But when Joan lost a tooth right after Christmas, I felt like I had been nad-punched. The fact that these babies of mine are indeed growing up brings me to my knees at the most unexpected times. Her tooth had been loose for over a month, for christssake. And yet, when it fell out, and she smiled at me with that tiny little gap in her grin, I felt as if I'd lost some part of her.
Putting that tiny tooth in an envelope marked "Joan, tooth #1, Dec 26, 08" was so hard. I looked at that tooth and thought about how excited (and also sad) I was when I first felt it poking through her baby gums. She was getting a tooth! How fun! Oh, but how I will miss her sweet gummy smile!
And now that first tooth has been replaced by a PERMANENT tooth- one that she will (God willing) still have in her mouth the day she gets married. Or the first time she gets pulled over. Or when she performs in the high school musical. (In reverse order, please, God, please.)
So now we are entering the age of Chicklet filled mouths. (And also the age of pleading with God a lot, apparently.) This summer I had the girls' picture taken, and many of the photos show off their tiny baby teeth. I'm so glad we did that. This is the end of the innocence, I guess.
(Hello! Melodrama much?)
In case you are wondering, Kate still does not have any loose teeth. This surprises us a tiny bit because their teeth came IN within days of each other. They've always reached these milestones so close together. Actually, I'm sorta glad- we really need to remember that they are, indeed, two different people, with two different bodies that do things at two different rates.
Also, in case you were wondering, the tooth fairy brought her TWO dollars. With swift explanations that the FIRST tooth you loose is worth more than the subsequent teeth. Because, holy shit, $2 times about 100 kazillion baby teeth equals... well, you do the math.
Also-also, in case you were wondering, that wallpaper? IT HAS TO GO. When this house is finally wallpaper-free, you will hear whoops of celebration as well as see fireworks and smoke signals of joy.
Also-also-also, I love this new way of doing "also". Thanks Swistle.
[Edited to add: I guess I need to take a remedial course on how to use loose and lose. I honestly am confounded by those two words. And while I'm at it, I should probably learn to spell nauseous.(I had to use spell check, and I had it wrong AGAIN!)]
7 comments:
Lol- Ah sweet milestones in our childrens lives. One thing I can say- take a MILLION pictures of them every year. Take pictures of them happy- of them throwing a tantrum, of them playing, of them sleeping...brushing their teeth, doing homework, going to prom, on Halloween, on Christmas day, swimming, making funny faces....... What seems like waste of film really isn't. I wish to GOD I had taken more pics as I did when my babies were little. I find i don't have nearly enough of my baby boy I lost in 2007. I should have worked less and LIVED more.
My unspellable word(and I HAVE sat and TRIED to memorize the spelling)....is neseccsary......necessary. Yeah, I had to spell check it too to get it right the second time.
Sunny- I have a few other words I always get wrong too, but I can't think of them off the top of my head right now.
And yes, we DO take lots and LOTS of pictures. We've been parents in the Digital Age, so we have (literally) around 2,000 pictures PER YEAR of the kids. I'm also doing that "photo a day" challenge, which I hope I can stick too, because I think it will be a unique way to sum up our year when we look back on it.
Oh wow.....I wish I had known about that photo challenge!!!
LOL- I was reading some of your other posts when you was writing this...hehehehe- I recently acquired(another word I usually misspell as I did this time(as well as the word MISSPELL) go figure. and had to spell-check) a few extra blogs I read- and was beginning with my morning round or reading with my Mean Bean Monster Coffee Drink. I'm SO addicted to those things.
Yeah- I LOVE the Twilight series.....you should definately(another of the words) read it altho the series is geared toward the tween & teen girls. No graphic violence, no sex, hardly any kissing even no potty mouth words......(so far) but somehow she manages to make it all wonderful and gooey. A TRUE romance...I'm still working on reading Eclipse. Time has been a short commodity lately.
I miss you.
I seriously feel a pain in my heart after reading this.
Your writing is beautiful and I know you are too.
I miss you!
I had to laugh at the phrase "nad-punched."
Oh, she is SO SWEET. You can FEEL how excited she is through the photo.
And I HEAR YA on the growing up part. It's a never-ending dilemma. GROW UP ALREADY but DON'T.
Look at that face!!!! She is positively overcome with herself!
I remember the exact time, place and circumstances of Josie's first lost tooth.
I can't spell nausea-seuss either.
When my kids lose the two front teeth, I take them for a portrait session. I did it on impulse with my first kid, but then noticed so clearly the significant change in how he looked with his adult front teeth---so now I'm doing it with each kid.
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