Well, There Goes The Neighborhood

While Mike was out dropping Sebastian off at a friend’s house tonight, Sophia was hanging out in the living room near the front window.  I was busy looking through the mail when I heard Sophia say, “Mom, I think I just saw a bear walk behind the neighbor’s car”.  I was quite skeptical since I haven’t seen a bear in this neighborhood in more than 10 years.  Plus, Sophia isn’t always the best eye-witness.  I brushed it off and said that it was probably just a black lab or some other dog.  She was insistent that I come and take a look.  I didn’t see anything at first, then saw a big, fat black bear lumbering towards our neighbor’s open garage.  After the initial surprise wore off, I realized that  I should probably call our neighbor to alert them of the huge bear now hanging out in their garage.  By the time I grabbed the phone and tracked down their number, the bear had made its way out.  I saw the garage door close immediately following the bear’s departure so was confident that they had seen their unwelcome guest.  The bear was now sauntering down the sidewalk, Daphne was barking, Sophia was near tears and I was trying to get my camera bag from the closet.  I did pause to reassure Sophia that it was okay and that the bear was probably just out for a walk.  I was losing my opportunity to have proof to show Mike that we really did have a bear walk in front of our house.  I had to switch lenses from my 50mm to my zoom lens, but forgot to change my camera settings during the chaos.  The photos aren’t my best work, but Sophia and I had proof of our new neighbor.  Here are the pictures I took before the bear made its way to the other side of the house next door to ours.

New Neighbor
Out For A Walk
You Lookin' At Me?
Look Who's At The Door

The Tooth Fairy Is In The House

We had a visit from our friendly tooth fairy last night.  Sophia finally lost her other top front tooth.  It had been wiggly for months so I think we were all relieved that it finally came out – with a little help from Mom.  Our nighttime routine in recent weeks was to test and see if it was ready to come out.  Sophia made the decision to let me pull it last night.  She said it didn’t hurt, but it did bleed a little bit.  We put it in a small Ziploc bag, labeled it and stuck it under her pillow.  This morning the bag was missing and she was two dollars richer.

Jack-O-Lantern
Gaping Hole

The dentist informed us in Sophia’s appointment last week that there will be a number of lost teeth during the next few months.  In fact, both Sebastian and Sophia have quite a few loose teeth.  I think the tooth fairy may be filing for Chapter 11 by Christmas.  Perhaps we will have to join her in bankruptcy, as the dentist also noted that she foresees braces in both of their futures.  The only good news is that neither of the kids had cavities – ever!  Brushing and flossing works!!