Cletus

On Leif's bday this year I noticed that one of his front teeth was 'bigger' than the other. It wasn't actually bigger, but lower, as the adult tooth had started pushing it out. For the past few weeks now we have been watching and worrying. Though we wiggled it, and he wiggled it, Erik tugged, and a friend tied a string around it 3 times the funny tooth wouldn't budge. And it did become funny. Leif started talking without fully closing his mouth. When he smiled the tooth would stick straight out at almost a 90 degree angle. He earned himself a few politically incorrect, Smoky Mountain type nicknames.

So yesterday at his dental cleaning, I asked the dentist to consider what we should do. She showed me his x-rays. Apparently the two adult teeth are coming down neck and neck and things are only going to get more crazy. She suggested that she give them both the yank. I asked if she would freeze them, and then agreed. I sat in the waiting room nervously trying to corral Tineke and keep Laika busy with coloring books. When Leif finally came out I was expecting a big toothless grin. Instead he emerged with a roll of (slightly pink) gauze poking out between his lips (I forgot about blood and gauze!). He came and crawled into my lap. I thought he was traumatized, but he was just quiet. Laika was firstly worried about why he wasn't talking, and then jealous that he had a loot bag. As we exited the building I realized that my knees were weak. We did it.

When we got him Leif let me take the gauze out. He loves his new look, and his new lisp! He started talking right away. He loves the dentist! He got a new toothbrush! She puts a little vacuum in his mouth called Mr. Thirsty! He wants to be a vampire for Halloween. He wants to shoot water out of his 'squirt hole'. He was anything but traumatized. Laika was so jealous that she spent an hour with a roll of gauze in her mouth.