, i was nervous that she would swallow it in the middle of the night and mentioned so to doug. to which i had no idea she was listening in--which, in turn, started an adventure of panic and anxiety in her. then doug joked a bit with her about grabbing some pliers---of course he was totally joking and even though she knew that too, it still sent her into a frenzy which ended with a little snuggle time and a pep talk from me. in a heartfelt one on one, through big ol' crocodile tears, she explained to me that she didn't want to grow up and get big girl teeth. she just wanted to go her whole life without losing any teeth and felt apart a little more when i couldn't calm her fears and just say "okay honey, as you wish". we ended the talk with a big, long hug and me telling her that it'll all be okay and it was just a little part of growing up.

so, again tuesday night, we followed the same routine. but this time when she pulled up the torn corner of paper towel, she freaked out because it had a little spot of blood on it. when i say freaked out, i really mean, freaked out. i had to scoop her up and hold her tight to calm her down and get her to stop shaking. the tears were flowing, the screaming ensued, new bruises on my legs were being born from her kicking....the whole shabang. with a holler upstairs for a cold cloth and the offer of a dose of pain medicine we were on our way to calm. then, daddy saved the night by offering to make a run to the convenient store to grab an icee. all it took was the mention of an icee and everything was alright in the world again. within a minute we talked her into letting us take a peek and got her to open her mouth so i could peek and reassure her that everything was fine. in my attempt, i grabbed another fresh-not-blood-spotted papertowel and gave it a wiggle and it came out. she didn't even know.

within minutes she was making calls to anyone she thought might still be awake and was bouncing through the house excited as can be. how she goes from one extreme to the other in a matter of minutes is beyond me.

not to mention ever so exhausting.

and that's the story of the first lost tooth. the end.