On losing your first top tooth

Dear Sweetie,
So all of the wiggling and wiggling finally paid off. I know you wanted to loose that top tooth 2 weeks ago when Elle had Mr. C pull hers out after promising you that you could lose your top teeth together. But hers was ready and yours wasn't. I know you wanted to loose it before Matt and Laura came to visit. And I know you wanted it out so badly that you had your uncle Ron use his dental tool to try to get it out last Sunday, but it was stubborn (it is your tooth, after all!).

As for me, I am not so excited to see it go. I remember when you got that tooth, you know. I remember the pain it caused as it pushed through your swollen gums. I got up in the night with you, rubbed orajel on that tender little spot, and held you against my shoulder in the green glider in your room, rocking and singing softly the hymn that I always sang to you--"How Great Thou Art"--until you settled down.

Now you are rejoicing at its absence and the way your tongue feels against the vacant spot in your mouth. You are looking at the new you in the mirror.  I am looking too. In the loss of your first top tooth, I see the beginning of the loss of your childhood. I know what will come next--that gap will be filled by a tooth much larger than the old one and you will begin to look older too. The baby tooth is gone and with it, the baby I rocked and sang to.

I know it's not all bad--although I am not excited to see that tooth go, I remember being thrilled when it finally came in--now you could eat cheerios and bananas, things that I didn't have to sit and spoon into your open mouth. I could do the dishes and let you wrestle with the cracker to your heart's content. The tooth brought me some freedom and you some independence and contentment. The next tooth heralds the coming of more independence on your part and that's not a bad thing. It's just sometimes a hard thing for me.
Love, Your Sentimental Mom