This girl has been not-so-patiently waiting to lose a tooth for nearly two years now. She's the last one of her friends and the kids in her class to finally lose her first tooth.
She actually came to me on January 4, hopped in my lap and told me she had a loose tooth. And she really did! I was certain that tooth wouldn't last long so I told her I needed to take her picture one more time before she lost her first tooth. So this picture was taken on January 4.
This past Sunday, both of her little friends in Sunday school showed up with a missing tooth! One of them lost the exact same one that Ellie had loose. She made sure to show off her new smile. I made a really big deal out of it, asked them both if it hurt and both of them assured me it didn't. I thought for sure that would do the trick, but Ellie completely ignored the entire conversation.
That night she told me she wanted to eat an apple so she could try to lose that tooth. Whatever, Ellie. It's like the girl who cries, "Loose tooth!" and I'd stopped believing her. This morning when I woke her up and brought her down for breakfast, I thought she looked at me rather strange after we said the blessing. And then I thought I noticed her staring at me all the while she was eating. When she brought her plate to the sink, she told me, "I'm going to pull my tooth today!" I didn't even look up.
"Whatever, Ellie."
She ran upstairs to get dressed but didn't make it up before coming back into the kitchen. She was just a giggling and had the biggest grin on her face. I couldn't help but look up at her.
"Ellie! You lost your tooth!"
You know she'd do it when I wasn't at home. Ellie was already in bed last night when Hannah Kate and I got home from dance so she had to wait until this morning to show me. Apparently, she gave in to peer pressure to pull that tooth so she wouldn't be left out!
(And, no, we don't do the tooth fairy around here. That ship sailed about two kids ago. I tried to keep up with it. I really did. But I couldn't hang. Mason got a dollar under his pillow when he lost his first tooth. He was quick to let me know that so-in-so got five dollars under his! Well, apparently the tooth fairy ran out of money before he got to the Bayham family. And then there was the time - or times - the tooth fairy "forgot" to show up at all. Mason finally ratted me out. "Yeah, Mom, I know the tooth fairy is really you." Good. Now that we have that out of the way, we haven't heard from the tooth fairy since!)
I have to admit that it's kind of bittersweet. I loved that Ellie had a gummy smile for so long. And I've loved her little baby teeth. I can't imagine her with "big girl teeth." I realized today was another last - the last time my children lose a first tooth.