Tonight my Ella lost another tooth. It's been loose for a while now, but this evening's supper at San Jose proved to be the perfect setting for old Number 7 to bid its adieu to its comrades in chewing. Like 2 others before it, Ella let me pull this one out. And, I gotta admit, it's pretty cool that she lets me do that. I know it may gross some people out (Mother, I'm talking to you), but I like to think that it shows that she trusts me enough to extract something that is still attached to her body.
Maybe it's because her first lost tooth was pulled by the dentist when she was 4 because it had abcessed after she ran into a wall. Yes, my graceful little love ran into a wall. And not close to a corner where she could have mistaken the wall for space. She ran right into the middle of the wall. She's always been a little clumsy, and this was not this tooth's first encounter with a hard surface. It seemed that as soon as she started to walk, she started to fall flat on her face. The child had a scraped nose for a good portion of her toddler years. I am quite surprised that the tooth didn't have to come out sooner.
After she lost Number 1, like Santa Claus, my Ella was terrified of having the tooth fairy visit her while she was sleeping. When she was able to understand and vocalize her opinion about Santa Claus' strategy for delivering gifts, the kid made Santa leave all of the presents on the back porch. We even had to put the milk and cookies out there. He was NOT welcome down the chimney. So, in that same vein of comprehension, the thought of somebody coming into her house, especially into her room, was absolutely unacceptable. I think the Tooth Fairy was worse. I mean, she must really have envisioned the TF to be this evil little troll with wings who sputtered slimily into an unsuspecting child's room to steal their tooth and unleash a terror unbeknownst to man while the poor, little darling slept with nightmarish tooth fairy visions dancing in her head. It was that bad.
Needless to say, the Tooth Fairy was not invited to visit beneath her pillow. Not even to leave a gift. So, she had to go to Raleigh. We waited until we went for a visit with Matt's parents in North Carolina to make the tooth exchange with the fairy. She wasn't allowed inside her Leenie and Grandpa's house either, so we left the tooth on the front porch for retrieval. Even when the Tooth Fairy bequeathed her a sweet Ariel nightgown and some awesome fairy dust, she wasn't allowed in the house. Even then. Really? What's a tooth fairy to do? Some fairies just can't win.
After the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus made more good (I mean really good, people) deposits, Ella realized that maybe she'd been too hard on them, so she loosened the reins a little, and now they're allowed inside the house, which really makes things a lot easier for them. In fact, following her 3rd lost tooth, where she was awarded 10 dollars, she decided to hold off on putting them under the pillow. She wanted to wait until she got enough teeth to earn the money all at once to buy a Nintendo DS. Figures. At least the kid has goals. Thank goodness her Babi and Popi got that for Christmas.
So, tomorrow night we'll put this tooth under a pillow, but she'll probably make her daddy or me put it under ours. That's okay with me. I like the fact that she's already trying to keep her surroundings safe. And may it always stay that way.
This is funny!
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