the tooth loser.

 Tooth losing has always been a huge milestone for kids.

Once that first tooth pops out, you are now part of an entirely new "club".

{the cool kids club}

When I was in kindergarten, my teacher gave each student who lost a tooth a special tooth shaped plastic necklace.

{It was remarkable}

I would stare at other peoples necklaces and turn completely green with envy.

In hopes of being gifted a necklace, I tried to wiggle my teeth, hoping that one may have even a slight movement.

{they NEVER did}

It was nearly the end of the kindergarten year and I knew something HAD to happen fast if I was going to get my tooth shaped jewelry.

SO I sat looking in the mirror at my teeth and I realized something...

I had a space between my lower baby teeth that kinda resembled a hole where a baby tooth could have been.

{maybe I could just say I lost a tooth, show my friends my space and then wear my plastic tooth with pride}

SO the next day I walked into my classroom announcing to the world that I had lost a tooth.

I showed my surprised friends.

I pointed it out to my patient teacher.

I made an amazing story about how I lost it.

I knew they were all buying what I was selling.

My teacher did the tooth necklace presentation in front of my class.

I was so glad to wear it around my neck.

I probably stroked it all morning.

During recess, I sat on the side of the playground near my teacher.

{i didn't want to lose my necklace in the sand}

{and i was getting sick of trying to remember how I "lost" my tooth}

My darling, patient teacher looked at me and said with loads of sweetness, "you didn't really lose a tooth. Did you?"

I cracked at the first sign of disbelief.

I told her the entire truth.

{with 6 year old girl tears of regret}

I gave her back the tooth necklace.

{ which really didn't make me as happy as I thought it would}

{since it really shouldn't have been mine}

I walked back to class necklace free.

{but somehow I felt better than I had all morning}

And I decided to just wait until my teeth decided to fall out.

{It was almost an entire year later until I joined the "lost a tooth" club}

After watching my girls wait until 1st grade to have the tooth fairy come for a visit, I could relate to their frequent requests for me to "just see if it's wiggly".

Not so with my Crewser.

Well, a few weeks ago, Crew told me he didn't want to eat crunchy things anymore.

{ooookay?}

Finally I figured out it must be because he was having a tooth issue.

I reached into his little mouth and realized a front tooth was barely hanging on.

He was nervous/ excited.

The girls were flabbergasted.

"BUT HE IS NOT EVEN IN KINDERGARTEN YET!!"

{jealous anyone?}

He lost his first tooth with only a small effort by Jake and the tooth next door decided to pop out only 2 days later.

I may have some kind of psychological issues from my tooth losing experience, but when he smiles his toothless little grin at me, he could get away with anything.

{melts my heart!!}

He will walk up to me throughout the day and ask, "you love this smile mom?"

{to which i must respond, "YES I DO" with a giant squeeze}

My handsome toothless boy.

{now i should search the web and buy both of us plastic tooth necklaces}