Arden's Lost Tooth!

About a week and a half ago, Arden started telling me that one of her teeth was loose. I didn't believe her. She isn't old enough to loose a tooth! She isn't even in kindergarten yet! I just kept saying things like, "Don't worry, Arden. Your teeth will start falling out pretty soon, but maybe not until you are six years old." She kept talking about it and talking about it (and talking about it some more). After a day or two, I finally reached my finger in her mouth to prove to her that her tooth was NOT loose....and it wiggled. It wiggled a lot.

Oh, craaaaaaaaaaap.

I have never been as beautiful as Arden (who is?) but any little kid cuteness I had going for me went right out the window when I lost my two front teeth and my HUGUNGOUS permanent teeth grew in. Thus began my "awkward stage" that I sometimes feel I am still waiting to grow out of. I am sure (hoping) that Arden will be able to make it through the big kid/tween stage with a lot more grace that I did, but I know everything isn't going to be peaches and cream.
Our dentist has already told us that since Arden's mouth is so small, there isn't going to be enough room for all of her permanent teeth to grow in straight. She is going to need braces. I had braces when I was a kid, which isn't something I would wish on anyone, let alone my sweet little girl. Knowing what is coming, I was hoping that somehow that little tooth would just hang in there and let me enjoy Arden's perfect smile for just a little bit longer (like a year). But it was not to be. Arden was crunching on a carrot on Friday and out fell the tooth.

Arden was sooo excited. She ran up and showed me the tooth. I put it in my hand and looked at it.

It was SO SMALL.

Suddenly, an image flashed through my mind of when this tooth was new: And suddenly it was not about crooked teeth or spending money on braces.

My baby is a big kid. Big enough to have a hole in her smile. Am I really going to get all blubbery over a tooth? Apparently I am.

Arden immediately began asking a zillion questions about the tooth fairy. "Mom, is the tooth fairy a boy or a girl? Mom, is the tooth fairy big like a person, or little like Tinkerbell? Mom, where does the tooth fairy put my tooth? Mom, how does the tooth fairy get into my room? Mom, how many coins is the tooth fairy going to bring? Mom...." I suddenly realized I am not up on my tooth fairy facts. Arden was pretty disappointed in my lack of knowledge about such an important person, but she was still pretty excited about the whole situation.

Introducing Arden's new smile:

(If anyone wants to start donating to Arden's braces fund, let me know.)