Look Mommy, no teeth!

Giulia lost her two top front teeth one right after the other this past week. The first was while she was eating an apple after dinner and turned out to be a bit of a bloody mess. Paloma, in a mixture of fear and sympathy, started to cry too. With Giulia on my lap and Paloma by my side, I worked on stopping the bleeding and calming them both down. They had just been about to watch a short film after dinner so Paloma worked on setting up a comfort zone for Giulia - fluffing up pillows for her head and legs and getting a blanket. Sisterly love was exploding all over the place. Afterwards, Giulia kept thanking Paloma, and the two were at peace the rest of the night.

The tooth fairy (or topolino here in Italy - a tooth mouse) came during the night, but left the tooth behind. Along with her tooth, Giulia had written a note: "Dear Tooth Fairy, Can you please leave my tooth because I would like to keep it as a memory. Love, Giulia MB". The tooth fairy obliged and also left a €2 coin. First thing the next morning Giulia came to our bed and showed us her tooth and her coin. While I was at the computer checking some e-mails she handed me the coin. I asked, "What is this for?" She said, "It's for you, for being so nice to me last night and taking care of me." I wanted to cry. I told her, "You don't have to give me money, just give me lots of hugs and kisses." And she did.