Lost Tooth!

DaVinci lost her first baby tooth tonight at dinner!
We had a very mellow day at home today and decided to finally leave the house and hit Hopworks for dinner. When I saw DaVinci biting the pretzel from the side to avoid her loose tooth, I told her she should bite on the pretzel and let it do the work of removing the tooth. She tried to no avail and then little D pipes up - "She should bite on something harder like celery. That will probably work." You know, because he has so much experience with loose teeth at 3.5 years old. Our entrees come, we tell DaVinci to bite into the celery and sure enough, POP! the tooth comes out! She was startled and excited all at the same time. Too cute. I don't think she is ever going to fall asleep tonight because she is waiting for the tooth fairy. In the photo above, you can see the little "Tooth Fairy Pillow" I made for her awhile back. Her tooth is now safely nestled in its pocket.

I cannot believe how small the tooth she lost is... it is tiny, fragile, and nothing at all like the tooth it will be replaced by. I can't help feeling that the same transition is happening to DaVinci all over... I am excited to see how much she is growing and changing, getting stronger, smarter, funnier, more patient, kinder, but at the same time I mourn for the things we are losing, never to get back again - the lisping high voice, the chubby cheeks, pudgy legs, laughing while nursing, baby with a million sign language signs for the world around her, excited to talk about every little thing. What a constant heartache children can be, even when everything is going (mostly) beautifully...