The Tooth Fairy Chronicles

After yesterday's big news we had to prepare Erin for her very first visit from The Tooth Fairy.  I have to say that this was a lot of fun too!

We have been preparing Erin for The Visit by explaining that the Tooth Fairy comes at night while we are asleep.   I told Erin that we had a problem since the Tooth Fairy only knows how to find the bedroom of the child who lost their tooth.  AND, if the child isn't in their room, she gets lost.  (David & I have been trying to get Erin to sleep in her room for years now.  If this didn't work, nothing was getting her out of our room!)  Erin told us that she would give it a shot & try sleeping in her room so she could have her visit.  While David was out doing something, I explained that she needed to sleep in her room the entire night since we don't know what time the Tooth Fairy will show up.

My oh so smart child asked why the Tooth Fairy wouldn't be able to find her in our room.  But Mama was prepared for that question! Did you know that if an adult is in the room, the Tooth Fairy gets confused!?  Shocking! Just shocking I tell you!

Anyway, we started our ritual by finding Erin's special Tooth Box that my Aunt Jean made for Erin when she was a baby.  (I like to be prepared.)  We cleaned it up & made it all nice & fresh.  And then I told Erin that in order for the Tooth Fairy to show up, she has to hear a public announcement to know which house to go to & where the bedroom is.  So . . .

I had Erin repeat after me:

"Oh Tooth Fairy! We had a special thing happen today!  Erin lost her Very First Tooth Ever!  And we want you to know that she's put it someplace safe until you can pick it up!"

(Poor Erin giggled her way through this while I had to keep a straight face.)

And then she went to sleep.  In her sleeping bag.  In her room.  For the entire night!

At 6:30 this morning, Erin came to me & told me that she wanted to see if the Tooth Fairy visited.  We went into her room, & when she was awake enough, she looked on her dresser.  And what did she see!? Why Fairy Dust of course!  She opened her special box & was totally thrilled.

It seems that the Tooth Fairy pays pretty nicely these days.  Erin got $5 in gold Sacagewea dollars! (I've had those since she was a baby also.  I told you I like to prepare ahead of time.)  Of course, I did let Erin know that $5 was only for the first time.  After that, she probably wouldn't get quite as much.

And her 2nd tooth is probably going to come out in the next few weeks. 

All She Wants for Chanukah is . . .

. . . a new tooth!

Yup! You heard it here! Today, Thursday, October 8, 2009 my girl lost her very first tooth.

I came home after David & Erin since I had a doctor's appointment.  No sooner did I walk in the door than Erin came running up to me "Mama! Look! My tooth came out!"

And thank G-d it did.  Erin was told back in May that she had a loose tooth.  I told the dentist that I was shocked because I thought her teeth were grounded in cement.  He had a good laugh at that.  Anyway, her tooth started to become visibly loose in August.  She's been waiting for this to  happen since many of her friends started to loose teeth last year.  Her friend Alyssa lost 2 teeth in as many days!

So what was Erin doing when her tooth came out? Nothing.  She was in aftercare doing her homework.  She wasn't even eating a snack! It just fell out on the table.  Cool!

Her tooth is so tiny! In fact, I got worried thinking that there was a problem because her permanent tooth is already there.  David told me that the only way for the baby teeth to come out is for the adult tooth to push it out of the way.

My girl is growing up.  I'm not ready for this.  But I am so dang happy for her!!!

She Eats Peas!

Woo hoo!!! She ate them!! David & I walked away from the dinner table while Erin was still sitting there eating. (She takes forever!) When David turned around, she was eating peas by the forkful, & I mean a real forkful not 1 or 2 peas on the fork.

He looked at her like she'd grown a 2nd head or something & the conversation went like this:

David: Are you eating peas Erin?

Erin: Yes (smiling with huge grin on her face)

David: Since when?

Erin: I don't know.

Me? I'm happy. Now she can't look at me & say "I don't do green!" By George, I think we've made progess. Yay!

Erin's First Day of School

Ready to go to 1st grade!

In her new classroom.



Erin with me in her classroom.

Ready for some serious learning!

Erin started school last Wednesday after Tropical Dud Fay finally left the area. She is in the same class as 3 of her friends from her last school so things have been easier on all of us. Her teachers all seem to be pretty nice.

The 2nd day of school we had one of our usual morning chats. It really was sweet.

Erin: I don't like 1st grade Mama.

Me: Why not Erin?

Erin: I miss my friends.

Me: Erin, aren't the twins & Alyssa in your class?

Erin: Yes, but I miss everyone else.

Me: Erin this is a great opportunity for you to meet new people & make new friends. Besides, don't you see your old friends in aftercare?

Erin: Yes I do. But I wanna play with them.

Me: Then we'll make playdates.

Erin: Really? Okay, then I'll go to 1st grade Mama.

What goes through a child's mind always amazes me. Each conversation should go this easily!

Great News!

Today David took Erin to her very first eye doctor appointment. We had been concerned lately because she has a tendency to hold things very close to her face for reading/viewing. She also tends to lean over a paper when doing homework. Since the two of us both wear glasses we wanted to head off any potential problems. Needless to say, I went to my sources for the name of a good eye doctor. My friend Lori gave me a recommendation to her daughter's eye doctor.

David hates taking Erin to her appointments since I'm the Keeper of all Information Deemed Important. He called me 5 times in 15 minutes for various pieces of info. I was really concerned about how Erin was going to do since she, like all other children, hates going to the doctor. David did his usual great job to prepare her for what was to come (read eye dilation here). Yes. She had a hard time but did really well.

According to David, the eye doctor was really pleased with Erin. She has no vision problems at all. He said that she's just picking up some bad habits with leaning in close to see things. Then he told David that he doesn't get to give this kind of news often enough.

Thanks for the recommendation Lori!

Like It's Going Out of Style

That's how Erin has been eating this week. After school on Sunday, we went out to eat lunch at one of our favorite places. We've been going to Moon Thai since before we brought Erin home so it's always a good guess that we're going to end up there.

In the last 6 or 7 months Erin has been dipping her finger into my salad because she loves their super yummy peanut dressing. She recently began to eat some of my lettuce as long as it is totally coated (read drenched here) in the dressing. This past Sunday Erin decided to eat her own salad (again lettuce drenched in peanut dressing) & got through about a quarter of it. When the miso soup was served to us, she promptly tucked right in & ate almost half of it. Why is this so surprising? Well, she's never eaten soup before & turned us down repeatedly in the past with our offers for her to try it. She enjoyed it so much that the server sent her home with a whole new cup of soup. We thought that would be the end of Erin's lunch & probably food for the day. Nope. She managed to eat some of her pad thai dish.

No sooner than we got home that she started with "I still hungry." HUH??? Who the heck is this kid with a bottomless pit for a tummy!? She got to eat grapes. We only had green grapes which she's always refused in the past. Munched on those like there was no tomorrow!

Dinnertime came, & Erin ate her entire slice of lasagna. She even at the meat from the sauce which she usually leaves on the dish. It made me so happy to see her eat with enthusiasm. After dinner, she was again still hungry but we decided to put the brakes on her eating.

She's been eating like this all week long! I can't believe that she's eating 3 complete meals a day now. Too cool!

Erin's First Pedicure

Choosing her color

Look momma! Suki is filing my toes. Just like you!

That's my girl - choosing purple with sparkles!

Such pretty toes!

Drying her tootsies