Tough Yet Sensitive

Our family went to the park last Saturday evening. The boys played on the playground, ran on the tennis courts, and ventured toward the trees. Then we did it. We walked through the woods to the other side of the park to play on the other playground, the old playground (which is more fun than the new playground).

The path through the woods is wide and well worn as well as full of mosquitoes. Okay. Maybe not full but I was bit twice. Twice in a short little walk. And as we walked I noticed a little bump on Josiah's eyelid. "Josiah, I think a mosquito bit your eyelid! Did you feel that?" No. He was oblivious and even after I pointed it out, he could hardly tell it was there. I was amazed that he didn't feel the bump on his eyelid that looked sort of like a blister but not as transparent. One other thought that occurred to me was that I couldn't see a bite mark in the middle of the bump. Then we were distracted by cool things like lots of playing, walking, and watching a father and son practice batting before going home and getting the boys in bed.

Little did I know that things would be different in the morning....

One glance and "WHOA! Um. Josiah, your eye is swollen." *flashback to the little eyelid bump* When I asked about it, he said it didn't hurt and it itched just a little bit. I gave him some children's allergy medicine hoping that would relieve the swelling. Josiah was embarrassed at the thought of going to church like that and started searching for his pirate eye patch. Soon I noticed scraps of paper laying around. Hm. It wasn't long until I head an outcry from Josiah; Nathan had grabbed and crumpled the eye patch Josiah had been making for himself. It was then that I realized just how self-conscious Josiah was feeling. His self awareness is developing and shutting out the carefree obliviousness.

So he and I started afresh and made an eye patch together. I cut it out and found a strap. He came up with a clever way to attach the strap and decorated the front. Then we attached a cotton ball on the inside for comfort. Perfect.

Only it wasn't over. Josiah's eyelid was still red and swollen and almost swollen shut for awhile. We decided to wait it out and just make sure that whatever it was wasn't spreading. (Why do these things always seem to happen when the doctor's office is closed?) Finally, on Monday we could see improvement but Josiah still cocked his head to the side in order to look at you since his eye wouldn't open all the way.

With his top front tooth missing, a bottom front tooth missing, AND his eye swollen, he looked like he had been in a serious fight. Belinda said that he should have a shirt saying "YOU SHOULD SEE THE OTHER GUY."

At least with the noticeable improvement, the worrying and wondering came to an end. And eventually the swelling did too.

I'm not sure if we'll get Josiah back into the woods anytime soon...

I'm Tri-Topical

I have an issue with google maps. I entered my address and my destination and *tah dah!* got directions. So far, so good. I left early so that I would have plenty of time to arrive at my appointment but something went wrong. The directions were faulty! It said to turn right on Old French Road but there was only a left! My sense of direction was telling me that the home to which I was going could NOT be left and then I thought, "If one part of the directions is wrong, how do I know how much more of it is wrong?" I did the only logical thing: I drove around hoping to see the other roads I needed.... and I called Holly and complained to her until she hung up on me. But really the hang up was accidental and she was getting me directions from, hopefully, someplace other than google maps if only I could find her an address as the starting point. Thankfully my keen sense of direction and a miracle brought me to within a mile of my destination. Holly gave me the Cherry Street directions which google map logically should have given me in the first place since Cherry is closer than Glenwood Park. duh. I arrived at my appointment 10 minutes late. I hate late. I jotted down my new directions and as I drove home. That's right. I drove and wrote because texting is dangerous.

Later... I drove home the other direction just to see how google maps was trying to send me. There was an Old French Road on the right side only it didn't attach. You can't turn right onto Old French from Glenwood! You first have to turn on Old Perry Hwy THEN Old French. Google maps, you may now update your information. Thank me.

Thinking of driving, I'm looking for new vehicle. A big vehicle and a teeny tiny price.

This car may be discounted... but it's not what I need. The paint looks great though, right?

This car is in the Hip and Knee Joint ward of the hospital. It is used for physical therapy. Definitely not for speed because I don't think those itty bitty wheels on there will work well for that. What? Oh. Why was I in the Hip and Knee Joint area? Well, it wasn't for car shopping....

I spent most of yesterday at the hospital with my mom, Roger, and my brother while my dad, who recently won the fight with Tim, was taking on a new battle with Ben, a.k.a. knee replacement surgery.

My dad was feeling good when he woke up. Mainly because he was feeling nothing. So they hooked him up to a torture device, a.k.a. physical therapy machine, that lifted and bent his leg with the new knee over and over again.

I wanted to take a picture of the machine's workings but Matt said that there were decency issues at stake. So I didn't dare lift the blankets myself lest I inadvertently expose my eyes or yours to some indecency.

Anyhow, my dad is at the hospital for the next few days pushing himself and being pushed to use his new knee. I know he can beat Ben. You can do it, Dad!

