Facing milestones- January 18, 2011
We spent Saturday night with our dear friend Amy and her family. This is her darling 6-year-old daughter Ashley as she lost her first tooth. I’m filming. You can hear Greyson and Amy laughing.
I love Ashley’s face when the tooth came out. It’s that wonderful holey grin of First Graders around the globe. Losing your first tooth is a funny rite of passage we all remember so well. I’m so glad we were there to see her face full of excitement as she realized it was coming out, the hesitation that it will hurt, the pride of finally seeing the tooth out, and anticipation knowing the Tooth Fairy was coming tonight. (The Tooth Fairy’s going rate in 2011 is pretty good. I hear it’s up to $2 a tooth! Charlotte’s teeth may not be worth that much. We’ll see in 6 years.)
What you don’t see in this video is poor Ashley’s panic at seeing blood afterward. Clearly it didn’t hurt her when the tooth came out, but somehow the sight of blood made this incident suddenly painful and traumatic instead of fun and exciting. Amy calmed her down with the promise of a Popsicle and some mama hugs.
As cute as Ashley’s face was, what I’ll remember about this night was Amy’s face. It was full of a mix of motherly emotions I’m coming to understand. Amy’s face showed pride that her child was growing up, hesitation that it seemed to be happening so fast, and pain that her baby may be feeling pain.
I understand those feelings now as I watch my baby get ever closer to rolling over. “Look at my baby! Developing and growing. She’s beautiful. But, oh my God! She’s growing up so fast! I’m not ready for this.”
Ashley and Amy, thanks for letting us be part of this moment as we start witnessing Charlotte’s childhood milestones. I know I won’t be the only mother with mixed emotions showing on her face.
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I saw everything you mentioned..and haven't stopped thinking about it since.
as we are gearing up to celebrate our daughter's 1st birthday – I know exactly what you mean…