all i want for christmas is my bottom tooth...

Yeah. Not kidding. Sooooo.... we were packing up and getting ready to head to South Carolina for Christmas yesterday. I (Amy) was busy throwing things in the suitcase while Caroline was sitting on the floor in her room across the hall getting her shoes on. I heard her usual squeals of frustration (as in typical toddler fashion...because it's easier to scream than to ask nicely for help, you understand), and as I walked in the room to kneel down by her side, she looked up at me with HUGE tears in her eyes.

And the next thing I noticed was a mouth full of blood. (!!!) What in the world? I start thinking. What just happ---

And before I could finish that thought, an entire baby tooth came falling out of her mouth to the floor!

Hysterical crying now ensues at this point. (not from me, thankfully.) "Um, Marc???" I managed to get out of my mouth as I'm assessing the situation, no idea of what just happened! I didn't hear a fall or a bump-- she was sitting on the floor putting on her shoes! Why is blood pouring out of her mouth and a TOOTH on the floor? She's not even 4 yet! Not wanting to leave her side, Marc brought a wet washcloth to help stop the bleeding.

"Tell me what happened, baby." I ask.

And here's what happened. Apparently when you get really frustrated with something, it somehow helps (in the mind of a toddler) to show your frustration at that thing by putting it into your mouth and pulling reaaaaallly hard.

Including the velcro strap on your shoes. (groan......)

SO, we are now going to be missing a bottom baby tooth for a few years until the permanent one decides to come in.

Since we were on our way out the door & our dentist reassured us over the phone there was nothing we needed to do, we stuck with our plans to leave, but later thought it best to have her looked at anyways.

So Nanny scheduled an appointment for us and a certain somebody got her FIRST dentist trip out of this! She was pretty excited to be a "big girl." (can't you tell?) :)

So here's the new smile. :)

It's a little sensitive subject right now, both with Mommy & Caroline. I can tell Caroline gets embarrassed as we talk about it, and she definitely "got" the lesson of how NOT to handle her frustration in the future. She says she wishes she had her tooth back and wishes she didn't put her shoe in her mouth.

And Mommy? The honest truth is that it's shaken me up a little! I mean, I'm fine, but while most moms can probably chalk something off like this as a silly accident and think nothing more about it, I can't completely. After what we've been through, nothing is the same anymore. After alopecia, anything that mars our appearance is tough on me. It's one more thing for people to notice.

It's also times like this where all the devastation and heartbreak of watching my daughter go BALD before my eyes come washing back over me. I didn't know WHAT was happening then and it was so scary. I guess there's similarities between losing your hair and losing a tooth before it's time because those are both things you're SUPPOSED to keep in your body, right? And yet, in our family, we don't. We can't! Even though I had nothing to do with the hair OR the tooth falling out, as a mom I still sometimes feel like it's somehow my fault. I can't even keep hair on my kid's head or teeth in her mouth!!

Somehow I sometimes think that if I were a "better" mom, this (the alopecia) wouldn't have happened.

Silly and illogical, I know. But it's how I feel when I'm not preaching the truth of the Gospel to myself nonetheless.

And the truth is-- without the will of our Father, not a hair can fall from our heads. Indeed, everything must fit His purposes for our salvation.

So we'll keep trusting in Him, rest in His approval, and smile a little wider now for His glory. :)