Still smiling

My poor little Erin.

Her first beautiful pearl-white teeth popped through her gums about 10 months ago, but I didn't get much time to enjoy them.

After surviving the many bumps and bruises that accompany life with a toddler, I have begun to accept the fact that learning to walk and climb is bound to result in some trauma to the growing child. But when Erin broke both her two front teeth, in two separate incidents, I was horrified.

A few weeks ago, she and Beth were playing together in the kitchen, and they smashed directly into each other while running-fast-without-looking-where-they-were-going. Little Erin took the brunt of the football-style tackle, and when she crashed to the floor with screams we immediately checked inside her little mouth to locate the cause of the bleeding. And there it was. Her beautiful, still-fairly-new front tooth was noticeably broken.

We had been through this once before, when Beth broke a tooth a couple of years ago, so I knew that not much could be done unless it was jagged or turned black. I anxiously monitored the tooth over the next few days, but it seemed to be okay. When she smiled, I could instantly see the damage, but Dan assured me that I was the only one that would even notice the chipped tooth. Still, I was quite upset about her trauma.

About a week after that incident, we took a walk around the block. Erin was so proud to be toddling around with us, instead of sitting quietly in the stroller. She waved to everyone we passed, and babbled incoherently throughout the trip. Suddenly her little foot caught on a rock, and down she went, face-first onto the street. As I picked dirt and rocks out of her mouth, I instinctively knew the inevitable. We returned home so that I could clean her mouth and give her some much-needed cuddles. And once the debris was removed from her mouth, I stared in disbelief at what was once her "good" front tooth...broken in half.

I realize that this is quite common with little ones. I myself chipped a baby tooth when I was a toddler, and many of my friends have had similar incidents with their babies. But each time Erin flashes one of her beautiful smiles, I am reminded of how very difficult it is for toddlers to develop the physical skills that they work so hard to accomplish. And yet, broken teeth and all, she continues to climb the furniture. She continues to race around the kitchen with her sisters, while I run behind them frantically calling "Watch out for the baby! Don't crash into the baby!" That ability to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, cry a few tears, but then keep right on doing what you were doing is so amazing, isn't it?

Thank goodness these teeth only need to last another 5 years or so. And hopefully, by the time her sparkling new teeth come in, she'll be a bit more steady on her feet.

And you know what? Her smile is still absolutely beautiful.