We've got dental issues in our household.
The 9-month-old has four on top and four on the bottom, with more distress...runny nose, severe crankiness, sleepless nights, minimal eating and drinking, and lots of whining. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong...so it must be more teeth on the way. He's just not a difficult kid...he's usually so happy...so it must be more teeth.
The 79-month-old is losing teeth all over her mouth...because that's pretty normal for a first-grader. Anyhow...this week she came home with a wiggle and a jiggle, but I told her to leave that tooth alone. Sure enough, after dinner, instead of being in front of the TV or a book, she's in front of the bathroom mirror and wouldn't go to bed until she pulled it out. So...she comes running out of the bathroom with a bloody white spec in her fingers and a grin on her face that could light up the whole room. I can't believe how excited she is to be losing her teeth. I remember how terrified I was as a child...and waited until they were hanging by a very thin thread before allowing it to fall out naturally - usually by means of a toothbrush, or while eating something like an apple.
The tooth fairy has left a dollar for each tooth and the actual tooth for her to treasure (Yeah, I know that's weird...but we forgot to take the first one, so we've got to stay consistent...and I'm half convinced that she thinks I'm the tooth fairy.) So...as each one is treasured, it gets put into a bag and marked with the date in which it fell out (or was pulled out) of her mouth. She got to number eight this week. So strange, and yet so sweet and innocent, that she gets so excited to count them and watch the stash grow.
What in the world are we going to do with all these teeth?
I think my mom or dad saved a lock of hair from my first haircut when I was one. What kind of parents are we to keep morbid, strange, and sometimes unexplained items that belong to our children? How long should I keep them, and should I start the same thing all over when my little son starts losing these teeth that he is so painfully acquiring? Yikes! Do teeth start to disintegrate after a while...how long of a while? Basically, they are hers, not mine...but should I be encouraging her to save these things? Help!!
4 comments:
Love the pictures!
I've seen boxes for saving their "first tooth" . . .
for this you might have to go to the General Store and purchase a larger box . . . personalized . . . "Lalimama's Babies' Teeth"
P.S. We started out doing this as well . . . I honestly couldn't tell you where one of those teeth are now.
*grin*
that's funny...
'i collect beanie babies.'
'yeah, well, i collect my baby teeth.'
Wow. thinking about your boy and his teething troubles - can't believe we're up for that again.
Your girl and mine are just a year apart - Livy's in 2nd grade now. Fewer gaps in the smile. We've kept her teeth too - though she is unaware. I'm not sure why - it's a little creepy. Keeping a lock of hair seems much more sane - but I'm not sure why I think so.
Wish I could turn the clock back and do a different tradition for tooth loss. We might have to continue this tradition with Gunnar but maybe we could do something different with Tally.
Oh so funny, and yet, so sweet too. H is the exact opposite your darling daughter...hanging by a thread definately. She too, has kept her teeth...her own insistence that we let the tooth fairy know her wishes.
Here's the really strange thing...I am aware that in a small envelope, in a large old trunk, upstairs in my bedroom are 4 molars that I had pulled to make room for braces in 1982. How gross is that???
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