Keepsakes

J has now lost both of her bottom teeth. Those who know her may not find this to be monumental. She has been without one of her top teeth for years, thanks to an unfortunate meeting with a chair when she was two. She knows what being without teeth is like. I can't remember what she looked like when she had them all.

But still.

These two little teeth sit quietly together in her Tooth Fairy Box. I fashioned it myself after the chair incident, giving her something extra special to find beside her crib that sad morning after her top tooth had been extracted. It is simply a small round cardboard box, but I slathered it in pale blue glitter, and festooned it with clear plastic gems shaped like stars and moons. It's original contents were several blue/green plastic necklaces, a silver coin, and a handful of M&Ms. Not your average Tooth Fairy booty, but then again, this was no average tooth loss (did I mention she also fractured a bone in her face? Oh, the swelling and bruising! I might have cried more than she did...).

Now the box will hold all her baby teeth - a treasure for me. When she lost her first bottom tooth last weekend, I was excited to try the real Tooth Fairy deal - fishing a tiny tooth out from under J's pillow, to replace it with a magical coin, all without waking her. I didn't even have to worry about finding a tiny tooth - in anticipation of this event, I had purchased a little pillow with a fabric envelope and fairy on it for holding lost teeth, and had shown it to J earlier in the week when it was clear the Time Was Nigh. She would put the little pillow under her own, and voila!

Except that J didn't want the Tooth Fairy to take her tooth. Going through the bedtime routine, she seemed a little quiet. Then when we approached the bed with the little pillow, she started crying, "I don't want her to take my tooth!" This should not have been surprising, since K felt the exact same way. Though I was taken aback, I immediately assured her I could intervene on her behalf.

"She doesn't have to take the tooth, Sweetie. She'll leave it. I promise."

"How do you know?" she wailed. "Can you talk to her?"

"I can't talk to her [not a lie - why would I talk to myself?] - I'll just think about it, and she'll know."

In the end, J didn't even want the pillow at her bedside. Instead we settled on my nightstand. She ran excitedly down the hall and placed it just-so next to my water cup and stash of Advil. Little did we know that less than a week later, we would be retracing those same excited steps with bottom tooth #2. Both times she awoke flustered with anticipation, streaking down to my room to find a silver dollar and her little tooth still tucked snugly in the little envelope.

Both times, she fished out her tooth out with great care and reverence, taking it back to her Tooth Fairy Box for safe-keeping. The money was also appreciated, I was happy to note. She chose to put the coins in her 'savings' jar, "But I am never going to spend them!" she decried with a sober look.

Now the teeth sit together in their glittery container, the first teeth to have popped through her gums. Like every other sappy mother, I look at them and long for the baby they used to belong to.













Looking at this picture, my heart constricts, and I realize - truly - the brief gift I have been given. Every day I try to hold onto it, but I know it is a fluid thing. I may be left with only a glittered box full of tiny teeth. But I will always remember the soft cheeks, the sweet-smelling hair, the pudgy fists and sparkling eyes that made up my one and only baby girl.

Here is to milestones of all shapes and sizes - AMEN!