Babyhood Lost

The first day of kindergarten I was fine. When he got glasses, when he rode his first two wheel bike. We have approached all the firsts of his life with excitement for a grand adventure. But today my baby lost his first tooth. I got a little weepy. It surprised me how emotional I felt seeing his cheeky grin that I love so much looking a little more redneck with a gap in the front.


I guess it's because soon he will have a grown-up tooth taking the place of that tiny little tooth, and it makes him so officially not a baby anymore. (The last time I felt like this was when he was a little over 2 years old and we reached the point when there was no possible way to squeeze him into a onesie anymore.) The plus side was that he could finally use his tooth pocket I made him a few months ago.

The story of how he lost the tooth is kind of funny though. We were at Walmart with Aunt Caite, who was trying on jeans. We were waiting for her on a bench outside the dressing rooms, with another mom there school shopping with her two kids. I noticed the tooth was looking decidedly more crooked than it had the day before so I asked him if I could see how loose it was. One little wiggle and pop!, it was halfway out. So I reached in and pulled it the rest of the way out. He was a little freaked because of the blood. I grabbed a tissue and said, "Here, bite down on this." He did for a second, then pulled it out and spit blood on the floor! I was so shocked I just yelled, "JACOB!! What are you doing?" Fortunately I had the diaper bag with me and plenty of wipes to clean up the floor. It was a glaring reminder that as smart as he is, he is still only six and his frontal lobe is not done developing.

I couldn't resist posting this picture. This is what I got when I demanded he actually look at the camera while I took the picture. The amount of concentration this took him was a little scary...