A Few Firsts (for better or worse) for Sammy

Recently, Sammy's had a few "milestone firsts," if you will, that I thought I would share. You'll see below that not all of them have been particularly exciting or pleasant for him, but they are firsts, nonetheless.

A little over a year ago, Sammy banged one of his top front teeth while playing and it suffered some nerve damage.  It even darkened for a little while, but we didn't think much of it since it didn't cause him any pain and the tooth eventually returned to its normal color.

Well, two weeks ago, he developed a dark bubble on the gum above the tooth, so we went to his pediatric dentist to make sure everything was OK.  This is where the firsts starts.

1.  Sammy's first infection...poor guy.  Luckily, it did not cause him any pain or keep him from eating, sleeping, etc. 

2.  The infection led to Sammy's first antibiotic!  We feel so lucky that Sammy has had nary a cold in his four years of life, so when the dentist asked if he's allergic to Amoxicillin, I thought, "We don't know!"  Luckily, he's not!

3.  I told Sammy that he would be taking medicine three times a day for a week, but not to worry since it tastes like bubblegum.  His reply was, "What does bubblegum taste like?"  Another first, you poor, deprived child!

4.  I wish our story ended there, but then Sammy had to visit a pediatric oral surgeon who confirmed our dentist's suspicions that Sammy's tooth needed to be "wiggled out," which is code for extraction!  So bright and early yesterday morning, they gave our little guy some laughing gas and removed one of his cute baby teeth...

Here's Sammy with the blood pressure cuff on...watching a classic (of his choosing): The Three Little Pigs

...and now he looks like this!

5.  The one silver lining (you're thinking, "Oh, thank goodness there's a silver lining!" aren't you?) is that the Tooth Fairy visited our home for the very first time last night...and Sammy received:
A 100 yen coin from Japan* (clearly the Tooth Fairy had just picked up a tooth in East Asia before hitting our home) and Mater the tow truck, in exchange for his tooth. It was an exciting morning!

Is that fairy dust on that 100 yen??

Mater was a pat on the back from the Tooth Fairy for all Sammy went through to get that tooth out!

So I guess all firsts are important, even if they're not pleasant.  One day he'll lose a tooth the traditional way, but until then, his missing tooth, height and weight all confirm what most kids (and other parents) think when they meet Sammy:  He's 6 years old!!  ;-)

*The "international" tooth fairy always visited the home of our friends Amy and Marv in Baltimore, and their kids amassed quite a collection of money from all over the world. We're so glad that the same tooth fairy made Cincinnati, Ohio, a stop on her route last night!