He is bounding down the stairs
“Mama!  I’m here!!!!!”
We are laughing;  we are most always laughing when he makes his presence known…from the very first moment I felt him kick me in the ribs as a babe in my womb. Somersaults, cartwheels, even as a tiny bean in the safety of my growing belly.   “I’m here,” he declared, even then.

Yes, child, I feel you.

Pari Lyooce, Mama!  Good morning!  What are we having for breakfast??
That smile. Those expressive, big, brown eyes. Those eye lashes. He tilts his head and waits. For a second.

“Mama?”

“Yes, yes, deghas, my son, we are getting some yoghurt and berries and…” I am juggling cartons and plastic containers and plates and he has a curious look on his face…
“Mama?”
“Ayo? Yes?”
“Mama, there is something in my mouth…what is this, Mama?”
“Oh?  In your mouth?”
Breakfast preparations halt.
I peer into his  little mouth, all at once fearing the dire consequences of all the yes’s to candy I have uttered this week as opposed to most weeks…oh, why did I give in?
“Where, deghas?   Show me exactly where,” I ask him as calmly as I can.
“Wight hew…” he tries to mutter with his tongue pointing to the back of his bottom front teeth.

Right there.  I see it.
Oh, I see it all right.
I breathe.

“What Mama?  What is it?”  He gazes at me with those eyes again.
“Oh Buddy, what you are feeling is a brand new tooth poking its way up…” I cup his face in my hands.
“Really?!”  He has been waiting for the day when he’d have a loose tooth like his friends.
He is excited and worried at the same time.
“Your tooth is kind of loose, you see? And that new tooth is waiting to push itself up…”
My Little Ladies gather around Little Man to view the evidence. They have already been through this rite of passage a number of times. They are proud of him.

I am watching them chatter breathlessly.

And just like that, it’s happened.
A g a i n.

This Little Man. He’s not so sure about what to make of new teeth pushing through.
He grabs his soccer ball and challenges himself to a game of World Cup Soccer in the kitchen. Swiftly maneuvering his way between breakfast dishes and sisters and chairs. Cheering for himself, “Goal!!!!”

And just like that…
A series of firsts are flashing in my mind’s eye:  first cry, first word, first steps…  first tooth… chubby cheeks, fingers in mouth, drooling babe and soft, red, gummy smile with first white speck of bone poking through…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Armenian family, first tooth