Moving on up- updated

Nate's got big news to share- he's move up in the world. Literally. He's now sleeping in his loft bed instead of under it. It's a long story but the short version is: Daddy built him a loft bed a few years ago. Mommy thought it would be a low loft but it turned out to be very high (think college dorm) so Nate's been sleeping on a mattress on the floor under the loft for almost 3 years. On Monday, He & Daddy decided he was ready to move up. Mommy was a little nervous but he's doing great.



I hope the tooth fairy* isn't afraid of heights because tonight Nate lost his first tooth. Nate was chewing on a straw at Rainforest Cafe, waiting for his food, when he suddenly asked me if he was bleeding. I didn't see any blood but after a second of trying to figure out what was wrong with his face I realized he had a big hole in his smile. We found the tooth lying on the table. He didn't even notice that it had been loose.



First lost teeth are very sad for me. I adore the perfect little teeth in a baby smile. Once holes start appearing in that smile it starts to sink in that they are growing up.

*The tooth fairy is another interesting dilemma for us. We never tell our kids that the Tooth Fairy, Santa or Easter Bunny exist- but we don't tell them that they don't exist. We let them figure it out for themselves. We focus on the real meaning of Christmas and Santa has never brought a present for them so they don't believe in him. Same goes for Easter- they understand the religious holiday and they know Mom & Dad give baskets and hide eggs for fun. But there is no religious aspect of the tooth fairy to talk about. Nate has heard about the tooth fairy from his friends so he's going to be disappointed when he wakes up and there is no money under his pillow but I'll make up for it by trading him the tooth for a webkinz.

UPDATE: I watched carefully for Nate to wake up this morning so as soon as he did I went into his room. He had a grumpy look on his face and said "I didn't get nothing! Not even my tooth." I asked what he meant and he pointed out that the little envelope with his tooth and fallen out of the loft and was sort of hidden. Oh no!- I was afraid our little lesson had failed and that he might think that the tooth fairy just couldn't find the tooth. So I offered to trade the tooth for the webkinz. Then Nate said- "I know you are the tooth fairy anyway." I said "Oh good- now that I know that you know, next time you lose a tooth we can "play" tooth fairy and I can hide a surprise under your pillow." He happily agreed and suggested that it be another webkinz. So all's well that ends well. I think when Max loses a tooth I'll just tell him right away that we can "play" tooth fairy. If he puts his tooth under his pillow I will trade it for a surprise. I wished I'd known that Nate didn't really believe in the tooth fairy before he went to bed last night. If I'd known it was just a game to him I would have played along. Goes to show every kid is different- because Kaylee didn't believe she didn't play the game she just gave us the teeth and got the prizes directly.