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Milestones, heartache, and a lost tooth!

It should come as no surprise to you that I am very (in fact, overly) emotional when it comes to my children reaching milestones. Since becoming a mom, I am way more emotional than I used to be. Everything make me cry.

Looking at my son's school calendar for the month of June, I see "last day of school celebrations!" and right away, there are tears in my eyes. What a celebration, indeed! My son has blossomed into such a social little boy, with the most amazing sense of humour, compassion and the ability to understand things that most children his age don't. He watches the Discovery Channel, he knows and cares about those in other parts of the world, who don't have food, or a roof over their head, and he asks countless numbers of questions, always inquiring. He is into fossils now, always wants to know how things are made, and has decided rather than becoming a constuction worker, he will be a paleontologist.

Watching your child reach certain milestones - the first smile, the first crawl, and the first time they walk, is emotional for a mom. Every time a milestone is reached, I shed a few tears, because it reminds me how quickly time passes. In fact, the baby phase goes by much too quickly, if you ask me.

Haven't we all said "I can't wait until they grow up!" at one point or another? And then, when that day comes, you wonder how it snuck up on you so fast. And that you didn't really mean it, after all.

Some 'milestones' that meant meltdown for me included the day I gave my boys the bottle for the first time, and the day my oldest son was toilet trained. Yes, it only took a day, and yes, I was happy, but it was another 'baby' phase, just flushed down the toilet!

And my baby, my youngest? Now two years old, he's already, although still a mama's boy, a little spit-fire, fiercely independent, always happy, brave and fearless. Oh yes, I imagine many nights of lost sleep as he gets older. My worry will only continue to increase!

Recently, a pretty HUGE milestone was reached, unexpectedly. In the car on our weekend trip to Toronto, my oldest son was playing with his seatbelt. It snappbed back, and then...


I saw him holding his mouth. And then I saw my husband looking into hand.

"What? What happened? What is it?" I asked.

"His tooth just fell out," my husband answered.

"WHAT?" I screamed, in shock - this wasn't supposed to happen yet! Even though he did get his bottom two teeth in at four months old, and even though children whose teeth come in early lose them early, I was shocked. That was it. A baby tooth, gone.


I held it together, not as good as my husband, but better than my mom who was crying in the front seat of our rented mini-van. And I looked at my son, with his new smile, and I couldn't help but smile myself, even though my heart was aching at the same time.

Milestones... so bittersweet!

P.S. The tooth fairy left him $5 in Toronto, and $50 dollars back home, with a personalized letter and everything. She was so proud of him!


Comments

OHmommy said…
I want your toothfairy!
Wow. I might start pulling out my teeth at that rate. That's a super nice tooth fairy!
MamaJoss said…
he's as cute as ever :)
Loukia said…
It was his first tooth... the tooth fairy was clueless as to what the going rate was! ;)
Note to self: NEVER EVER let my kids see this blog post.

$50? WOWZA! I'll knock my tooth out for 50 bucks.
Amy said…
FIFTY DOLLARS!?!? Loukia, you do know that he has 27 MORE TEETH TO LOSE! Between him and his brother you're looking at an almost THREE THOUSAND DOLLAR toothfairy bill! That's hilarious!!
Pres. Kathy said…
They grow up so fast! I guess it is true to say that we should enjoy every moment with our children. By the way, he looks so cute with his missing tooth! What a neat idea to leave a note too!
T Rex Mom said…
Whew! I think he earned that tooth fairy money.
Lindsey said…
How cute :)
I am sure I will drop lots of money and make it extra special when my daughter loses her first tooth!
Your a great mom and an fabulous tooth fairy!
Leslie said…
Love the missing tooth - you did good momma!
oh, congrats to the little guy!!! we had the early teeth thing happen with my son too. bittersweet, isn't it? :)

yes, the toothfairy over here had to google the going rate too. between $2-$5 was the quote 5 years ago, but she went with $5 because, you know, he's an adorable little dude. :)
My Bottle's Up! said…
hell, i'll pull out my own teeth right now if that's the going rate.
I'm guilty of that "I can't wait 'til he's older" mentality as well. And I'm vowing not to make that mistake with baby #2 – I want to treasure every baby moment! But who knows how I'll feel once the cumulative effects of sleep deprivation set in...

Congrats to you on holding it together!! I'm with you – even though he got his teeth early, it must be a little shocking that he's lost one already. But I have to say, that pic of him smiling with the missing tooth is just PRECIOUS!!!
JackiYo said…
Holy crap! $50?! You know the little dude's got more than one tooth, right? ;)
CaraBee said…
My daughter got her teeth early, so I am fully anticipating her to lose them early, too. I totally understand being emotional now that you're a mother. I'm the same way. And I was always one of those stoic, doesn't cry at anything kind of gals. Now I tear up at the drop of a hat. Sigh.
Anonymous said…
Ummm, I think I'll start losing teeth. Can I send you my address?
McMommy said…
I just wrote a post about milestones too. I always believe that it is the milestones that sneak up on you....the ones that you aren't expecting...are the ones that hit you the hardest.