Treasure Box

  Today, my Dane lost his first tooth. It had been loose for a few weeks, and it has become a daily routine to check it for "wiggleablilty". We have had discussions about pulling it, how much it might be worth to the tooth fairy, and why you need new teeth in the first place...("but these teeth still chew fine, Mommy").
  As I pulled up to the curb to pick him up from school, I could tell he was excited about something. There is an expression he has when he is up to something, and he had that look. His eyes twinkle, and he is half smiling while sticking his tongue in the corner of his mouth. Hey, it takes a lot of work to look that mischievous. He bounces out to the car, and jumps inside. And then he grins. Not a the little one he had on the curb a few seconds ago. This one is so big and bright it could power a small city. And that little wobbly tooth is now an empty space. He presses a little purple treasure chest in my hand and says, "Look! The nurse gave me this to put it in!!" I give him my biggest Mommy smile, and we pull away from the school. He tells me that he pulled it during nap time and also makes sure to tell me it didn't hurt. That's my boy-so at ease with something I has thought for sure would be an ordeal.
  Well, it was an ordeal. But not for little boy sitting in the passenger seat. It was an ordeal for the mommy who will probably never come to terms with the fact that he is growing up. I held it together for a little while. We went and showed his Daddy at work, and his grandparents who live up the street. We came home and had dinner. Then it was time for bed. As he was hugging his Daddy goodnight, it hit me. This is the first tooth he has lost, but it is also the first tooth he cut as a baby. Let me take you back to that day for just a second.
  He was right at 6 mos old at the time. He was the most beautiful baby I have ever laid eyes on. Big blue eyes, pale skin with just a hint of pink, and a long thick mess of dark brown hair. He was not only pretty, but he was a sweet baby. Calm and quiet- he seemed to come into the world with an inner peace and sense of himself. He ate, slept and smiled. He was ridiculously low maintenance, even for newbie parents who hadn't a clue what they were doing. I noticed that little white bump poking through his gums and reacted with my typical over-excitement. "BUDDY!!! You have tooth! LOOK! You have your first tooth!!!" He looked up at me through those big long lashes and his whole face lit up. He didn't have a clue what I was excited about, but he decided to humor me and get excited too. I think he probably knew even then that it would be easier to just play along with the crazy lady who fed him and changed his diapers. I am glad he resigned himself to that fact early on...hahaha.
   So now here we are, almost 6 years later and that little tooth is out. It has literally flown by. That little baby is now a 90 lbs and 4 ft 3. He is independent and opinionated. He is smart, funny and stubborn. And thankfully, he is still at the age where he like to cuddle his mommy before he goes to bed. So as he climbed up into my lap, I wrapped my arms around him and crumbled. I couldn't stop myself from crying, even though I know most normal people probably don't cry over a tooth. I was crying because I know this is the another one of many milestones. Just another moment that has come and gone. Another opportunity for life to remind me that he is growing up, and that before I can blink we will be at the next one. I did finally pull myself together and get him to bed, close to on time. I made him promise to never grow up or get any bigger. Thankfully he has agreed to stop at 6. After he was tucked into bed, I came back to the living room and really lost it, this time into the arms of my husband who has also learned to indulge the crazy lady he married almost 7 years ago.
   Then I went to the wall where my Dane collage is hanging. There are about 30 various pictures of him during his first year in this frame. I found the one I was looking for and reached out to touch the face of that precious smiling baby with the single little tooth on his bottom gum. No matter how old he gets, I think a part of me will always see him just like that.

  I now have a very special little tooth in a very purple little box that is sitting there demanding to be paid. But more importantly, I have another reason to stop and think about what being his mommy has meant to my life. The moment he was born, my life shifted into a place where I was able to find contentment in the simple things. Just knowing that this amazing little person was given to me to love has completed me in more ways than there are words. The treasure isn't in the box on the tv stand. No, the real one is snuggled up with a stuffed Sponge Bob under a Buzz Lightyear blanket. Treasure indeed.