I wasn’t ready!

I had no idea Kiran had a loose tooth. Hindsight being what it is, there was one definite clue: He has been chomping/playing with his teeth more frequently lately. I know now he was likely doing that because he was messing with his loose tooth, like all kids do. But I had no idea until his toothbrush looked like it had blood on it last night after doing the water rinse with it.

At first, I wondered if his teeth just got brushed a little hard, he had some gum irritation – it happens – and then it dawned on me and I said out loud “Do you think he could’ve lost a tooth!?!”

Kiran doesn’t make it easy to investigate his mouth on a typical day when nothing out of the ordinary is happening, so you can imagine how difficult he made it for us to check. He was very firm-lipped, with them tightly closed, and then when I could finally get in there, he kept putting his tongue where I had caught a glimpse of a gap.

We did finally get confirmation – Kiran lost his first tooth – one of the front bottom ones – right on time. I thought he might lose them a little later than typical, because he didn’t get his first tooth until he was 18 months old. There was a time I thought he may never get teeth, and I was grappling with what that reality might be (Turns out, not necessarily super different, as he’s still getting all his nutrition through his g-tube, teeth or no)

We are pretty sure he swallowed it, with seemingly no issues – This has been a big fear of mine, with his swallowing difficulties – I would imagine aspirating a tooth is very painful and dangerous. He has given no indication of aspiration, so I am hoping to spot it (though Eric thinks I’m crazy) in a stool. Hey – peace of mind is worth a lot.

No, the tooth fairy didn’t come. I am really having to grapple with this idea, because so many people have asked this question or insisted she must. One of the benefits of Kiran being an only child is I do not have the pressure to do all of that – no big stories of Santa, definitely no elf on the shelf nonsense – if we do the tooth fairy, it will be far more for us than it will be for Kiran. But – I think we might be getting him his own piggy bank so the tooth fairy can leave a quarter for his teeth, now that they are determined to fall out. And yes – I am also very lucky that I can just do a quarter – I acknowledge that.

I am surprised at my emotional reaction to this. I really wasn’t ready. It just seems like such a big boy milestone, and I still think Kiran is little. I sorta had to remind myself – he’s SEVEN!?! The time really does go by so quickly. I’m thankful to be experiencing these big boy moments with him.

And you better believe, I’m going to be investigating his mouth more often!