The Toothless Beauty

Childhood is filled with many milestones, all of which seem momentous at the time, and some of which are long forgotten by the time we reach adulthood.  One of the biggest milestones any child will reach is loosing their first tooth.  About a week ago, Tessie woke up and announced that she could move one of her teeth back and forth.  I tried not to flip out on front of her, and had her show me the tooth in question, then hurried away to call our dentist.  Luckily for me, seeing as it was 7:30 am, our dentist just happens to be Nick's step-dad, and so early morning phone calls about his granddaughter are welcome.  He assured me that although it was definitely early, most kids loose their first tooth around age six or seven, it was nothing to worry about.  Some kids just loose teeth at a younger age, Nick's sister did, and I shouldn't worry.  Tessie quickly swept me up in her excitement, and after her Grandpa had a good look at the tooth, we all kept close tabs on it's progress.

Today, the tooth was especially wobbly, and I expected it to fall out at any moment.  It hung on all day, but we had a big surprise at dinner.  Nick and I had a sales meeting at the shop tonight, and the kids came along.  We set them up with pizza and a movie, and we worked on the other side of the shop.  The kids were happily munching and watching their movie, when I walked over for my first check in.  Tessie looked up at me and smiled, and I noticed something missing.  Her tooth was gone!  She hadn't noticed yet, and when I asked where her tooth was her eyes grew as wide as saucers.  After a quick check on her plate and the floor I realized where the tooth must have gone.  She swallowed it.

After all the build up and talk of leaving her tooth under pillow, there was no tooth to leave.  I was worried that Tes would be devastated, but she was so excited about the new hole in her mouth, that she didn't even care that there was no tooth to go under her pillow.  On the drive home I kept catching her staring at her reflection in the rear-view mirror, sticking her tongue in the gap between her teeth.  Once home, she finally became concerned that she didn't have anything to barter with the tooth fairy for treats.  She wanted to write a letter to explain her predicament, and asked me to help.  The letter was lengthy, and it took her a long time, but she went to bed happy, with the letter under her pillow.  I hope the tooth fairy doesn't disappoint my toothless little beauty.