Determination Smiles

Last night while climbing into bed Miles looked at me and said, "Dad, will you pull my tooth out?" I checked it and on a scale of 1 being barely loose and 10 being out, he was about a 4. I explained that I didn't think it was ready but he didn't flinch, "Dad, pull it out."

First pull was a stinger, he laughed from the pain but more out of of excitement. When he felt that it was still in, he willingly opened for another tug. I started giggling too because of his reaction to the conflicting emotions: determination, pain, and excitement. Round 2, nada, not even blood. We had some work to do and were both in a full blown laugh-fest.

I'm not sure how many shots we took at it but it did eventually come out. I haven't seen Miles so proud and excited, me too. He faced the pain head on, laughed a little along the way and celebrated his victory. Pretty good recipe for us all to follow. Here's my little man...