jubilation interruption

I knew it was going to happen
I knew it was coming soon
But still....the reaction went like this.

Me:  "Ansel what is that in your mouth?"
Ansel. "Nothing"
Me:  "Let me see.  Open your mouth."
Ansel complies
Me:  "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! Your tooth is coming in. NO! NO! NO! NO!  Push it back into your gums right now!!"

It was only a tiny eruption at this time last week.  Today, it is half of an adult tooth.  I can see it growing.   Something happens when kids get their adult canine incisors.  It changes them.  I believe it to be the point when they transition from being little kids, to being big kids.  But for Ansel, this addition is an even greater loss for us.  As many of you know, when Ansel was about 13 months old, he fell from a chair and knocked his newly grown #8d and #9d teeth on the way down (you can tell you've been to the dentist/orthodontist often when you start naming your teeth by number).  Anyway, he only chipped one of the teeth, but internal damage was done because before long, one of them,  turned devilishly murky and was removed.

This picture was taken after the removal of the first tooth and before the removal of the second tooth.

His second tooth was dying a slower death and didn't perish until a few months later.  

At two years old, Ansel had no front teeth.  And he remained without front teeth for the next 5 years.   

This is how we knew Ansel and we often mused that we couldn't imagine him with those teeth.  

At 5 yrs old, he began losing his teeth naturally.  He literally lost his first tooth in this pool in McCall, Idaho while Scuba diving.  It was either swallowed or swimming with the fishes.   His second tooth was lost a few weeks later while eating wheat thins in Utah.  We are fairly sure that he ate this tooth, as it too, was never recovered.  At this point, he had a nice square hole in his mouth and I couldn't find any photos to document this window of time when he had this window in his mouth, void of all central incisors.

At six years old, he began to lose his lateral incisors.  Fortunately, his bottom central incisors had introduced themselves by this time,  alleviating the cavernous condition of his mouth.  

This was #23d which spent its last moments, clinging to life, playing soccer.

Can we blame this mealtime slaughter on his missing oral chopper utensils?  Probably not

Ansel at seven, looking a bit like a jack-a-lantern

Oh, how I will be missing something that isn't missing anymore.  How I will miss this smile.   Rest in Peace, little boy Ansel.  Welcome to the world, big boy Ansel.