Incredulous injury

I still can't believe it. I am just beside myself. It has been 24 hours and it hasn't sunk in yet. Last night Stuart chipped his front tooth. It startles me when he smiles. I am in mourning over the loss of his little baby tooth. I still hold on to the hope that it will come back.

The scene of the crime: the hall.

The suspect: the laundry basket? Really? A plastic basket? Yep. That's what the evidence suggests.

Jared and I were talking 4 feet away when we heard a bonk like we often hear. Anyone who has seen Stu walk lately knows that he is wobbly. He walks like Frankenstein, with his arms up and out to stay balanced. He plops on his butt a lot and looks at us for permission to be OK. We usually look and say "you're OK" and we all move on. Not last night.

I looked over and he was on his butt, sitting up, facing the white basket, but it was on its side.

Then he wails in pain and we rush in for the rescue. I immediately notice his top lip is bleeding. See where it is swollen? Right there I found a little white piece in his open lip wound! I rushed to the sink with Jared right behind and I flicked the white thing in the sink to clean and dress the wound. It was only after I flicked what I thought was a cashew piece did I notice his tooth through the blood! Oh no! Did I just lose his tooth down the drain!?!?! Panic. Screaming. HIS TOOTH, JARED!!! It was not pretty.

After we stopped the bleeding, calmed the Stu, pressed it with ice, and grabbed every little white speck in the sink, I realized we lost his little tooth piece. Now, I am not a complete idiot. The ONLY reason I thought it was a cashew is because Jared had been snacking and sharing them with Stuart just minutes earlier. Stuart holds on to edible treasures for what feels like hours. Thus, my assumption it should be flicked down the kitchen disposal. I don't know why I wanted to keep the little chip so much, anyway. I needed it to go back where it was, dangit!!
His smile was so endearing to begin with. His little gap (due to a large muscule attaching his gum and top lip) made for a memorable smile, combined with nearly no other teeth. Jared says this will just give him more endearing character. I am trying to hold on to that, and not focus on the possible negative consequences of his tooth looking like that until he's seven. Endearing. More character.

Either way, we are going to the dentist this week.

In addition, the poor kid is cutting THREE molars this weekend. He is such a survivor!