Toothless

Sophie first alerted us to a loose tooth in early July. On vacation with friends, the older daughter of our travel companions was showing off her wiggly tooth and Sophie piped up that hers was loose as well. At first assuming it was just her wanting to be like the big kid, we laughed it off. But at her insistence, I stuck my finger in her mouth and sure enough, one of her top teeth waggled. And then I felt her other top tooth and it too moved. A few weeks later, two top teeth still wiggly but not measurably more so, she pointed out that her bottom two front teeth were also now loose. Four front teeth. All wiggly waggly.

At her late July dental appointment, the dentist said she would likely not have any front teeth for her school picture. We oohed and aahed and I went straight home and made a little Tooth Fairy pillow with tiny tooth pocket to hang on her door. The tooth fairy stops at the door these days. Needless to say, we expected her teeth to start dropping out at any moment.

They didn't.

And so we watched her wiggle her teeth every day and we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Teeth wiggled. A little. But nothing substantial. I fed her apples and corn on the cob and carrots. To no avail. Her teeth were wiggly, but stubbornly still attached to her jaw.

Until today.

Today was her first day of school. It is her second and last year of pre-school before she starts kindergarten next fall. It's at the same school she attended last year, a co-op just down the street where we've been very happy. Part of the co-op format is that parents help out in the classroom at least once a month. Today was my day to work. Despite no small amount of chaos with 18 four year olds and their accompanying parents, the day went well. Sophie didn't do anything unprecedented for a four year old and other than one kid wearing a wifebeater and jean shorts who carried a wooden knife around for the first half hour*, the rest of the class was pretty tame too.

Afterwards, we went to Chick-Fil-A for a celebratory lunch with Sophie's BFF, Lila, and her mom, Eileen. As the girls delicately nibbled (read: capriciously threw food into their mouthholes) on their nuggets and delicious waffle fries, Eileen and I talked about the YA novels we're reading. At some point, Sophie mentioned her loose tooth and I cringed when she wiggled it to a nearly horizontal position. I can do blood and poop and puke but seriously wiggly teeth give me the heebie jeebies. Go figure. We laughed at her wiggly teeth and went back to talking.

Then, with absolutely no warning, she nonchalantly leaned over in the booth next to me and pulled that tooth right out. No screaming or crying or drama. With a small amount of blood and a HUGE smile, my girl dropped her tooth into my palm. Just like that, she lost her first tooth.

If only everything could be this easy.

This doubles as her first day of school and first gaptooth smile photo.

*He's a terrifically sweet kid who happens to look exactly like a bully straight out of Stand By Me.

Aren't you impressed I didn't say "my baby's growing up" anywhere in this post. I am a paragon of restraint.