Growing Up *Sniff*

Earlier this week, Amberly and I had an impromptu photo shoot so that I could test some settings on my camera. She'd been playing dress-up earlier and had changed into a sun dress that I usually require her to wear over a T-shirt. It was definitely not sun dress weather either. Her hair had some serious fly-aways and should have been combed but it wasn't intended to be a real photo session.

But I am so glad that I took these shots this week. Do you see those pearly-white little baby teeth in her  smile? So cute. She's still a little girl in first grade. By Wednesday night Amberly had a loose tooth. All day yesterday she wiggled it with her fingers and her tongue. She even drew a picture of her mouth (it was kind of gross). By bed time it was just barely hanging on. Utah Dad could have yanked it out so easily but she wouldn't let him near her mouth. "I like to wiggle it," she told us. I snapped a few pictures of the loose tooth this morning before she headed off to school to wiggle it some more.

Like most moms I experience a mixture of pleasure and sorrow as my children reach new growth  milestones. Amberly is so excited and a little of that can't help but rub off. I certainly do not want to make her feel bad about growing up. At the same time, I'm a bit sad to see her cute little baby teeth go. And I'm seriously dreading the future orthodontist bills. Utah Dad and I both required extensive orthodontist work to get our straight smiles, so I know what to expect.

In the meantime, we'll celebrate each new milestone with our beautiful daughter and look forward to another visit from the tooth fairy.