All she wants for Christmas

Is her three front teeth.

After several weeks of having just one front tooth hanging down, making her look like a cute little pirate, Ella finally lost her other front tooth. It was a tremendous ordeal; the tooth was so loose that it was just hanging there. I offered Ella $10 on top of whatever the Tooth Fairy brought her to just pull it out alreadym but she didn't go for it, which puzzled me. She pulled out the previous six loose teeth without any help from us.

One night Ella wiggled the front tooth so much that she bled all over the place, and she still wouldn't just pop it out or let either of us do it.

Wednesday night the tooth came out in her sleep, solving the problem. Fortunately, Ella didn't swallow the tooth while she was sleeping.

Thursday night she set out her tooth pillow with a Christmas letter for the Tooth Fairy and another sheet of paper asking for a note back, "Pleese." The Tooth Fairy, in her best swirly cursive, wrote her a little note back and dipped her wings in the cup of water Ella left out, turning the water slightly greenish. Ella was so thrilled when she woke up and saw evidence of the Tooth Fairy's visit that she didn't even think to check for the four quarters the Tooth Fairy left behind.

I love that the magic is still alive and well in our house.

Odds and ends

My mom, knittergran, knit this adorable jacket for Elizabeth. Check out her blog for more details on the knitting of it - it's called the Elizabeth Zimmerman Surprise Jacket, and the surprise is that it is knit in all one piece. I took a picture of it next to a book so you could get an idea of how small it is.
As small as the jacket is, it's still much bigger than Elizabeth. But at the rate she's eating, I'm sure she'll grow into it in no time. And after watching my mom knit the jacket, I'm tempted to make one, too.
The poor guys - they are so outnumbered. B knows he is; Campbell hasn't figured it out yet.
Ella's top three teeth have been loose for ages. The tooth to the left of her front teeth fell out last Sunday, and she looked really goofy. But it got worse last night when her right front tooth fell out while she was at a slumber party. One friend's father said it looked like Ella had been in a fight. Ella was mostly just excited that the Tooth Fairy found her at the slumber party and left her a dollar. I'm just happy that the party Tooth Fairy pays the same rate for teeth as the normal Tooth Fairy.

Bad Tooth Fairy

Ella lost her third tooth last night at about 8:30. I don't know why, but all three have come out well after bedtime. Perhaps it's because she has nothing better to do than lie in bed and wiggle them. Whatever the reason, she came out holding the tooth aloft with blood running down her chin. Lily, who was still awake, popped out of bed to take a look at the gore.

Once we got Ella cleaned up and the girls back in bed, B and I scrounged around for some money, but Ella was still awake, waiting for the Tooth Fairy, so the payoff didn't happen.

The Tooth Fairy meant to put money in Ella's special pillow before she went running at 5:30 this morning, but she was late, so she bolted out the door without doing it. The Tooth Fairy remembered she'd forgotten about halfway through her run, and she crossed her fingers that Ella would still be asleep when she got home, so she could put the money in. No such luck. Ella was awake, and boy was she pissed at the Tooth Fairy.

Ella was yelling before I'd even closed the front door. "Mama, do you know what I found in my tooth pillow? Nothing. No money. Just my tooth. The Tooth Fairy didn't come!"

I explained that maybe the Tooth Fairy didn't get the message that Ella had lost a tooth because it happened so late at night. Or maybe the Tooth Fairy already had a busy delivery route and didn't have time to add another stop to it. Or maybe the Tooth Fairy just forgot.

None of those explanations helped much. Ella pouted on the sofa until breakfast was ready. My reassurances that she could put the tooth out again tonight and maybe the Tooth Fairy would make it didn't seem to help.

I'm thinking the Tooth Fairy better cough up more than her usual $2.00.