Saturday, September 26 Carter lost his first tooth! It had been a little wiggly for only a couple days before it fell out while he was eating an over-ripe banana. He didn’t even realize it was gone until Daddy pointed out that he had a gap. We couldn’t find the tooth at first and were worried that he’d swallowed it. Happily, we found it on the napkin in front of him.

Carter had been very excited when it wiggled. He was excited when it first fell out. But a couple hours later, you would’ve thought that his best friend had died by the way he was sobbing! INCONSOLABLE! He was beside himself with grief over the loss of this tooth. He even suggested that maybe he could get braces on his teeth to keep any more from falling out.

We tried everything to console him. We told him that a new one would grow in its place — but he argued that it would be a big one (and let’s be honest, big teeth do look a little funny in small kids). We also told him that he didn’t have to leave it for the tooth fairy. But he was committed to the process and that was not a viable option. Somehow he had gotten into his mind that the tooth fairy turned the tooth into money. When I suggested that she simply took the tooth with her and left money in it’s place, he patiently pointed out (between heaving sobs) that tooth fairies are only “this big” (fingers about 3 inches apart) and therefore not big enough to carry money with them so clearly they had to turn the tooth into money instead. It seemed so obvious when he explained it that I felt a little silly for not realizing it on my own!

Eventually, he calmed down enough to eat a hamburger at Mooya. Unfortunately, the waterworks started again at bedtime. And of course, to make matters worse, just three days earlier I had gone to a training about how traumatic childhood losses, if not handled properly, could result in a whole score of issues later in life — think addiction, exploitation, and the list goes on. So I couldn’t help but worry just a little that one small, insensitive gesture could send him spiraling into a life of ruin.

He ended up sleeping upstairs in the playroom that night because the poor little tooth under his pillow was just too much for him to bear. This should have made it easier for the tooth fairy, but somehow, when he came in the next morning with his tooth-fairy haul it included four dollars rather than the three that the tooth fairy thought she left. Fortunately, Raine didn’t seem to notice the discrepancy.

As you can see, the tears and drama of the day before were long gone the next morning.

Raine turned 7 this year — only 1 more year until she’s baptized! Naturally, we celebrated with dinner at a local Brewhouse followed by a concert at the wine festival! (There is actually a very logical explanation for it, but I found it mildly amusing that the two locations we chose to celebrate Raine’s last birthday before reaching the age of accountability, both had something to do with alcohol.)

Since Raine’s birthday fell on a Monday, we celebrated on Saturday. Raine had two requests for her birthday: she wanted a pazookie and she wanted to go to a concert. Naturally, we went to BJ’s Restaurant (& Brewhouse) because they have the best pazookies.

When she said that she wanted to go to a concert, I immediately thought of Grapefest — because festivals always have concerts. Sure enough, they had three different stages with various performers throughout the evening. Raine and I listened to some of the performers online and she decided that she wanted to see Chaz Marie perform.

During the concert I asked Raine if she liked it and whether it was what she wanted. She said it was different than she was thinking but she liked it. Later that night, I probed a little deeper into how the concert differed from what she expected. It turned out that when Raine had said “concert,” she was thinking of a symphony concert, like we had gone to a few months ago. Whoops! That makes a lot more sense!

Carter wasn’t as impressed with the concert so he headed over to Legoland.

After the concert, we visited the petting coral…

…and the carnival.

On Monday, we celebrated with the usual birthday regimen.

Raine wanted pizza for dinner.

Then she opened presents with both sets of grandparents on the phone while she opened their respective gifts.

After presents, we ate cake.

Raine’s gifts were perfect for her: a rock and geology kit, a paper weaving kit, and a robot building kit. Raine has been trying to build a robot — using trash from the recycling bin — for months! Now, finally, she is able to build a REAL robot. Here is the remote-controlled robotic duck that she built first.

Raine is an energetic little smarty pants who loves school and books. She believes that she can do everything and isn’t afraid to try anything. She loves art and music, she doesn’t like PE (because she is the slow one), and she enjoys riding her bike and playing soccer. Raine always wears skirts and dresses, she looks out for Carter, and she is always ready with a prediction or hypothesis to try out. It’s not easy keeping up with Raine, but it is so much fun to watch her learn and pursue her goals. Just the other day, she told me that she wanted to be a lawyer (I was ecstatic) “because lawyers help people.” Raine is always thinking of ways to help the less-fortunate (building houses for the homeless, creating jobs for the poor, etc.), I can’t wait for her to grow up and make those ideas a reality. She will certainly change the world someday.

Daddy completed his first full triathlon on Labor Day and it was BRUTAL! We had record high temps over 100* and oppressive humidity. Daddy wasn’t the only one who struggled to make it to the finish line — Carter was a sweaty little ball of tears by the end of the race!

Swim

300m in 5:08

Bike

15-miles in 50:51 (17.7mph)

Cheering squad (prior to hiking out in the blistering sun along the running route to the finish line)

Run

5K in 30:38 (9:53/M)

Total time = 1:30:35

Even though he hit a wall near the end of the bike ride, Daddy finished 106th overall (out of 312 racers) and 6th in his age group (out of 20). His swim time put him 32nd overall. The full stats.

But most important, he looked a lot better doing it this time compared to last time when he went riding by on a mountain bike in a baggy t-shirt and basketball shorts!