Toothless Wonder

"Other than a dimple in a cute little chin,
What's more adorable than a toothless grin?"
~ Azu "Betty" Espezia

A couple weeks ago amidst playing tag with Zach and Nick, Allie stopped in the middle of a spirited sprint from the one who was "it" and pronounced, "I have a loose tooth."

I bent over, looked at her cute little 4-and-a-half-year-old face, and obligingly pinched the tooth between my thumb and forefinger and gave the tooth the test. It wiggled a little bit and I told her it was a little loose.

Over the next couple days I'd spot Allie wiggling her tooth. Again she'd mention how loose it was. Again, I felt it and this time it was REALLY loose. I became a bit alarmed; she's only 4 years and 7 months old. Surely she bumped it on something while playing with her brothers, but she told me she didn't.

Nicky lost his top teeth just a year ago when he was 7 and a half.

So I made a dentist appointment for her, scoured the Internet, got opinions from Facebook friends and sought the advice of a friend who works for a dentist. She thought it was too early.

Then, two days before the appointment, the tooth fell out. I panicked a bit. How can my baby girl be losing her tooth already? This isn't supposed to happen until kindergarden or first grade.

But Allie was so excited, she felt like such a big girl and had heard so much about that Tooth Fairy from Nicky, who has been receiving frequent visits the past couple years.

We went to the dentist, took x-rays and the dentist confirmed it came out naturally and on its own; the permanent tooth will be in in about 3-6 months. And the other top tooth will be coming out soon, the dentist said as she showed me the x-ray of the baby tooth with the root already dissolved.

So even on your third and fourth kids, you still get thrown some curve balls and are reminded that every kid is different.

I was glad to hear everything is normal and as it should be. But still, there's a little part of me that's sad that this milestone came so early. Just another sign that she's not a baby anymore. She's now my little big girl. Just never saw it coming.