Something's Missing

It was a few weeks ago was when we realized that The Boy had a loose tooth. Every few days I'd wiggle it around a little bit just to check the status. I had to be careful not to do it in such a way that he would realize that his tooth wiggled. I was expecting a terrific battle when the time came for it to be pulled so I was more than willing to prolong that as long as possible. Just getting his nails trimmed is a workout. For me. I have to gear myself up for it. He fights and pulls and pushes so it turns into a marathon instead of a sprint. Oddly enough we can go to his grandma's house and she can trim his nails all the while sitting like a little angel like this is something he does everyday. How nice that he reserves his fights for me.

So this little loose tooth of his stayed exactly that for two weeks or so. All the while he had no idea. That was until this evening. I'm not sure what made him realize that his tooth was loose. Once he did he would not. Could not. Leave. It. Alone. If his fingers weren't in his mouth moving and wiggling that baby around his tongue was working overtime on it. Finally, during dinner of all times, I'd had enough.

I never pictured myself as a tooth-pulling kind of mom. In my house growing up I'm pretty sure my dad did a lot of the tooth pulling. There were a couple that I think I might have done myself. I suppose that is something that I never thought of when I became a mom. Since David had left only a few minutes before all the sudden I was turning into that kind of a mom. A tooth pulling mom. Wow.

Going back to my baby boy and his baby tooth. I was surprised when he was so willing to let me have a looksy. Because he had been playing with it so much it was a bit bloody. I cleaned it off with a napkin and surveyed the scene. It was a seriously loose tooth. I don't think I'm an expert on loose teeth but this one seemed pretty ready. I got a good grip and out it came. No kicking. No screaming. By either of us. He was such a champ.

Now I'm left to figure out how my baby got to be so big that he could have lost his first tooth.

I am still surprised how easy the whole procedure was. This probably wasn't a good standard to set. As I have three little heads of baby teeth that will eventually fall out. Something tells me his little sister, little miss drama, is not going to take this so lightly. Although she was all about loosing a tooth when she saw her brother do it. Maybe I'll have to remind her of that...

Here we are. His first shot of a toothless mouth. This is still all very crazy to me.

I had to show him what I'd just taken from him. I'm not sure what he was thinking at this point. Maybe something along the lines of, why is everyone making such a big deal about such a little thing?

Then I took him to the bathroom so he could check out his new look. Of course he was, as always, quite taken with himself. He sat there for a good five minutes examining and smiling and just checking himself out. He would probably still be there if I hadn't pulled him away.

I still haven't figured out how to do the whole "Tooth Fairy" business. He doesn't get the money thing yet. If I had put the tooth under his pillow when he went to bed, he would have kept messing with it and it would have disappeared under his bed. I think I might do something for him in the morning. Maybe. Yeah, I think that's what I'll do.

Maybe my baby is not such a baby anymore. I don't think I'm ready for that. I think I may need to go and cry myself to sleep now. Maybe when I wake up the tooth would be back in his head and this funny right of passage thing would be all one big dream. And I'll have my baby boy back.

Not likely.