From The Thinnest Thread We Are Sewn Together

January started with Emma's first pair of glasses, and ended with her first tooth being pulled from her tiny jaw.

She had been working on the loose tooth for over a week or so. She stepped out of her shower last night and told her mother with a tongue covering most of her words, "Der is a holed dehind my toof!"

Abbie examined the nugget of enamel and could see that the time was near for its excavation.

I was working in my office and was beckoned to come upstairs. Upon my ascending, Emma informed me of the importance of my presence, "My toof is looth." she mumbled through her snaking tongue.

"Do you want me to pull it?" I offered jokingly. She nodded emphatically.

"I tried, but I couldn't quite grip it," my wife explained as she handed me a tissue.

Emma's bird-like head titled 90 degrees back from her body, her mouth wide-open, her eyes fixed on me, and her tongue still fumbling around with the pebble-sized tooth. I pinched the dangling tic-tac and slightly pulled. Her eyes sprung open in fear as she began to perch her feet up on her toes. I was beginning to stop, when Emma's eyes lightened with a strange curiosity, and her body lowered softly upon her two flat feet.

Abbie was turning blue from her lack of oxygen. A huge exhaust of breath belched from her when Emma turned her bloody mouth towards her skittish mother. The deed had been done. Not a single tear or scream. Not even the expected panic from the sight of the spit-diluted blood dripping down her chin.

My little girl is growing up.