A visit from the Tooth Fairy!

During this summer, Abhay showed one of the first signs of growing into a big boy! Just before we took off on a vacation, I noticed a ‘shark tooth’ growing behind his lower milk teeth. Strange, I thought…isn’t it too late for a baby tooth? But since we didn’t have the time to make an appointment with the dentist, we decided to wait until we got back. A few days later I noticed another shark tooth burgeoning next to the first one. Even then it didn’t occur to me that the two emerging teeth might just be his permanent lower incisors!! Neither did my parents nor my in laws suspect anything, especially since none of Abhay’s teeth were loose, much less had fallen!  Since it did not seem like a dental emergency, I headed back to Bangalore leaving Abhay at my parents’ farm with the intention of calling on the dentist once Abhay returns to Bangalore. But my mother knew better than that and decided to consult a local dentist anyway. That when’s we realized that common sense had escaped us when it came to acknowledging that Abhay is no longer the baby he used to be! Frankly, I know it may sound stupid, but I never once thought it’s time for Abhay to let go of his milk teeth and make way for his permanent teeth …..isn’t that supposed to happen after he turns seven or eight? At the risk of sounding clichéd, I must say that it only feels like yesterday that Abhay was five months old when he began teething and his baby teeth first appeared! Five years later…they fall off to make room for the not-so-baby teeth! Every milestone in your baby’s growth is to be cherished and celebrated as time flies and you never know ….your grown-up ‘baby’ may fly away too!

                                                       Abhay then.......with his first teeth!

                                    

                                                                  Abhay now......

Though nervous about going to a dentist, Abhay managed to sail through his first visit to the dentist…all thanks to recent innovations in anesthetic medicine that has done away with petrifying injections and has been replaced with hassle free anesthetic sprays instead! Abhay though wanted to save his milk tooth to be handed over to the tooth fairy, courtesy the American Television! Of course, it didn’t matter to him that his dentist in Ujjire (small village near Dharmasthala) had no idea what or who the Tooth Fairy was!  Anyway, since we had heard so much about the tooth fairy while in the US, I read to him “Peppa pig and the Tooth Fairy”,  Peppa is upset that she lost her first tooth but her mother assures her of a surprise from the tooth fairy. With her tooth carefully tucked under her pillow, Peppa waits for the Tooth fairy her parents promised would come. Peppa however is too restless to go to sleep and tries to stay awake but finally gives into sleep. Peppa is disappointed in the morning but when she is asked look around, she is delighted to find a shiny gold coin under her pillow….supposedly left by the Tooth Fairy. Peppa then vows to stay awake the next time she loses her tooth!  We all know who is the tooth fairy…don’t we? We too played tooth fairy and placed a nice little gift under his bed as we went to pick him up from Dharmasthala. A gift for every tooth gone.....Abhay will not mind if another tooth falls soon!

                                           A giant tooth shaped gift from the Tooth Fairy!