Elizabeth is our delicate flower. She can get emotional over just about everything. She cries easily. But her dramas pass just as quickly. And she sometimes displays a streak of toughness.
She's had a loose bottom tooth for what seems like forever. The adult tooth came in behind the baby one, so wiggling it with her tongue was kind of out of the equation. And Beebs isn't the kind of girl who likes to use her fingers to wiggle her teeth around. She's refused to eat anything other than soft foods.
When Archie and I got back from the party on Friday, Bebe woke up just enough to tell me that her tooth felt weird. When she got up in the morning, she refused to open her mouth, wouldn't talk, and wouldn't eat or drink. She tried to use charades to communicate, moved to humming grunts, and finally started to write everything down. Apparently, she wasn't in pain, it just felt strange because the tooth had shifted kind of sideways. She let me brush it very gently for a few minutes, and then shut her mouth. We actually got her to eat 3 chicken nuggets for dinner.
On Sunday morning, we tried to talk her into eating and drinking and talking. No dice. I tried to be sympathetic and attempted to suggest more gentle tooth brushing. Archie took the tack that it was a goddamned baby tooth and every person in the history of humankind loses them and she should just get over herself. There were lots of tears and sobbing hiccups. Oh, the drama! Finally, she told Archie to just take it out -- she wanted to eat!
According to Archie, the tooth was still anchored fairly tightly. He wiggled and wiggled it and poor Bebe made ouchy noises. Arch got a tissue and went back to work. I was holding Bebe on my lap and she was squeezing my hands very tightly. Archie sat back, announced the tooth was out, and the sun shone and a rainbow appeared and fairies danced through our kitchen. OK, what really happened was Elizabee jumped straight off my lap laughing and raced into the bathroom to spit blood into the sink and rejoice in the absence of the evil tooth.
She put that tooth on the Tooth Fairy plate and left a charming note detailing her pain and bravery in the face of removal. The Tooth Fairy left her a dollar bill and a note commending her toughness and reminding her to brush her teeth.
Only 14 more to go.
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