Keep it loose, keep it right

Okay, so really there is no way to catch up on two months worth of posts. I'm upset with myself already for not writing anything for so long. Two great camping trips, 10 years of marriage marked by an epic snowstorm and unbelievable powdery spring skiing, the Moab 50 mile relay, Romney starring in the Spanish school play as Mogli - (mini side post - best line from the play. "You must be a girl. Lets go." It was very teen girl squadish.)

So anyway - just too much to catch up on. In my defense I worked evenings most of the month of May so I just never quite had time for posting, or exercising, or going to Lagoon or anything and the one time Marie decided to post she was only a few lines in before I picked a fight with her over something dumb like what setting should be used on the toaster and that post never saw the light of day.

One momentous occasion did occur this week that has brought me back to the blog. It was not only a marker for Lainey in her child development but for Marie and I as parents. Lainey's first tooth FINALLY fell out. Lainey is one of only two kids in her class at school that had not lost a tooth. We are a household of late bloomers in these sorts of things and Lainey was feeling very discouraged that she had not yet lost a tooth. She has invented (or desperately hoped in the past) that some of her other teeth were loose but they never actually were. Once this tooth was confirmed a true loose tooth (what seems like 6 months ago but was probably only a month or two ago) she has asked every single day when it was going to fall out. As any good father would I certainly offered to get out my pliers and pull it, tie a string to doorknob and slam it, and any other ways I could think of to get the tooth out but Lainey does not have a very high pain tolerance and ultimately her fear of pain trumped her desire for the tooth to come out.

Someone with credibility (i.e. - not her parents) finally told her to just use a dry paper towel and just pull on it. She did and sure enough a few minutes later the tooth was out!

The tooth fairy also made his first visit and Lainey came out with a whole dollar. Now that we have realized the potential cash flow that could be created by the shedding of teeth I have offered to pull the rest of her teeth (and it is possible I have also threatened to do it in her sleep) but so far she has been uninterested in this flawless get rich quick scheme. I have not given up however because I think I could go out to dinner at least a couple of times from the tooth removal proceeds.

The best part of all is we have been asked to make filmstrip for a 2nd grade health class on oral health. We are doing just the tooth fairy part. Here are the frames we have so far. I'll post the final version when complete or you can email me if you would like the "live action" flip-book version emailed to you.