Changes

While waiting in the airport last weekend, I noticed something a little funny about CHF's front bottom teeth. Namely, that he has two other teeth coming up behind them and the baby teeth are loose. This is right on up there with riding a school bus for the first time. I can convince myself that finger dimples and chubby cheeks = baby but when your baby is losing teeth, it's pretty clear he's a "kid"! I remember when those teeth came in and how I rubbed his gums to try to make him feel better. I've diligently cleaned them at least twice a day for the past 5 years. There's a lot of work invested in those teeth. Soon the tooth fairy will come (the teeth seem impossibly small - how will I find them under the pillow?). What will I do with the teeth? (Confession, losing teeth grosses me out so I find the idea of keeping them to be nasty. I cannot imagine he will want them. Mom, if you have my teeth please throw them out and never give them to me.) Both kids seem to have all sorts of opinions about the tooth fairy - she turns teeth into coins - gold coins. And unfortunately, a little girl in CHF's class gets $5 per tooth, so I am trying to set the stage for the fact that the tooth fairy isn't going to be dropping $5 per tooth under a pillow, nor do we have a special tooth fairy pillow, nor will the tooth fairy be leaving notes or sprinkling glittery fairy dust.

I have no idea how long we'll be seeing this particular smile, but I suspect in a few weeks it will look very different.