For the Record

Athan, who will soon be 6, lost his first tooth this week. Well, actually it wasn't the first tooth that he lost because when he was a wee little guy, he lost two brand new upper incisors when he fell on a cement step. Athan has spent his entire life without those two top teeth which might explain why he didn't realize that his first bottom tooth had fallen out. It appears that he lost it while swimming in Brentwood Lake. Since he didn't have the tooth, he had to write a note to the Tooth Angel that it was missing. Unfortunately, the Tooth Angel was VERY tired that night and never came to his pillow to retrieve the note. In the morning, Athan reported that the Angel had not visited his pillow and then he said good naturedly that he thought he would just go back to sleep. Good thing, because the well-rested Tooth Angel then made a quick visit to his pillow where she tucked a little wooden "tooth" box painted with lines from the poem "The Owl and the Pussycat." After waking for the 2^nd time that morning and showing everyone his treasure, Athan snuggled in Mama's lap holding the box to hear the entire poem read from a picture book.

Also this week during our field trip, Taylor made her first ever pay phone call. In the day of cell phones, this event definitely needs recording. Her mom and I were aghast at the cost: 50 cents!! When I was Taylor's age, it cost 10 cents to make a call. I remember that when I wanted to talk to my friends without all my siblings listening in, I would walk to the corner gas station a block from our house and call on one of two pay phones. Today it is hard to find a pay phone when you need it and you better have a pocket full of change because an electronic operator jumps in regularly asking for more money. For Taylor, however, the novel experience was just plain fun, especially since she was talking to her favorite guy: her dad!