Something's Changed Here....

I took this picture 2 days ago.

And now today.



That's right. Something has definitely changed here. Something's missing. I can't quite tell what it is. What could it be?

Yep, the tooth is gone. After wiggling her "loose" tooth for almost 4 months it finally came out. I sent her to school with a fully intact, although somewhat loose, tooth. She returned with a wad of Kleenex in her mouth, more Kleenex crumpled in a baggie and one VERY loose tooth. She said it started bleeding after PE. I asked if she knocked it, but nope. Just something finally came loose.

We came inside and I gave it a little tug. Still pretty firmly in there, I sent her off to play. She continued to mess with it for the next several hours. She came running downstairs to show me she could push it pretty far forward with her tongue. I asked her if it could twist or turn at all. She shrugged and ran off.

A few minutes later she was hollering at me. I found her in the bathroom standing in front of the mirror. "Yep mom. It can twist. See?" She had managed to "twist" it 180 degrees and it was still in her mouth, but backwards. Let me tell you, that's really freaky. I tried to give it another tug, but was disturbed by the oddly twisted tooth. "Put it back please," I explained. When I said twist I meant did it turn a little, not all the way around.

A few minutes later she had righted the tooth and I decided if it could turn like that, it was time for some tugging love. I grabbed a Kleenex and had her open wide. A few gentle tugs, and "pop" out it came. She was so excited. She almost dropped the tooth down the heat register on the floor she was so excited.

We quickly called daddy, Noni and Grandma (sorry folks, the cel phone battery died, will call more people tomorrow). She spent the rest of the evening playing with the new hole in her mouth. She has discovered several things.

1 - Thumbkin fits perfectly into the hole.
2 - Your tongue can also fit cool in the hole.
3 - Brushing your teeth tickles.

So now she's tucked in bed. Her little tooth is in an old ring box lined with velvet. She told me she hopes the tooth fairy brings her a nickel. (Wow, I figured the going rate was more like $5.) We'll just have to see what awaits her in the morning.

My Family

As expected Erin has spent much time in her room the past two days. She'll play on the floor with her pets (and then even put them away!!!). She has also really enjoyed having a "work" area. Tom's old desk has been in her room for a long time but it's just been a place where we set stuffed animals, books and other clutter. Now it's near her door and set up as a place where she can sit and "work". Yesterday she did some drawing and copied a few books, something she really enjoys doing. This morning I found this on her desk.


It's a list of Erin's family. Written in what I call Erinese. She sounded out everyone's names phonetically and wrote them down on one sheet of paper. Some I was really impressed with. I was able to figure out all of them without her reading it to me first.

Here's a translation for you.
Erin, Jeffrey, Mom
Dad, Noni, Grandpa
Jonathan, Aunt Katie
Grandma, Grandpa W
Rylie, Avery
Aunt Robyn, Uncle Jeff
Aunt Katie (again), Uncle Bill
Baby Will

I'm pretty impressed. More because she tried to sound out the names, rather than memorize them. "Jonuthin" I found particularly impressive. I think "Ant Cadee" is pretty darned cute (and so must she, because Aunt Katie made the list twice). She still gets her lower case "b" and "d" mixed up. This is a recurring issue that we're working on. It's also very clear that the long E sound is EE. The very last two I think she was getting tired. Sorry Uncle Bill and Baby Will.

Maybe it's just a mommy thing, but I'd say she's a pretty smart cookie.

Time for a change

I realized last week that Erin's room has been essentially the same since she got her bed. That was when she was 18 months old. Aside from removing the crib and moving a desk in for her, her room has looked the same for close to 5 years.

I remember as a kid how exciting it could be to move things around. Heck, I still get a kick out of it and am envisioning a redo of the living room area too. So, Tom and I asked Erin if she'd like to have her room changed around. She was so excited. She even volunteered to "help". I explained that was not an option, "help" was a requirement.

Of course this also gave me the opportunity to cull the amazing amount of stuff that a 6-year old has managed to acquire. Especially the stuffed animal collection. We also got rid of LOTS of papers, crafts etc that she had done in preschool. Sure they're adorable. Sure they're special. But if I held onto EVERY special and adorable piece of paper, I'd have NO room for anything else.

Erin made most of the decisions as to where we would put the furniture. She was given some ground rules. The most important being that her bed was NOT allowed to go next to a window. Also the new teddy bear net could only hang from one corner because of the placement of ceiling vents.

So here are some pictures of her room pre move. As you can see, clutter is the name of the game, but it gives you a sense of how it's set up.



Here is the new set up. We put a fish net in the corner over where her bed used to be and tossed a bunch of animals into it. Then we shifted her bed to come off the wall next to her closet. The bookcase is between the bed and the wall with the window. Her dresser took a 90 degree turn and faces against the window looking out over the hill. Finally we cleared off the desk and moved it over near the door. I hope that eventually it will make a nice homework area for her.

She spent most of the afternoon in her room. Playing on her bed. Sitting at her desk reading or drawing. I cleaned out her closet as well and put all her dress-up clothes in there. Easy access for playing, but out of the way when she's not using them. That really made the clutter a lot better.

I'm so glad she really loves having her new room and hope she keeps excited about it.