Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Over the weekend, I bought some new socks for Mr W.  I was looking at them as I went down the hall when it suddenly dawned on me that Nolan could wear these socks now too.  OY!

  He's been wearing a man's size shoe since school started, you'd think I'd have noticed this little detail before.  I let him try them on, and of course, they fit.  They fit better than the socks he's been wearing, too.  Back to the store I went, to get some more, and this time, instead of little 'x' marks denoting which are Nolan's, which are Ben's; I have little 'x' marks to let me know which ones are Mr W's and which are Nolan's.  Gotta love the laundry marker, it saves my sanity when it's time to distribute identical things.   His foot grew, too, so I get to take the tween to do his favorite (ha) task, and shop for new shoes afterschool. 

On the way to Nana's yesterday, Ryan excitedly informed me he had a loose tooth.  I was excited for him too, because this is his first one.  I wiggled it (eewww) and sure enough, it's loose. 

I'm just getting used to the idea when he comes running up to me this morning.  "Mommy!!  Guess what!!  When I was brushing my teeth, my tooth fell out!!!"  He held out his hand, and sure enough, there in his palm sat a perfect little tooth.  He has a cute little gap in his bottom teeth now, a 'strawholder', as my friend Jane likes to say.

"I wonder what the tooth fairy brings 6 yr old boys?"  Ryan pondered.

"About a buck, I hear," I said to him. 

As we walked down the hallway, I thought to myself that things better slow down for me to catch up.  I have Nolan hurtling toward his father's shoe size, Ben shooting up overnight, Ryan beginning to lose teeth (my little guy!), and Audrey turning 3 this month.  Throw in my girlie hormones, and I'm tearing up like a Hallmark commercial. 

I wonder what the tooth fairy brings 36-yr-old Mommies?  True, I'm not losing any teeth, but I am losing something else that's important.

I'm losing the 'littles'.   And while it is as exciting as losing your first tooth, I'm still reaching for them in my mind, just like your tongue searches the space where your tooth used to be. 

And yet, you know that there's something new coming up in that space, and you just can't wait.