After a few weeks of waiting (somewhat) patiently for her loose tooth to fall out, Ava decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. I explained how she could use floss to connect her tooth to a doorknob, extracting the tooth as she slammed the door. She was game.
It took a bit of time to tie the floss around her little tooth, but we finally had it secure.
(I’m still trying to figure out my new external flash, so I apologize for some of the dark photos to come.)
Once we had the floss set, I grabbed my phone to record video and made sure my camera was on the right setting (this is, after all, our first loose tooth, and a pretty big deal in our house). I carefully helped Ava down from her perch on the counter. Then, as we walked to basement door, I heard Ava yelp.
I looked down to see that I had stepped on the long end of floss, yanking the other end and causing the tooth to fly out.
A bit anticlimactic compared to what we’d planned, but the end result was the same.
One down, 19 to go!
Smith Family Weblog 
Posted by Katie on January 17, 2011 at 6:34 pm
Hilarious! Maybe this will become your new tooth extracting tradition.
Posted by Karyl on January 17, 2011 at 6:34 pm
That is hilarious! Way to go, Rebecca – you made it easier, because there was no anticipation or fear of any pain. That must have been one long piece of floss! Congratulations! I sure hope the tooth fairy rewards her appropriately!
Posted by Rebecca on January 17, 2011 at 6:41 pm
She says she wants to take it to show and share on Friday, and she’ll leave it under her pillow on Friday night.
Posted by Rebecca's Mom on January 17, 2011 at 6:46 pm
I would say that tooth is worth a couple of bucks, at least!
Thanks for sharing!
Posted by Laura on January 17, 2011 at 9:54 pm
What a great story! Josh and I are laughing over here : )
Posted by jsmith425 on January 18, 2011 at 7:53 am
That is really funny Rebecca….the best laid plans! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by Jack on January 19, 2011 at 5:49 pm
In Wisconsin there is a Department of Health and Human Services that investigates situations like this. Go for a big settlement, Ava!
Posted by Livie’s lost tooth « Smith Family Weblog on June 3, 2012 at 8:23 pm
[…] Olivia lost her first tooth tonight. At four and a half years, she’s certainly a bit young, but our dentist says it’s within the realm of normal. She’s been quite excited about the whole thing, and tonight she let me pluck it out with a bit of floss after her bath. Thankfully, this went slightly better than my first attempt. […]