Twofer toofer

I remember it well. First feeling your wiggly tooth, then playing with it endlessly, sometimes with your tongue and sometimes trying to pull it with your fingers, trying to devise a way to yank the thing out of your mouth in the quickest and most pain-free way possible. Then putting the tooth under your pillow to gain a visit from the mysterious but generous Tooth Fairy.

Nearly all of her classmates had experienced this rite of passage, but there was The Big Sis, still with a mouth full of 20 baby teeth and nary a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Her dentist said it was better that way: She has a small mouth with crowded teeth, so the bigger her mouth is when her new teeth come in, the better off she’ll be as they fight for space in her gums. But it’s hard when you’re among the last of your classmates to experience a major childhood milestone, though The Big Sis never really did seem to let it bother her.

But she was excited a month ago as she told us that her right lower central incisor was loose. (Well, she didn’t use the exact tooth name, of course.) And not long after, she showed us that the one right next to it (left lower central incisor) was also a little wiggly But the one on the right took the lead and within a couple weeks, it was pretty loose and she could pull it forward quite a bit, but still it held its place firmly by those last roots. Sometimes she would pull at it herself, other times she asked me and The Husband to take a turn. Surprisingly, even though the thought of wiggly teeth gives me the heebie-jeebies, it didn’t bother me (that much) to assist her with this task, though all of us were unsuccessful.

So she came home last Thursday (June 20) after gymnastics class and eagerly showed me the bag that held her little tooth. Sure enough, there was a newly empty space in her gums where the adult tooth was already poking through. Apparently on her summer camp field trip that day, one of her friends told her she should try to pull it, and she did, and out it came!

So we got ready for her first visit from the Tooth Fairy that night, putting the tooth in a gold earrings box and placing it under her pillow after our nightly stories. Unbeknownst to us, though, The Big Sis wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy:

The Husband was the one who retrieved the tooth and the note after I’d gone to bed, and he saved the day, responding that the Tooth Fairy didn’t bring enough pixie dust for her to fly, but she did bring enough for her to having flying DREAMS for two weeks. Whew — good thinking! When The Big Sis woke up the next morning, she was greeted with this note and one of each coin: a dollar coin, half dollar, quarter, dime, nickel, and penny. She also scored a new toothbrush (that we happened to have hidden under the sink).

So the next day, she came home from summer camp and said she had a surprise for me. She said, “Look how wiggly my other tooth is now!” and she opened her mouth, pulled out something from behind her back, and said, “Ha! It came out today! Once again, she was down a tooth, the result of another friend at camp telling her she should pull her loose tooth!

I jokingly accused her of being a greedy girl and just wanting the tooth fairy to come back another night, which of course she did, bringing an additional set of coins as well as a pass to her favorite indoor playground. I also had The Husband doctor a photo to make it look like he caught a picture of the Tooth Fairy in her room, and I think it turned out pretty good — and she loved it. (I’ll try to remember to do that for Wordless Wednesday tomorrow.)

Two days in a row = two Tooth Fairy visits. I thought we were set for a while, but at story time tonight, The Big Sis realized that her top right central incisor is now very slightly loose. Based on our last experience, it’s unlikely to come out for at least a few weeks, but crazy that it’s all happening so fast for her after going so long with no experience in this area.

Capital idea!

It’s probably no secret among those who know me that I don’t do “nothing” very well. It’s not that I get bored exactly when we have no plans. But I just prefer DOING stuff, and I do think it keeps the girls in line better when *they* don’t get bored.

So we had some plans canceled for this past Saturday, leaving us free for the day, and I tried my hardest not to plan anything — I really did. But my mind started turning basically from the moment I woke up in the morning, trying to think of something fun and different for us to do. It was a very nice day out, so something outside was definitely in order. The Big Sis had mentioned recently that she’d like to go to the state capital sometime, so I thought that might be a good plan. We’d go to the Capitol Building there, browse The Husband’s favorite bookstore downtown (“downtown” should most definitely be in quotes), grab lunch at our favorite bakery/deli there, and take a picnic lunch to a nearby wildlife center. Within 45 minutes, we were all ready and hit the road for the 25-minute drive to the neighboring town to the west.

First stop: The Capitol Building. The grounds here are very pretty, and we basically had it to ourselves on a Saturday morning, which was very nice. We went inside and did a self-tour of the building (I’ve been here before, as recently as a few years ago, so why did I not realize the state Supreme Court chambers are located in the Capitol?), and each of the girls scored a coloring book (on the legislative process) on our way out the door. We headed over to the floral clock before making our way to the downtown area to visit the bookstore and adjoining coffee shop, where we did our part to support a local business by buying a few chocolate chip cookies to take to our picnic. We continued our support of local business by grabbing lunch at “our” bakery, then drove over to the wildlife center and found a picnic table. Lunch was tasty, and the plan had been to do some light hiking at the wildlife center, but by this point we were starting to bump against The Little Sis’ nap time (and we generally prefer to do naps at home, so she’s not particularly great at napping on the go) and figured we should call it an afternoon. We drove home, but was that the end of our afternoon?

Not for me and The Big Sis; we suited up and headed to the swimming pool for the rest of the afternoon. We’ve had some hot days here and there, but no real sustained heat wave, so the water wasn’t particularly warm, but we still managed to have a good time together, just the two of us. (And bonus: No sunburn for me! Not even around my bathing suit shoulder straps, where I am usually destined to burn.)

For a day where we had no predetermined plans, we sure found a way to fill the day with fun and memories. Just the way I like it.

Wordless Wednesday: My brown-eyed girls

Chatter

Within seconds of birth, a newborn baby uses its voice to produce its first cries. For many months thereafter, these cries become a crucial part of a baby’s communication system, letting others know when the baby is tired, or hungry, or needs to be changed, among many other things. In addition, coos, gurgles, and babble make their way into the baby’s “language,” forming the foundation of what will eventually be real words. At first the words come singly — “ball,” “mama,” drink” — often recognized only by those who spend the most time with the child. But soon those words can be recognized by all, and the child eventually begins stringing words together to form sentences and questions.

“Where doggie go?”

“Mama, sit down here!”

“Help me, Daddy!”

“Play outside!”

And that’s where we’re at right now with The Little Sis. Despite the fact that we already went through this once, it remains quite fascinating that in less than two years, we have gone from instinctive cries straight out of the womb to questions communicating what The Little Sis is thinking and wanting. We have a front-row seat to language development, and it’s an amazing process to witness first-hand, with them making leaps and bounds truly each day at times. It seems like every few days, The Husband and I look at each other and say, “Wow, she had another language explosion,” as she adds more and more words and sentences to her personal dictionary. I am constantly in awe of how quickly it happens.

Just two years ago, she was just a lump of a baby. Now she’s starting to have little toddler pseudo-conversations with us.

I don’t plan to give up my front-row seat anytime soon.

(p.s. Finally updated the blog header. You know, 22 months late!)