Tuesday, November 3, 2009 ;
12:33 AM
2 Nov
ds1 lost his 3rd tooth. The first upper incisor.
I just wanted to make a record, and an observation.
Isn't it funny how sometimes a child could have done something many times before and not feel anything, but then suddenly be apprehensive?
ds1 has had both his lower incisors replaced with the permanent teeth already. I had also blogged about them. I pulled one off, and Dh pulled the other.
This time, I asked if he would like to pull it off himself. Then maybe the 4th incisor, ds2 can have the honour.
Funnily, this time, he said he wants to wait for it to drop off itself. Fine, it's like really wobbly already. But the permanent tooth is not sticking out yet and I can feel it right behind/ above the milk tooth. So we'll wait. I think we waited for 2 weeks?
For the past few days, ds1 had already kept saying he thought it would drop off the very minute, cos it was absolutely very wobbly and you could swing the whole tooth back and forth by more than 2 cm/ maybe an inch.
Today, when brushing his teeth for him (because he was afraid the tooth would fall off if he brushed it too hard), I felt that it could just come off with a simple tug, really. So I offered again, to just get it off for him. Otherwise, he was wondering all day everyday if it would drop off, if he would swallow it during his meals, or when he was asleep.... He had a lot of worries alright.
He said yes, but when I got some dental floss (didn't have thread in sight, cos we moved to in laws with very few belongings, and I didn't want to get out of my room to bother mil about thread at 9pm, and then get in laws both excited over his tooth), he changed his mind.
After 5 min, he said he couldn't sleep. He was worried it would come off during the night and then he would choke on it. And worse, the tooth fairy can't get it. (he wasn't that concerned about the risk of dying from being choked up)
So he decided to have it pulled off. So I tied the dental floss around his tooth. Took a long time cos floss is so smooth and slippery. When it was tugging time, he chickened out again. Said he was afraid it would be very painful. I said, well, I pulled your tooth out the other time, you said it wasn't painful, and it was done so quickly and easily.
Still, he was apprehensive. Then he lay down to try to sleep again.
After 10min, he said he really decided to do it. Could I please use thread instead, like last time, and can he be doing something else so he won't know I was pulling it? No problem... (but he could sense I was getting impatient).
Ok, so there wasn't any thread. I saw the old blanket on the bed. You know those type the older generation loves? Those thin blankets with fraying edges? Ok, lots of loose sewing thread there. I pulled out a suitable length, and used my teeth to cut it. Washed under the tap. Dried with tissue. Tied the thread around his tooth.
I suggested he read a book. He protested initially - "What if there was so much blood that it dripped all over the book?" . I had to assure him, most certainly there won't be that much blood. And I got tissue, just in case.
He was almost at the end of Fantastic Mr Fox (Roald Dahl) currently, so he continued where he left off. I gave him about 2-3 min to get into the story again. Then I put my hands on the thread. He stiffened. I said no, I am not pulling it now, just putting my fingers there.
With my fingers still on the thread, I asked him to continue reading. I sacrificed my arm muscle strength and stamina by holding that position for another minute while he got back into his story. Just when he was engrossed with the mean Boggis, Bunce and Bean farmer characters, I said a little prayer (that it would be successful with just one pull, else he'll definitely chicken out again, and that there won't be any pain or blood, cos then it'd be uphill tasks for all the other teeth in future), and pulled hard with a sudden jerk.
Ahhh, the tooth came off so easily! Even I was surprised, cos this one was even easier than the very 1st one.
He was so shocked. He exclaimed, "It came off??? Any blood???" I took a look. Hmm, no blood, none whatsoever.
I asked him "Was it painful?"
He thought about it, "Err, yes, still painful."
Huh?? He didn't even know it came off, yet he is sure it's painful.
But he was very proud of himself. Asked to see the tooth, showed his brother, both the tooth and the gap in his mouth.
And then he couldn't sleep at once due to excitement over the impending visit of the tooth fairy, and also he was trying out all the "f", "l", "s", "th" sounds that he needed a lot more effort to pronounce now.
I wonder how it will be like when ds2's turn comes. All the unexpected and infinite things parents need to do... and we have no prior training or reference manual with our firstborn...
I just hope we don't make that many mistakes along the way... :-)
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
____________________________________________________________
