Lupine is asleep as I write this post. She was oh-so-frisky at bedtime and didn't fall asleep until hours later than I would have liked. Hours. I was a we bit frustrated with her last night.
But now she's like a little cherub in there, fast asleep.
And these pictures are my undoing. Man, I love this kid. So much. Sometimes I think I could just burst for all the love I feel for my children. Do you know what I mean? Like there is so much love that I'm not sure what space could possibly hold it as it expands out into forever.
And Lupine. She had a big weekend. You see...
She lost her first tooth!
Lupine. A tooth. This is huge for us.
Yes, all kids lose teeth. And I think it's always a big deal. The first tooth out represents a passage from little into the first phases of bigness. Of moving into adulthood one lost tiny tooth at a time. In the Waldorf tradition loosing your first baby teeth means you are ready to move towards learning to read, a huge passage into growing up.
But this is bigger than that, too. So much bigger.
As some of you know, Lupine had major tooth decay when she was small. Eight caps before her second birthday, and abundant worries of more to come. Her teeth have been the source of almost all of the fretting we have done over Lupine since she was 1 1/2 and they started to crumble.
And anyone who's dealt with early childhood tooth decay will attest that it's heavy.
Early childhood caries are nothing short of terrifying. Decay undermines your belief that you know what you're doing as a parent. It shakes your foundation and makes you feel raw and vulnerable and afraid. You start wondering if you can protect your child from what may come.
And to compound the sick feeling in your belly, as nursing (night nursing specifically) mothers it is implied that it is our fault and that we should parent differently to save our child's teeth. Double-whammy.
When Lupine's tooth fell out this weekend it was a complete surprise. It wasn't loose. At all. (Well, until she conked it with that fork.) And since Sage didn't loose his first until he was nearly eight, it didn't occur to me that it was time. (But it was.)
At first both Pete and I went to the internal panic dialogue of "Did it break? Is it rotten? What is wrong?!" But as we pieced together the normalcy of it all we calmed down. Her body was working. We were getting a second chance at her teeth now.
Adult teeth. Healthy teeth. A fresh start.
We've learned so much since her decay began four years ago. We've changed how we eat. How we brush. What we supplement with. We've overhauled our health in such a massive way that I'm not worried about her adult teeth. (Okay, I'm still a little worried but I have a habit of that.)
And soon Lupine will loose her eight caps and just be beautiful Lupine, instead of beautiful Lupine-with-the-silver-teeth. And we're all looking forward to that.
If you want more information about how we treated her ECCs I'd be happy to share. I started with this thread on Mothering.com which spoke to my soul. Do let me know if you want me to lay out the protocol we followed to heal our baby's teeth.
Love,
Rachel
Edited to add: I have posted my healthy tooth protocol here.