All I Want for Christmas is My 1 Front Tooth

Of course this happens when Lachelle was not at home today...

At lunch time, both boys decided they wanted an apple. No big deal. Right? They have eaten apples before - even big whole apples by themselves. After trying to take a few bites, Gavin complained of his tooth hurting. I sat him down and looked in his mouth. I couldn't believe my eyes! One of his front bottom teeth had blood all around the base of it and it looked crooked...  

A loose tooth! 

Gavin was in tears at this point. Upset does not begin to explain his condition... I wasn't sure what to think. I was afraid the apple broke something... Five years old seemed too young to start losing teeth. I didn't loose my first tooth until about 6 and 1/2.

Lachelle calls just as I was looking up the number to reach her. I tell her that Gavin has a loose tooth and questioned if that is OK. Apparently, 5 is a normal time to start loosing teeth. I must have missed that somewhere during dad training class...

To calm him down, I (and my wife over the phone) told him he was such a big boy and that a new  

big

 tooth was growing in its place. I don't know how much he understood , but it seemed to help knowing a big tooth was coming.

I tried to not mess with it too much so Lachelle could be back before it came out, but to no avail. Gavin could not leave it alone. It only took a couple of minutes with his own little finger to pop it out. I remember having loose teeth for days before any were wiggly enough to pop out. 

Maybe it has been loose for awhile...?

Do you know how hard it is take a picture of a busy 5 year old. This is the best one even with the flash glare - but I needed the faster shutter speed to get one not blurry!

FYI

My Grandma Barnes once told me that if you keep your tongue out of the space where a tooth fell out a gold one

would grow in its place... 

I could never prove this as that space was just too tempting to stick my tongue through.