Rite of Passage

I guess you could say that my family is made up of late bloomers, when it comes to losing teeth. I lost my first tooth, that wasn't pulled by the dentist, in 2nd grade. Yup, 2nd grade. The grade where most kids are losing their 7th and 8th teeth, at least. My sister was the same.
Therefore, we weren't too surprised when Mary's teeth weren't even close to wiggly going into first grade. The poor kid was wiggling her teeth every night, trying to force that long awaited occasion that signifies a huge milestone to kids of her age. The right to show a smile full of holes, the right to show how you can twist, wiggle, and bend your loose teeth into all sorts of grotesque ways, shapes and forms.

And then an amazing thing happened. About a month ago, Mary came to me and showed me her loose tooth! Oh what a day.

After wiggling, twisting, and doing everything she could, the day finally arrived for the tooth to come out. I went upstairs and hid my head under a pillow and sang songs, while Ben got a napkin and got all set. Have I mentioned that anything that has to do with loose teeth and pulling teeth makes me literally sick to my stomach. I had the heebie jeebies all month watching her wiggle that thing. ick.

Well, Ben pulled and yanked and pulled, and the tooth did not come out. Mary has tiny teeth, and he couldn't get a good grip. Darn.

We waited a few more days, and then then big moment arrived. It took a few good yanks, and the tooth was free! Mary was shocked for a few minutes, and then she was elated.

Here is the note the tooth fairy found under Mary's pillow. (with the tooth taped to it). It was adorable!

Poor Mary is not really sporting a toothless smile. Her other tooth decided to make an appearance behind her loose tooth, before it came out. Thus, giving her the name "shark mouth."

She is proud of it though, and smiles as big as she can. She is now working on three more teeth that all of the sudden started wiggling this week. She can now officially enter the world of grade school and holy smiles.


In other Mary news:
She had her first gymnastics meet of the season this weekend. It was her first time competing at level 4. The meet was an in-house meet, so it was kind of a practice meet for the girls. They had real judges and scores, but they also kept it more low key.
Mary did not compete floor or beam, because she is still learning the order of the routines on those events. She knows the skills, she just doesn't know all of the fancy little arm and leg movements and positions that go in between the moves. Her coaches say she will be ready in a few weeks.

She did bars and vault though, and she rocked it! She placed in the top 4 on both events! We were so proud of her. She has been working so hard, and has had to play catch up because she joined the level 4 team just two months ago. Her other meets will start in March, and we are very excited. Good job Mary girl!