Out with the Old, in with the New

The Scene:


The result:

Yep, there was no notice I wasn't gonna get to see my cute little Aspen's baby teeth smile anymore. She barely lost her first 2 bottom teeth at Christmas. My kids loose their teeth later than average.

We had just transplanted some raspberries, thanks to our good friends/neighbors the Schuetzes who let us have some of their starts. I told Aspen to go fill up the cows water. Instead, this is what happened:

Aspen was riding in circles around the car in the shop (garage), when she ran head on into that big tree stump on the side. Flew over the handles and bashed her mouth on the wood. She thought she had wood stuck in her teeth. But no. The teeth were GONE. Seth searched for them a long time. We never found them. Maybe she swallowed them. She also cut the gum above the teeth too.

At least she was wearing a helmet. Ha-ha. It was the first time she wore a helmet. She saw Seth's helmet laying on the grass, and she put it on. (I think a football helmet would have worked better this time though, to guard her mouth.) Maybe as she was walking to the cow's water, that helmet on the lawn distracted her. Pretty tough lesson to learn about obeying your parents! If she had just gone on to water the cows as she was told to, maybe she'd still have her teeth! I don't know. Maybe it was bound to happen sooner or later. I think the bigger lesson she learned was how much power a moving vehicle, even a bike, has when it crashes into something.

Here she is sitting for an hour afterwards, with her little fat lip too, watching a movie and icing her mouth. We were supposed to be going to her friend Gilli's baptism, but instead, she was here. So sad. It must've hurt!

This unexpected event made me think of other tragedies people have, like other accidents, injuries, and sometimes death. In fact, there was a little 5 yr old nearby who drowned in a canal the same day. So sad. Kids at school know him. (The story from the kids at school is that he was throwing sticks in the canal with cousins, in their backyard, at a birthday party, when it happened.) It's been one of those reminders to me to slow down and enjoy my family every hour. And really, if there was any time "good" to knock out teeth, it is probably right about now, since they are baby teeth she'd probably loose within the year anyway. The tooth fairy sure was nice though! She received more from the tooth fairy for those 2 teeth than any of our other kids have! And she didn't have to agonize over the painful wiggling for days on end either. She did realize it was like getting punched in the mouth with 40 pounds. (about how much she weighs.) Scientifically though, the "punch" was probably more strength than that.

So that was the Out with the Old part. What about the new?

The same day Aspen lost those 2 teeth, Molly got her 3rd tooth. A top fang. Maybe she'll look like Seth did as a baby, getting both top side teeth first. Aspen and Molly seem to be on the same teeth schedule. When Aspen looses one, Molly gets one. It's happened for all 3 of Molly's teeth so far!

A few days later, after a little healing. Her friends thought she had frosting on her gums for a few days. Nope, just scarring/inside the mouth-scabbing. It's gone now, a month later.

Update:

Since I started this post a month ago, and typical me, have not finished it yet (just haven't uploaded the pictures yet), we have an update! One of Aspen's front teeth are already growing back in! She's not going to be toothless very long at all! I guess those teeth really were about to come out. And in like fashion, Molly too has gotten her next tooth, a front-and center one. (First, she got her other front "fang", but the center tooth came in quickly after. She didn't turn out like baby Seth afterall, with only fangs for a while.) Her other front tooth is right there, and I've thought for weeks now it would cut through. But nope, it hasn't yet. Must be waiting for Alana's tooth to catch up or something. So she's our little snaggletooth for a while. (With my luck, when she wakes up this morning, there it will finally be, her next tooth finally cut through. We shall see...)