Gotta tell an Audrey story...

Background. She's got her front permanent teeth and her permanent incisors but the teeth in between were her baby teeth. Over a YEAR ago the dentist was after us to get those out but Audrey didn't want to mess with them and honestly, they weren't loose. So at this point I've got a dental appt for the girls next week and my child has spent the last year looking a little odd with these two big front teeth and little baby teeth jammed in between. They were wedged in there and wouldn't move at all!

So Tuesday Audrey comes downstairs and informs me that she remembers how she lost her tooth in a bit of chocolate last Christmas Eve. She said she wanted to lose another tooth this year. I told her to start with those two little ones as I was going to have to pay the dentist to pull them out next week! Audrey thinks about it for a second and starts digging around in her mouth. 30 seconds later 'MOM! It's LOOSE!!' The left baby tooth is wiggling and bleeding. She goes and gets a kleenex and asked me to pull it out which I do quick as a wink!

Brad and I are stunned because prior to this with both kids any pulling of teeth was an emotional even wrought with tears, drama and long prolonged sessions of coaxing to get them out. So the tooth fairy comes and I've just saved a $25 extraction fee! Hooray. We asked if she wanted to do the other one but she said no, because she wanted the tooth fairy to come twice. Good thinking. Fair enough.

So yesterday I asked if she was going to pull out the other one tonight. She said no so I figured - we've got a few more days before the dentist and worst case I'll have him pull it. Put the girls to bed at 7:30 and I go upstairs to read. 8:30 Audrey bursts into the room with a kleenex shoved into her mouth and the tooth pillow clutched in her hand shouting "I pullbed oup my ober toof!" Brad and I are stunned. Sure enough - tooth is out, already ensconced in the tooth pillow and pressure was being applied to tooth hole wound. Wow!

So the tooth fairy comes again last night (thank goodness we had a stockpile of silver and gold dollar coins which is 'tooth fairy script' in our house!)

This morning we were talking about the event and I asked Audrey how she did it. The explanation went a little something like this...

Audrey: 'you know how the clothes hamper has a handle' (she has a square plastic clothes hamper with a plastic lid that flips up and down).
Me: (suspiciously) 'Uh huh...?'
Audrey: 'Well I held onto it like this (mimics gripping a handle close to her face) and pushed..."
Me: "You mean you held onto the hamper while you pulled out the tooth with your other hand?"
Audrey: 'No Mommy' (frustrated with my obvious lack of intelligence) 'I held onto the hamper and pushed my tooth on the edge'
Me: (disbelieving) 'You mean to tell me, you used the side of the hamper to push out your tooth?!'
Audrey: 'Yes!' (clearly pleased that I finally understood her McGyver-like abilities with regard to tooth removal...)

So that happened. And I just saved a total of $50 in dental fees! Golly I do love that girl!