Day 165: Duuuun Dun, Duuun dun, DuunDun

We have been pleasantly surprised time and time again by seemingly the most mundane occurrences. The shear act of Atom bringing his hands together to grab a toy in front of his face elicits a rapture of riotous approval. Amazement washes over us every time he recognizes one of us and purposely rolls over (like a drunken Otter) towards us. Even watching Atom wake up in the morning is a stupendous sight to be seen. But the thing that happened this week is more monumental than all the rest. He had a First. His First Tooth is tunneling towards the surface!

I can admit now, looking back, that the idea of First is new to me. Even armed with an English degree and an extreme comfort level digesting dialog I now know I never understood this simple concept. And when I say "concept" I mean just that. Of course I understood the base level meaning of First (being before all others with respect to time, order, rank, importance, etc.) but I guess all those Gertrude Stein classes never really stuck because I realize I have taken the meaning for granted.

First is so much more than just coming before others in something, it is also and more importantly the BEGINNING of something. I must have known this at some point but years of sports/society teaching me that being First always came at the expense/lack of achievement of others buried it deep down in the dark regions of my memory (probably under my 6 years of Spanish and the location of that cool Scally Cap I briefly owned).

In this case Atom is not the First person to have a tooth. He is not the first baby to have a tooth either. He's not even the smallest being in our household with a tooth (it is a toss up between Peanut and possibly whatever bit Sharon when she was sleeping two days ago). But Atom's tooth represents the BEGINNING of something special that is happening.

The BEGINNING of eating solid food. The BEGINNING of self defense. The BEGINNING of proper diction. The BEGINNING of a classic smile. The BEGINNING of crème de la crème whistling. The BEGINNING of tooth aches and potential orthodontia. The BEGINNING of his.... independence. (Sigh)