Pulling Teeth

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Playing the Part

Whether they like it or not, new mothers are the receivers of stories and advice. People who are miles down the path of parenthood want to share what they experienced or wish they had known on when they took their first parenting steps. When I was a new mom, I heard lots of stories from both friends, and strangers at the store. I was mostly told stories about babies sleeping (not sleeping) and eating (not eating).

What no one said: A surprising amount of your time and attention will be devoted to teeth. Teeth coming in. Teeth coming out. Cleaning teeth. Filling holes in teeth. Straightening teeth.

I was unprepared.

Two days this month have been Tooth Days

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January 11

First, our boy lost his first baby tooth.

I was excited when my oldest lost her first tooth. Now I know as the baby teeth come out, his comfortable, little boy smile goes too. Soon, he will smile with teeth made for a grown man awkwardly waiting in a boy’s mouth.

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January 22 – Another Tooth Day

Our oldest has braces. One of her adult teeth on the top never showed up, so she had more teeth on the bottom. After much discussion and procrastination, we decided to follow the our orthodontist’s recommendation. We had one of her bottom (perfectly healthy) teeth pulled to even the score on her top and bottom jaws.

Her dad promised her a milkshake when it was done.

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Sweetening the Deal

26|40 Gulp

Finally that very wiggly tooth wiggled free.  It happened while she was eating pizza with me last Saturday afternoon.  I looked at her and said, “You lost your tooth!”  She looked back at me and then felt for the tooth.  It was gone.  We looked in her piece of pizza and on her plate.  Gone.  

She wrote a note to the tooth fairy:

Tooth Fairy, 

I lost my tooth but I swallowed it.  Can you still come?  I am happy.

(She came.)

In a busy house, it’s nice to take a few moments with just one kid to take note of a milestone. 

I took this right before bedtime. I discovered that this is a great time for photographing my kids.  They are very cooperative since it is buying them a little more time before they have to get in bed.  

I used my flash for this one.  Before I got used to using flash, I just put my camera away after dark.  I still love natural light, but I don’t feel limited to it.  I bounced the flash off the ceiling in the bedroom.  I’ll get one of the girls to take a photo of me doing this sometime soon.   

27|40 On the Move

Gone are the days of putting her down and expecting her to stay there for more than a moment.  Our little girl was in no rush to crawl.  After all, her big sisters and brother brought everything to her.  She began by moving very slowly using only her arms and pulling her legs behind her.  Then one day, she found her legs and was off.

With her new found mobility, she has become a little worried too.  She needs to have either myself or Steve in her sight at all times.  Last night she was downstairs with her dad and I was upstairs with her brother.  Suddenly, I heard her scream.  Her brother was with me so I knew it was nothing he did.  The screaming stopped as quickly as it had began.  When I came downstairs, I asked what had happened.  Steve said, “I walked into the kitchen.”  As soon as he returned she was fine.  This is new.  But it’s not surprising.  Her world has gotten a little bigger this week.