Tooth Fairy Time!

On Friday, February 24, I asked both boys to lay down and try to rest because I knew we were going to have a busy night and a fun weekend ahead. During his "quiet time" Joshua wiggled his tooth and it came out in his hand. He was SO excited that he shouted for me to come see! [And neither boy napped then.] This was his first tooth to come out naturally. We jumped up and down and squealed with delight. :)

Since it had been loose for a long time, he knew exactly what he wanted from the tooth fairy, and he also said that he must put his tooth under his pillow. He's such a light sleeper that I cringed at the idea. That evening while we were sitting at the table, I asked Daddy in a loud voice "Do tooth fairies exchange teeth for prizes under pillows anymore? What about on high bunk beds?" He caught on immediately and said, "No, not on bunk beds. Tooth fairies ask children to make it a bit easier for them so they don't have to fly the whole way up there. They ask that all teeth be put on dressers now." We agreed that Joshua should make a note to alert the tooth fairy to where his tooth was since it was small. Here is his handwritten note. It says "Dear Tooth Fairy, here is my tooth!"

Back when we had first discovered that his teeth were starting to become loose (on the bottom) at the dentist, he was terrified because of his fall and remembering all the pain and trauma from those top teeth being knocked out. He told us that he didn't want to lose any more of his teeth! We tried to explain that everyone loses their baby teeth and adult teeth grow in their place - it's a sign of being a big boy. We took out books from the library on wiggling teeth. It didn't seem to be helping. We told him instead of asking the tooth fairy for money, for his first tooth that wiggled out, he could ask for a toy or book or something he would enjoy. He said he'd think about it. BUT, then his peers at preschool started losing their teeth and showing him (since he was obviously already missing some). He then started wiggling his a bit and didn't seem so nervous. He asked me if when his tooth came out if there would be a "circle" there. I said no - the circle was what he felt when his tooth had been pushed back but wasn't completely out (and it caused him a TON of pain). He seemed relieved at my answer and was okay that his tooth was going to come out.

One day while we were shopping with Mamaw at Costco, we saw this "busy book" on Cars2 - only it was opened and didn't have all the cars. We weren't going to pay for a book missing pieces, and it was the only one there that was a Cars2. Joshua decided that he would ask the tooth fairy for one. After all, aren't fairies magic in getting things that normal people can't? I was aghast at first. He was insistent. This is EXACTLY what he wanted. So, Mamaw looked around and found one at Toys R Us, so Daddy ordered it online immediately. It arrived in a couple days; while I had feared we may not have a couple days, it took him another week or two from the day the book arrived until the tooth finally came out. So, the tooth fairy was ready!

He was SO excited when he rushed into our bedroom Saturday morning (right around 6 am, I might add!). The tooth fairy had come and exchanged his tooth for the book he wanted. Praise God he didn't wake up when we made the exchange. We were so tired Friday night we were afraid we may not be awake long enough for the tooth fairy to make it. But, both boys were asleep by 9:30 and we made the swap and passed out. We laughed at how pathetic we've become that we're struggling to make it until 9:30 on a Friday night. But, it had been a long, busy week and we were both utterly exhausted.

I had seen an idea on pinterest to crack a glow stick and put it in a jar with glitter to make it look like a fairy had arrived. Well, I tried but it didn't work. So, that idea went into the trash can. Shawn was grateful, though. He said he didn't want to set a high expectation for every tooth for each boy. I guess I agree. We won't go so big for subsequent teeth, but I was just so thrilled that Joshua was finally excited about losing a tooth. He had no desire to even THINK about the tooth fairy when his first two came out at the oral surgeon. So, this third one was sheer happiness for our family. He & Caleb have played and played with his busy book. It is a book where each page is about a different character (with a cute rhyming poem) and at the end is a mat and all the Cars2 characters to play with on the mat.

 

Bye-bye, baby tooth!