My Baby Is Growing Up!

~*sob! boo hoo!*~ Does anyone have a tissue I can have? My baby is growing up so fast!! Oldest had a major milestone today-- She lost her first tooth! It caught us all off guard. There was no warning with this tooth, no loose tooth, no constant wiggling- either with finger or tongue. Don't you remember as a kid, taking your tongue and moving that loose tooth back and forth, wanting to pull it out but at the same time, fearful of the pain it might cause if you pulled it out before it was ready? There was none of that! I fed them soft tacos for lunch and then the next thing I know, I have Oldest standing before me with a bloody grin, a space in her teeth and a tooth in her hand! What?! How?! She was so excited, jumping up and down. I calmed her down and had her rinse out her mouth to make sure it was an actual, legitimate loss of a baby tooth and not an accident that caused her tooth to get knocked out. It's real, all right. *wah!* My baby is growing up!!

She was so proud of that tooth, and when we went to the store later on, she told everyone she met that she lost her first tooth, see? and she would pull down her lip and give the biggest grin she could and go "see?!" She told a fellow shopper, the cashier, the cart boy, even the guy at the gas station. I let her enjoy the day because, after all, to a 5-year old, losing a tooth is big news!

Putting her to bed tonight, she asked me to ask the Tooth Fairy for paper money in exchange for her tooth. I told her I would see what I could do. Daddy made a phone call to the Tooth Fairy to report a tooth under her pillow tonight and Oldest was in awe after hearing that the Tooth Fairy already knew about her tooth. We told her that she had to go straight to sleep or the Tooth Fairy wouldn't come and if she cheated and only closed her eyes and opened them when the Tooth Fairy reached under her pillow, then the tooth and the Fairy would turn to dust! Not a peep out of her once she went to bed tonight! Even Middle, who shares a room with Oldest stayed in bed tonight and wanted no parts of Daddy tickling her before bed, choosing instead to lie quiet, as if willing herself to fall asleep.

What's the going rate for a tooth these days?? A friend told me she wanted to put a $5 bill under her daughter's pillow but her husband thought it was too much and got a $2 bill instead. I remember getting a quarter for my teeth. I think a dollar bill will be good.

I remember when I discovered my teeth in my Dad's wooden treasure chest when I was snooping one day. I opened the lid and in one of the little compartments were mine and my sister's baby teeth. I put 2 and 2 together and realized that my Dad was the Tooth Fairy. I was old enough to not get upset and I had lost all my baby teeth for a few years by then. I thought it was cool that he had saved our teeth all those years and I know it was his way of remembering us every time he opened his chest. I'll squirrel away my children's teeth and then maybe someday I'll put it where they could find it if they ever snooped through my jewelry box and see if they say anything. For now, though, I am looking forward to morning, when Oldest discovers that the Tooth Fairy had come last night!