Awwww...Isn't This Sweet?

Such a sweet scene: a small boy joyously swinging under a tall tree at a Fourth of July party. So innocent. So carefree. But while I took this picture, I had no indication of the trauma that was to come.


Apparently this deceptively mild-mannered tree swing had been harboring some resentment towards small children. Mid-way into the party it attacked a toddler, P., callously bonking him in the nose. As we adults watched from the porch, it appeared that small P. was okay and mostly crying for attention. "He's okay, "we reassured his mother. "That doesn't sound like serious crying." Moments later, we spotted the blood pouring from his nose and his mother rushed to his aid. Poor guy!

Later in the evening the swing struck again, this time felling both Colson and Brogan simultaneously. They were on either side of the swing, Colson standing and Brogan bending over to pick up a ball that Colson had rolled to him. The swing struck Colson in the cheek, and then bounced off him and hit Brogan squarely in the mouth as he stood up. Colson escaped serious injury, but Brogan's mouth was bloody as he ran toward the adults on the porch.

You may remember the infamous sledding accident of Christmas 2005. Here is a picture of Brogan's face after the accident:



The accident loosened two of Brogan's top teeth and three of his bottom teeth. He has since lost the three bottom teeth, but the top two have hung in there; wiggly, but clinging to their positions, reluctant to leave. The blow from the swing loosened them even more, and as we put ice on his now puffy lip and cleaned up the blood, we could see the teeth hanging at crazily cockeyed angles. It would not be long before the Tooth Daddy would be paying us a visit.

Sure enough, the next morning we noticed a hole between Brogan's teeth. Somewhere one of the teeth had fallen out. True to form, Brogan didn't notice the missing tooth, and we had no idea where it could have been. Of the four teeth he's lost, I have none of them. None. He's managed to lose them all without noticing.



The other front tooth hung at crazy angles and gave Brogan a sort of snaggletoothed look, similar to that of nanny McPhee, but without the warts, unibrow, and bulbous nose, of course.


By the end of the day that other top tooth was hanging on by a thread. As we brushed his teeth that night I knew it would not be long until it too came out. I thought of the sweet little box I'd been saving in which to collect Brogan's baby teeth. It sat empty in my dresser drawer. I envisioned Brogan losing the rest of his teeth as he grew, and that box remaining empty.

Impulsively, I stopped brushing, reached up, and plucked out his tooth. I showed it to Brogan in victory, "Look! there's your tooth! There it is!!" He was not terribly impressed, but was excited about finally having something to place under his pillow for the Tooth Daddy.

Here he is, with his cute toothless look. He looks adorable as he tries to learn how to articluate certain sounds without those two front teeth. He looks older. When those adult teeth come in it will change his look forever.