All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

I get so emotional at milestones in my kids' lives, and losing teeth is no exception! It's an outward sign that they are growing up, and it tugs at my heart with sadness and yet such happiness at the same time. Parenting will always be weird like that. But I knew in particular the front teeth missing would really get me big time. And sure enough, the first front tooth was lost, and then the second and I got all misty eyed.

But let me tell you, it wasn't easy. For some reason with each passing tooth Wa'a has gotten more nervous of pain instead of more comfortable with it. So with his front teeth, we had to get creative.

Erwin has a small dental kit you can buy from Walmart. It is a hook tool in it and a small mirror. He has always used that to gently tug down (or up) Wa'a's teeth from the gum line, and it works so well.

Wa'a flinched with his first front tooth and that caused it to come flying out. Success, because he was pretty upset and not wanting Erwin to keep attempting anything.

But with the second front tooth, this kid had major anxiety. We aren't sure why but he cried and hid from us and got really upset...but whenever we would talk about helping get the tooth out that was hanging by a measly thread, it just went south. I tried everything to get him to calm down and feel safe. But my well intended attempts were never accepted no matter how hard I tried, so after many frustrating days I let it rest. No point in pressuring him about it or traumatizing him. It's just a tooth.

But then I suggested to Wa'a we pull it out while he was sleeping and for some reason he seemed relatively okay with that idea, and I was so surprised. So me with my phone flashlight and Erwin with his trusty tool, snuck into his room that very evening and began our quest to conquer the dangly tooth.

Wa'a started to stir and fuss a bit, Erwin was mad I kept shining the light in Wa'a's eyes and I was urging Erwin to hurry and get it over with because he was moving so slow. It was a sight to see and we laugh about it now. Erwin then yanked the tooth out so abruptly that Wa'a groaned in pain and opened his eyes a bit. He didn't like the blood he tasted on his tongue and I was worried Erwin had hurt him somehow. I found the tooth under Wa'a's hand and raced outta there. Whew.

Then Wa'a woke up at 1 a.m. freaking out that he swallowed it. I made the mistake in telling him he might have and he burst into tears. Oops. Teasing a half sleeping kid is a no no. So we told him the good news and that the tooth fairy would soon be visiting him. He smiled, checked himself out in the mirror and happily bounced off to bed. And he has never, ever, ever looked more adorable in his life then he does now with his missing front teeth. :)