Four on their way in and four on their way out!

Ella has been working on cutting some teeth for - what seems like a year - a few months now. She's been quite crabby and seems to find relief in the form of making others suffer with her. Each night has been a struggle to get her sleep and last night was no exception.

I was trying to soothe her back to sleep and Josh came in with a concerned look on his face. He asked why Ella was so upset. I told him that she has some teeth coming in and it can be a painful process for babies. Then I reminded him about his tooth aches when his molars came in recently.

Josh: Well, once my loose teeth fall out I'll have new teeth come in, too, right?
Me: Yeah! Wait...did you say loose teeth?
Josh: Yeah. **smiles**
Me: JOSH!!! Which ones?!?!?!?
Josh: This one, and this one, and this one and this one!!
Me: WHAT?!?!?!? When did you notice they were loose?!?!?
Josh: Remember when you gave me that apple at dinner?
Me: THAT WAS LIKE A WEEK AGO!!!
Josh: **giggles** I know!
Me: Josh!! Why didn't you tell me?!?!? This is so exciting!!!

Then I proceeded to wiggle each and every tooth to see just exactly how loose they all were. And yes, his two front teeth and bottom front teeth are loose. I kept asking to wiggle them and finally he said, "Jeez, mom. Enough already!"

I could tell he was a little nervous about it all so I asked him if he had any questions. I remembered when he was three I mentioned something about "when he loses his teeth" and he freaked!

Josh: Mom...do you have to tie a string to my tooth and slam the door?
Me: No! Mommy never did that when her teeth were loose. So, no, you don't have to do that.
Josh: Ummmm....mom? What if my teeth don't come in?
Me: Sweety, the reason your teeth are loose is because the new ones are pushing them out.
Josh: Ohhhhh.
Me: Anything else?
Josh: Will it bleed?
Me: It might. But it doesn't hurt like when you cut your finger. When you got your nose bleeds it didn't hurt, right?
Josh: Okay.
Me: Anything else?
Josh: Yeah...how much does the tooth fairy give you for each tooth?

He's already calculated what his mouth full of teeth is worth and I'm pretty sure he has every penny spent!

I, of course, tried to ease his mind and told him the story of when I lost my last tooth. I was jumping on my bed in my room and hit my head on the ceiling. I came down and realized my tooth was gone. And where was it? I don't know. Never found it. I'm quite certain I swallowed it and at eight years old...that was a disgusting thought. Josh thought that was hysterical.

So just as Ella is losing her toothless smile, Josh is about to get one!