Before...
...and after!
This would be her first "official" tooth lost! The original first tooth was almost 3 years ago exactly, and we never got a visit from the Tooth Fairy because Keira swallowed it.
I showed her a video a few week's back of a friend's son doing the whole "string around the tooth and a doorway" to pull out his tooth, and she wasn't amused then. But for some strange reason the stars aligned, and she asked Mike if she could try it herself. And if you know Mike and his fascination with conducting medical procedures on oneself, he was all over this one. Thankfully, he didn't rush Keira into her decision and said whenever she was ready, he would be too.
His first attempt using dental floss didn't work, and Keira needed a break. The next attempt involved fishing line and again, she dictated everything. "Go! No, stop! Okay, now go!" Mike went for it and the tooth was out! He never mentioned the b-l-o-o-d because no good would've come from that, and she went about her merry way. She called me at work to tell me and you could hear the joy in her voice.
We celebrated with dinner at Red Robin (her choice), where she wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy thanking her for picking up her tooth. It's never too early to teach a kid some manners.
I told her the Tooth Fairy was like Santa (they're good friends I'm sure) and if she didn't go to bed, the Tooth Fairy would never come. She placed her note, with the tooth in a baggie taped to the card, under her pillow and within minutes, she was out. I even camped out on the bottom bunk to see if I could catch a glimpse of the Fairy myself! But she must've waited until I fell asleep too before she came, because I never saw her.
I woke her up this morning, so we could both see if the Tooth Fairy left her anything. Bedhead and all, Keira lifted up her pillow and found herself a 5 dollar bill! (She thought it was a dollar, but I had her double check the number on the bill.) I told her she can either spend it or save it for something bigger, so we'll see what she decides. We're trying to teach her to save rather than instantly gratify, but at this age it's not a concept she grasps just yet.