A loose tooth...

Over the past year most of Alexa's friends have lost a tooth or two. In her mind this must be the 'cool' thing because she will say (almost every day) that she has a loose tooth, too. I play along and wiggle her teeth and then she giggles and says, "I'm just kidding Mommy."

Now, I knew the day would eventually come, but I had this crazy idea in the back of my head that my kid had some sort of super-powered teeth and they'd never fall out. She was going to keep her cute little perfectly straight baby teeth forever.

Well, wishful thinking, I guess.

Last night we carried on as normal. We got home, played outside, made dinner, ate, took baths, put jammies on and then sat in front of the TV to watch the latest contestant to be voted off Dancing with the Stars. (Seriously...who is voting for Kate Gosselin? She needs to go home..NOW!)
Alexa and Lillian were begging for treats, but I had already taken their treats away for poor behavior. They cried and cried that they were still hungry. (How could they be? They each ate 3 tacos!!) So, I finally gave in and said, "Fine, you each can have an apple and that's IT!!" Alexa ran to the fridge and got them each an apple, which they both like to eat whole. Alexa took maybe 3 bites and said that her tooth hurt. Thinking this was another one of those "I have a wiggly tooth moments", I played along and looked in her mouth, pretending to find that she was missing a bunch of teeth.
But, to my surprise she actually DID have a very loose tooth. The smile on her face when I told her it was "FOR REAL" was priceless. It's what she's been waiting for, for over a year. Now SHE has her very own loose tooth to tell her friends about. She shook with excitement, we jumped up and down and then proceeded to call everyone we knew. She made me text all the neighbors and she called Daddy right away.
Adam faked his excitement. I could tell this was his moment of feeling like his little girl is growing up so quickly right before his eyes. I knew what he was feeling, but I couldn't not be excited for Alexa. She wiggled it with her fingers, she wiggled it with her tongue, she looked at it in the mirror, she chewed her apple on the other side of her mouth with caution, she smiled non-stop. She was more than proud, she was beaming. She let me wiggle it whenever I wanted, but only if I asked first. She even let Lillian wiggle it. Then of course Lillian thought she had a loose tooth, too. She started jumping up and down and wiggling all her teeth and wanted to call Daddy and text all the neighbors.
I'm surprised Alexa was able to sleep last night, but she did. She woke up this morning and I brought them to school early, as Adam had an early presentation. She showed her teacher Ms. Tracy, who was a little squeamish with loose teeth. She said she'd 'call me' if she lost it at school. She'd hold on to her tooth and put it in her pocket so she could show me and so the tooth fairy could come and sneak money under her pillow.


Talk about anxiety. How do you deal with all these huge events in your child's life? My emotions are running wild. From their first smile, to their first steps, learning to ride bike without training wheels, pumping their legs on the swings, going to kindergarten and now losing the first tooth. I can't take it. It's too much. I just have to remind myself to embrace every moment and enjoy them with my kids. It's a waste of time to dwell on it and miss out on all the joy's.