Growing Up - First Tooth Lost in Our House!

I was brushing the kids' teeth the other night and realized Natalee had a shifty tooth.  I.don't.do.teeth.  Period. Exclamation point.

So I sent her to her dad for examination.  He proudly proclaimed to her that it was loose and about ready to come out, and in true Natalee fashion...she melted down.  Poor kid.  I hated losing teeth...I feel this pain with her!  I'm still not a dentist lover.  At.all.  For the last three days Mike has tried to help her wiggle and prepare for what's to come.  Last night he worked the tooth over pretty thoroughly and told her that tonight would be the night.  She cried.  He rocked her.  This is tough stuff at our house for this girl.

Enter character of the little brother.

Boy is this kid intrigued and so wanting to lose a tooth himself!

He checks his big sis's tooth probably 3-4 times a day.  So at lunch today when he loudly announced, "Natalee, your tooth is gone!" and she disagreed I sided with her, deciding he must be exaggerating.  Five minutes later he said it again, "Natalee, I see a HOLE in your teeth!"

Time for a mom-investigation.

Sure enough the little squirt was right!  Tooth.is.gone.  Natalee asked to call daddy so she could properly melt down via phone (poor baby - this is completely traumatic to her) and she sobbed to him before giving up and sobbing more with me.  Xavier took the phone from her and gave all the details!  Such a good little brother.  I anticipate needing to keep a close eye on his teeth lest he think it a good idea to knock them out.

The good news?  Losing it at lunch saved us ALL the drama of dad pulling it tonight...cuz I can tell you how that was gonna go down.  Sensory special people do NOT like to have their teeth messed with or things pulled from their bodies.  Period. Exclamation point.

The bad news?  Um...the tooth might have been part of her lunch.  Yep, it's gone.  I'd say she so badly didn't want it to come out that *if* she felt it she didn't say anything.  Or maybe she didn't feel it and swallowed it on accident.  But I sure can't find it ANYWHERE.  Swallowing it just adds to the trauma of this whole situation.  How many more teeth to lose until this is all over for her?

Here's a pic of her this morning before lunch.  Proof that we had it up until eating time!

And me?  Oh, I'm doing fine.  Blaming the misty eyes on the hormones.  I mean, nothing like watching your firstborn grow up right in front of your eyes, right?  Sniff, sniff.  She's *only* five.  I thought we had another year at least before we were losing teeth. This just seems like another step through the door of "big girl world" - she only rarely now turns back around into preschool world to say hello.  {Have I mentioned lately what an honor it is to be here at home for these big and little moments?  An absolute treasure.  Even though it's hard to watch her grow up I'm blessed to see it firsthand.  Thank you, Jesus, for this biggest of blessings.}