Catherine's Tooth

In January, Catherine came home grumbling about how "everyone" had lost a tooth in her class except for her and "it was not fair". She immediately began planning all sorts of ways to make her tooth loose.

About a month ago, she came to me so excited because she finally had a loose tooth. "Feel it" she told me that day. So, I put my finger on her bottom tooth and tried to wiggle it but it didn't budge. I decided that Catherine wanted a loose tooth so badly that she was imagining it was loose.

As the weeks went on, the tooth apparently was getting looser. "I can wiggle it with my tongue! Feel it!" she said. I felt it. Nothing moved. She even tried to show me how she could wiggle it, and it did not move. How was I going to break it to my daughter that her tooth was not loose?

Two weeks ago, March 27, she was talking excitedly about her loose tooth. I asked her if I could feel it again- it did not move! So, I delivered the bad news. "Catherine, I am sorry but your tooth is not loose. I have never gotten it to move. It just isn't that loose yet." Catherine replies "But mommy, I can wiggle it with my tongue!" Wow. I knew this child had an imagination, but seriously, this was getting a little old. But I let it go.

The next day, the kids and I went to the local grocery store. The kind of store that still gives out suckers to the kids- yes, it is a sweet little place. :) We got home and I was putting groceries away when all of a sudden, she came rushing to me "Mommy, I lost my tooth!" Shocked, I said "What do you mean you lost your tooth?" Catherine "Well, I was just biting the last pieces of sucker off my stick and my tooth came out. See!!"

When I looked into her little mouth, there indeed was a hole where a tooth had once been. That hole looked gigantic. I wasn't ready for this. In those few seconds, my mind was spinning. Did she chip her tooth out? It couldn't have just come out. Her tooth wasn't even loose!!!

"Catherine, honey, where is your tooth?" She spits sucker pieces out of her mouth, looks at them, and concludes "I must have swallowed it. It is in my belly!" Lincoln quickly says "Walden swallowed his tooth,and the tooth fairy still came!"

Catherine runs out and mentions something about writing a note to the tooth fairy. She didn't care that she had swallowed it. She had FINALLY lost a tooth.

Me, on the other hand, was left standing there dumbfounded. Her tooth must have been loose, but how in the world did I miss it?? I was all over Lincoln's first tooth, didn't miss a thing with it.

I finally concluded that because Catherine's teeth are so small, I was never wiggling the loose tooth by itself. Then I felt badly because I didn't believe her.

Thankfully for Catherine, the tooth fairy did come, and since then Catherine has written her 3 additional notes hoping to trick her into another dollar. :)

Catherine on Heaven and Jesus

Tonight at bedtime, Catherine told Brad that she didn't want to go to heaven. When Brad asked her why, she said it was because she was scared of heights. After a pause, she asked Brad if stairs would be there. :)

During the same conversation, she said "I love Jesus because he died on the cross for us." 10 seconds later "Daddy, what's the cross?" After Brad explained Jesus' death on the cross, she asked if Jesus cried.

Lincoln's lesson on Catherine

This past Thursday night we hosted the teens from church for their $3 Thursday. Our kids were so excited and were counting down the minutes til their arrival. As the church van pulled in the driveway, all 3 kids were jumping up and down at the front door. The teens filed in, we greeted them, and began to eat (they don't waste time). Once everyone was served I noticed that Catherine was not downstairs. Apparently, she had high-tailed it up the stairs when she saw how many teens got out of the van (more guys than girls). She told Brad and Lincoln that she wasn't coming down and she wasn't hungry. She just wanted to "play".

As the teens did their devo, Lincoln complained 5 or 6 times about Catherine being upstairs. It was absolutely driving him crazy that he and Coleman were down with everyone and that she was too shy. He said "I keep telling her to come downstairs and she won't listen to me!"

Me telling him to "not worry about it" and "it's okay if she's upstairs" didn't work. So finally I said "Lincoln, God makes us all different. He made Catherine shy around new groups of people and we are going to respect that. God didn't make you that way, and he didn't make me that way, but he did Catherine. Now, be respectful of your sister." He still wasn't hapy but he left Catherine alone.

Eventually, she came down the stairs and peeked at our company. She told me she didn't want them to "look at her".

As the teens were leaving, I did carry her squirming body down to say good-bye. She didn't want to go, but I told her she had to say good-bye.

less than 24 hours later- A Not so shy Catherine
I took an excited Lincoln and Catherine to a birthday party at our good friends house. A few minutes after I got home, I get a phone call from another mom who said ".... I heard Catherine talk more in that 5 minutes than I have ever heard her talk in her lifetime." :)

A Catherine funny

Last night at the grocery store:
Catherine is in the very front of the cart. On each leg she is cradling/holding a half-gallon jug of milk. Not knowing I was listening, she looks down at them and says ever-so-sweetly: "And what would you two like for Christmas??"

Also last night (and for a first time), Coleman came down to our in the middle of the night. The first words out of his mouth were "Mommy, I've missed you. I've missed you very much!" What a sweet way to be awakened!! Truthfully, I was afraid it was going to be followed by a whiny "I want to sleep in your bed...." like a big brother and sister might do, but I took him potty and he went back to his bed happily. It was so sweet! Coleman's heard me repeat the story several times today- I can already see it happening again during the middle of the night tonight and tomorrow night.... and the next night... and then he'll be at grandmommy's so he can repeat it to her.... :)