Losing Teeth

First Grader lost her second top tooth last night. This one she wouldn't let any of us touch. Which is funny because as soon as her other teeth began to slightly move she was asking us to reach in and try to yank them out. One of those she lost in the grocery store. Literally, she lost it in the grocery store. We were in the dairy aisle and she came over to show me that her tooth was not wiggly any more. She did not realize she was trying to wiggle a different tooth because her very wiggly one had fallen out. Apparently all of our yanking and pulling had loosened it up quite nicely. Unfortunately, no one happened to have their hand in her mouth when the tooth was actually ready to come out. We did a quick sweep of the last couple of aisles we had walked through, but found no tooth. We never did figure out quite what happened to that one. But to be honest that worked okay for me. I could still slip a little something under her pillow without having to actually deal with the nasty fallen out tooth. I am sorry, but teeth that have come out of someone's mouth are disgusting and I can't stand to think about the collections in the little tooth shaped boxes that are sitting in my kids' rooms. I had one, too, when I was little, a tooth collection that is. It was in a little pink plastic treasure chest. As a kid I did think it a treasure, but I vividly remember years later finding it one day in a box of stuff and feeling sick to my stomach at the thought of opening the lid to look upon its contents. I quickly tossed it in the trash can and haven't regretted it since. I digress. Back to the present. So, last night First Grader decided to let her four year old sister try to pull her tooth out. It was literally hanging by a thread. Her sister couldn't get it out, so she decided to take matters into her own hands and gave it a good, solid yank. Out it came.

Now onto the pictures. I read one time in a book about photographing children to be sure to get sweet pictures of them before they start loosing their teeth, specifically their top teeth. As soon as those little tiny chompers fall out, the ones that produced their own round of pictures when they finally broke through the baby gums some six years back, kids start their path toward becoming big, really big. So, I have tried to heed that advice and capture their 'littleness' before it is quickly replaced by 'bigness'. But I have to say that once the gums heal up and smooth over after those front teeth come out, their absence creates a smile I adore, and that is what I was trying to catch today. The sunlight comes into the girls' room beautifully in the mornings - the only place in my entire house all day long. So, before school First Grader and I tried to take advantage of the sunshine and capture her cute new smile. I quickly realized, however, she had other plans. Plans that included keeping her lips carefully touching as she smiled.

I love light and shadow in a picture. I had to have her stand on a stool because the shadow from the middle of the window was cutting right across her face. She seemed to enjoy the extra prop- Wednesday, January 25.

 This one was her idea and taken before the one above, hence the shadow across her cheek. Notice the same look off into the distance that she used in the picture in the snow last Saturday that she had posed herself- Wednesday, January 25.

We were getting closer, I could tell. She was having to try really hard in this picture to keep her lips together. At this point I had resorted to humor in an attempt to get her to at least grant me a peek at her gums. Notice the start of a smile in her eyes- Wednesday, January 25.

Not exactly what I was hoping for, but she did finally show me her teeth. I adore that little girl! Or should I say that not-so-little-anymore girl? -Wednesday, January 25.