Hm. I wonder if that leg is the one that already has a scar running up it. He seems to have quite the scar collection going on. Any more and I might get suspicious about his motives for surgery.

Little Did I Know

The boys asked me if they could listen to some Christmas music yesterday. "Oh sure! The music is already in there; you just need to turn it on."

Later I began to think that Christmas Cd's should come with a warning label. They could make it a festive label if they want to. I don't mind.

OR ELSE THIS COULD HAPPEN:

I don't know how you are when you see a child bleeding but I DON'T LIKE IT. First I heard a bump, a cry, then the other boys saying, "Mooomm...." At the initial glance I thought Noah must have broken his nose or something; there was a LOT of blood. Relief flooded over me when I saw his forehead wound. "Okay. That's probably the source of it all..."

We brought the camera out after the bleeding was stopped because, well, there was bleeding and crying and I don't like pausing during an emergency for whatever reason.

Noah cleaned up real nice. I was hoping we could maybe do a butterfly bandage and be done with it but John declared that it would need stitches. "No, no, it will be fine..." I HATE the thought of causing more pain to my little one even when it is to help him. Besides, what did they do in the old days when.... Fine. "Take him to get looked at."

Apparently, if you were going to get injured, yesterday was the day to do it. The emergency room was virtually empty. (Maybe there WAS a warning label and everyone ELSE had heeded it!) They were ushered in to Fast Track, then to a room, and it wasn't very long before he was seen. Thankfully, the cut was able to be glued, not stitched. JOY!

The entire time I waited at home with the other boys wondering. What's happening at the ER? Will there be stitches? Is my baby okay?

Then it hit me. There could be a market for a sort of emergency-waiting kit. It would include coffee, of course, and a soothing voice of reassurance saying things like, "It will be okay... You'll hear from them soon... The doctor knows what he's doing... Don't worry." And other such rot. Hm. What would else should this waiting kit include?

Here are his mug shots. All that's missing is the name and number plaque; they put that on his wrist. Now he's on record as NOT heeding the warning on the Christmas Cd's.

Reenactment

Earlier today, Nathan who is a huge fan of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 brought his Buzz Lightyear toy to me and asked, "Mom, can you take his arm off?" After looking at what he's holding, I tell him, "Oh, no, Nathan. It's not like in the movie; his arm isn't supposed to come off."

Apparently, he didn't take no for an answer.

Have I ever mentioned that Nathan is a very determined young man?

I found Buzz Lightyear in this state. He looks like he's going into shock! You're going to be okay, Buzz!

My arm! I. must. get. my. arm. A little help here please? 911? Anyone? Woody? HELP!

Please excuse me while I go give Buzz Lightyear a hand.

UPDATE: After a difficult procedure, Buzz's forearm was able to be reattached. The prognosis is good. He should regain full use of his arm. Buzz Lightyear is not taking any questions at this time as he needs his rest in order to have a speedy recovery. He thanks all his fans for their concern, well wishes, and prayers.

Still a Little Cringey

I took pictures this morning of Noah and his lip. He just wants to go about his day as usual, but I want to put him in a bubble to eliminate any chance of him bumping his injured lip. That same lip about which he seems to be oblivious. The thought of an additional injury makes me cringe. When I snapped this I thought I had a good picture before I realized that he had used "The Hand".

"No more pictures, please!"

Lack of Communication

Apparently, Noah didn't get the memo. You know? The "No more stitches!" memo?

He fell and busted his lip. He is at the hospital right now. My heart is aching for him.

I tried to stop the bleeding, administered some Tylenol, and gave him an ice cold juice bottle. He was calm by the time he and John left. Little ones in pain have an extra helping of compassion from me. All they know is that it hurts. I hope that this passes quickly for Noah.

Update: The doctors in the E.R. had John take Noah to the Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists to see a doctor with plastics experience. The first specialist to look at him wanted to do surgery today but the second doctor thought we should wait and see how it heals on its own. Since he is so little, he would have to go to the surgery center and be put to sleep for the surgery. The surgery they are talking about would be some sort of skin graft. On Friday, we'll return to the specialists to see how things are progressing and if any further action is necessary. As of now, they prescribed an ointment to put on twice a day *cringe* and warned us that things will look a lot worse before they start looking better. Noah is doing fine and seems oblivious to the state of his lip.

Day 2 ...... and ..... Day 3

Day 4 ............ and...............Day 5

A Change of Plans

I should be writing about our long walk to Uncle Micah and Aunt Holly's house, jumping on their trampoline, planting flower seeds in our garden, or filling the kiddie pool with water and running through the sprinkler. But our plans changed in an instant. We didn't get to the sprinkler part of our day.

