All I Want for Christmas is His Two Front Teeth

It all started out innocently enough. Levi's two front teeth have been loose since early summer. We knew eventually the time would come for them to actually come out, but because he's our oldest, we didn't realize the agony that would come along with it. In the last week, the left front tooth had become EXTREMELY loose, but IMPOSSIBLE to pull. We did dental floss, thread, string, mini pliers, toilet paper. We would dry the tooth before all these methods too thinking that it would help give us extra leverage and a better grip. John would take a turn, I would take a turn. The boy that once thought that it was pretty cool to have a loose tooth and started out looking all happy like the below picture (which I took, by the way as a "before" shot thinking the "after" would be minutes after the "before". Oh, how I was wrong. The "after" shots below are now DAYS later) started bawling at the mere mention of us trying to get it out. One minute he would beg that we let the tooth "rest" and come up with excuses that he "just wanted to talk to Mommy for a minute and then we could try" or "On 'Charlie and Lola', Lola ate an apple and her tooth fell out. I think I'll try that." And the next minute, he was screaming "JUST PULL IT OUT!!! PULL HARDER! OWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!! You're not supposed to PULL IT I didn't say to PULL IT!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH"

John and I have been anguishing about this tooth not only because we started wanting it out even more than Levi did, but because we also didn't. I mean, the bottom two were one thing, but the top ones? We all know what happens when those babies come out. You no longer have a baby. You have a KID who grows ugly, gangly teeth that sometimes come in really bad. And in Levi's case, with his parent's history his chances of them growing in badly are good. And even if they come in great, they don't look like a little child anymore. Before we know it, he'll be wearing braces and popping pimples in the mirror. I don't think I can take it. Each time we tried to pull that tooth, we'd look at each other and wince because we secretly wanted it to stay in there forever. Why do kids have to grow up so fast?

Levi smiling happily thinking his tooth is about to come out several days ago. This was our first try.

The culprit tooth that is hanging by a thread and yet not and hanging like a foot lower than the other one.
An honest effort we gave yesterday with mini pliers. John was very determined, but this wasn't the time that actually worked.
What happened to Levi when it didn't work. Notice the tooth hanging below his lip.
FINALLY! TONIGHT.... SUCCESS!!!
Apparently, when your child's tooth falls out, they also enter into the "I don't know how to smile like a normal person" phase that Jessica talks about.