The First Tooth

I'll never forget those gummy smiles Charles used to give me as a baby. The ones where you look at them and wonder what they will look like when that mouth is full of teeth.

And then, when that mouth is full of teeth you can't then imagine them without them.

In September Charles got his first wobbly tooth. It was really quite exciting. It's a milestone, a right of passage.
"It will be out at the end of the month I reckon" I said to him.
October came, it was still there and I said the same thing, and then.....November came, and I said the same again.....but....December came.
I laughed and said that I wouldn't say this will be the month it comes out because it's clearly going to be stubborn and stay put for a while.

As I collected him from school last week his teacher waved me over. And there, he smiled, and I noticed a gap and a clear view of his gum.
Early in the afternoon he became upset because his tooth was hanging there. A lovely teaching assistant, pulled it out for him. Something she could apparently get in trouble for, but we are so grateful for her doing it.

It was really exciting as I put Charles to bed that night, and we placed the tooth, wrapped in tissue, under his pillow.
And in the morning, as he woke up, Charles excitedly showed me the £1 coin left under his pillow, next to the tooth as the tooth fairy kindly leaves the first one as it is so special.

And now everyday we have to check every other tooth, as well as Harry's, as we await the tooth fairies next visit.