We did all those fun things Saturday morning and afternoon. It was a beautiful day and the boys and I were going to wear ourselves out playing in the sun and water. Josiah wanted to hook up the sprinkler after filling the kiddie pool with water. Being the helpful boy that he is, he went in search of our sprinkler. The first sprinkle he found didn't work. A part was missing. So he went back into the basement to find a working sprinkler. Instead of emerging triumphant, he came out crying and limping. At first I thought that he may have stubbed his toe. If only he had. Instead he told me he stepped on broken glass.

I looked at his foot which was bleeding quite a bit. Too much for a band-aid fix. I grabbed my sock which was close at hand and pressed it against his foot. I told him that we would have to go to the hospital and probably get a couple of stitches. That was not what he wanted to hear. No. No! I don't want stitches. My heart felt for him. I had to have him hold the sock tightly against his foot while I picked up another crying boy and got John for help. Josiah did great. After John came out, I questioned Josiah more about the glass. I wanted to be sure that there wasn't any glass left in his foot. He said there wasn't and I rinsed his foot with the water hose which was still running and probed around the wound a bit to double check. Then John set about bandaging his foot while I called my mom to see if she could watch Nathan and Noah so that John and I could both take Josiah to the E.R. Grandma arrived in a few minutes and they waved us off as we drove away.

There was a long line in the emergency room but we waited patiently. Josiah was very calm by this time and the pain had all but stopped. When we got into an exam room we talked a lot about the gloves, the tray, the disposals, the sheets, the bed rails, other patients, equipment, etc.

At this point, Josiah said I could take a picture of him. He made a face for me.

Here he is after two different people have looked at his foot, the original triage nurse and the fast track nurse. We were waiting for someone to do the stitches now. He asked me if it would hurt. I told him that they would give him something to numb his foot - that it would be a shot in the cut. He asked me if the shot would hurt and I told him, "Yes, it will. But then it won't hurt when they clean it and put in the stitches." Then he asked, "Can you cry?" I told him, "Yes, you can cry if you want to." He was so brave! His face clouded but he didn't cry. The nurse practitioner and the other nurse were wonderful. As they worked they complimented and encouraged Josiah. He got three stitches.

Then his foot was wrapped up and we went home. It was a four hour ordeal. (When we got home, Nathan ran to greet us and promptly fell down flat in the driveway. My first thought: Please not again! Thankfully, he just scraped his knees which was fixed with cleaning and hugging and holding and, of course, band-aids.)

Josiah has figured out how to get around without walking on his foot. There's a lot of hopping going on around here. At church this morning, the kids were going to have a race but, in honor of Josiah, instead of running they had a hopping race. I assured him that he would be allowed to hop at school this week.

I found the glass that did the deed. The blood on the tip was my clue.

Josiah says he had a fun time at the hospital. We're not going to make a habit of it though.

No Blog Here

This is me not blogging about any one's injured big toe.

We have a tall wooden bar stool in our kitchen. Yesterday it fell over because it was being used as a step ladder and was tipped while being scooched across the kitchen floor by one of my boys who happens to be the oldest. I won't mention any name. The round seat landed right on the previously alluded to person's big toe. Let me just say that there was much pain expressed. Of course, in my ever so sensitive way, I immediately "helped" by saying, "This is why we don't play with the stool! You don't climb it! You don't move it!" I am certain that he immediately felt better.

Is it a mom thing? Getting upset at the loved one because he caused pain to a loved one - himself?

So then I try to comfort him but what can you do with a banged big toe? There's no blood to clean. There's just that awful and intense throbbing pain. I prayed for his toe. It looks a lot better today than it looked to me late last night when I checked on him and gave him some Tylenol and changed him into some different pajamas. *Note to self: Don't wear footed pajamas when your toe hurts.*

I took a picture of the injured toe today but I won't be posting it here. There was a condition: "You can take a picture but don't blog about it!"

So this is me blogging about my reaction to a painful accident which could have been avoided if only he had listened to his mom...... :0)

Oh No!

Saturday evening John was going to get all the boys in bed so that I could rest a bit. (What a nice guy.) It wasn't long before I heard my name yelled from downstairs.
While John was giving Noah his bottle, Josiah and Nathan were climbing on the back of the couch looking out the window. Everyone was happy until Nathan fell head first to the floor. Thank God he didn't hit the coffee table.
Nathan was crying. Noah was hungry. John was trying to calm Nathan, get me and get some ice. Josiah went to his room and got out his ice pack bag - what a helper. I dug out the soft cold packs from the freezer then started to give Noah his bottle again.
God is so faithful and good. When John and I both started praying for Nathan, he immediately calmed down and stopped crying. We were able to ice his eye and just relax with the boys until bed time.
Nathan is doing great. His eye didn't swell a lot and now it's just bruised. He doesn't even notice. He continues to be the climbing adventurer that he is - just not on the back of the couch.

Nathan learned a new word: blackeye