On teeth and maternal emotion

We are in a period of great dental instability. Evan's the only kid who isn't in some sort of tooth transition. Jensen has actually lost another tooth since we took this (very blurry) picture, which means he has an enormous no-tooth gap where his front teeth used to be. It's pretty cute and goofy. This is his Summer of No Teeth.

Jensen hates losing teeth. If he had any say in the matter, I don't think any more would come out. (Although maybe he'd be more willing to part with them if the Tooth Fairy weren't such a tight-wad.) The Sunday before Mother's Day, he had a tooth that was so loose that it was hanging sideways in his mouth, blowing in the breeze, sticking out between his lips when he closed his mouth. And there was no way he was letting anybody near it. He ran screaming from us if we asked to see it. It literally fell out on the floor, with absolutely no effort, that afternoon. That's how loose it was. The same thing happened with the next one. I don't know if he currently has any loose teeth, because he won't let me near his mouth to check.

Here's the embarrassing part: I cried when Jensen lost his first tooth. I also cried when he got his first tooth as a baby. I'm not dysfunctional, just kind of sentimental. Yes, I do think about things like how losing his baby teeth is just a very graphic demonstration that he's growing away from me.... Then I get over it. I'm fully aware that this seems ridiculous. You can laugh if you want. I do.

Maybe I'm getting better, though. I didn't cry when Caleb got his first two little teeth a couple of months ago (and they are, by the way, sharp as knives). We'll see how I do when Evan starts losing his teeth. I'll be prepared. And something else will probably catch me off-guard. Who knows what?...