Going, Going, GONE!

Noah discovered his very first loose tooth some time over the summer.  To say that he was excited for it to fall out is an understatement!  He felt like he was the only one who had yet to lose a tooth, so when he felt the wiggle, he simply couldn't stop wiggling it in hopes it would soon fall out!  He wiggled and wiggled and wiggled it...


to no avail!  That tooth simply would not get loose enough to fall out!


Until the beginning of September.


All of a sudden it was very loose!  The yucky kind of loose where it gets in the way of your tongue when you speak.  And given the uncomfortableness of it, Noah's desire to have it fall out increased exponentially!  


And so he asked his Daddy to pull it out; unaware of Daddy's queasiness when it comes to anything that might possibly involve blood.  So I quickly suggested that he ask his PaPa to pull it out instead; reminding him that from what I remember from my childhood, PaPa was an excellent tooth puller!


He excitedly agreed and made the phone call invitation to his PaPa.


Sure that it would come out, I took a final photo of his tooth filled smile...

And then the tooth pulling attempts began...

Again, to no avail!


And so we decided to wait a bit longer.  


A few days later, the yuckiness factor had increased enough for PaPa to try again...

still to no avail!


Then one Sunday morning before church, on September 4th, (while me and my camera were no where to be found), that stubborn tooth just simply fell out on its own!  

And this boy was SO excited!

It just so happened that around this time, Noah's teacher had read them a book about the different kinds of things people do in various countries with their teeth.  He was particularly drawn to one tradition he learned about and so he made the decision that he wanted to save all of his teeth!  He was very specific in wanting to make a special box that would house his teeth for an unspecified period of time.  He was noncommittal about when, if ever, he would turn in any of his teeth to the American "Tooth Fairy"!


And so I made a trip to Michaels for craft supplies and together, Noah and I made him his very own special "tooth box."  Noah happily put his tooth inside and left it there.  He even took it to Show & Tell!  He made no mention of the "Tooth Fairy" at all; he was just happy to have an open space in his smile and a tooth in his special box!

And then...


Exactly 2 weeks later, on another Sunday morning before church, Noah's second tooth just fell out!  With no pulling attempts needed, the "companion tooth" just made its way out on its own!


And Noah's smile took on another new look...

And there was another change too!


He decided that he wanted to turn in the first tooth to the "Tooth Fairy".  But he wanted to keep the second one!  He also informed me that the going rate for "really white teeth" is a silver coin!  And so that night, he placed his first tooth, and only his first tooth, under his pillow in his special box!  

That night, the tooth fairy took his first tooth in exchange for a silver coin and three one dollar bills!  Noah thought it was a pretty fair trade.  But as of today, his second tooth still resides inside his special little box!  I think he might be waiting for the value of teeth to increase because as he told me...


"If I only get a quarter, I'll just keep my teeth.  That's not enough!"


He is so funny, creative, and analytical... I just love his little personality.


And his new grin is pretty cute too!