Rite of Passage

From what I've heard, boys getting stitches is a rite of passage.  It eventually happens.  Some sooner rather than later.  I think Myles might be on the sooner end of the spectrum.  And something tells me for this kid - ALL BOY - it might not be the only set he gets in his youth.  But for now, I've had enough and this wasn't even all that bad.

So let's start from the beginning.  We're eating breakfast and Myles decides he's done so turns to his belly to slide out of his booster seat like he's done hundreds of times before.  Except this time, things went wrong.  His slippery little fleece pjs missed the lip of the chair and he slammed down on the arm of the booster right on his lip.

A view of it as we waited in the pediatrician's
office.  I cleaned off what I could before he
waved me away.

The pediatrician felt it was right on the border of needing stitches and being alright after the swelling went down.  She said she would have used glue if it was a straight cut but glue doesn't work well with jagged cuts like he had.  She called another doctor at the practice in the room for a second opinion (the beauty of a group practice).  The second doctor agreed that it was a close call.  They both suggested I watch it for the next couple of hours, icing it on and off during that time, and if it doesn't look better by noon to take him to Northwest Community Hospital's Pediatrics ER.  So we headed back to Lindsay's, where Nora was staying, and stayed to play while we kept an eye on Myles' lip.  Still wasn't looking better by 11:30 so I took him to the ER.

He thought he was the bees knees with
his ankle bracelet on.  Pointed it out to
all the nurses that came in.  

Watching Thomas while we hurried up and
waited.

Numbing solution being applied.  It had to
stay on for 15 minutes.  Talk about hard. He
tried ripping it off numerous times.  Not to
mention the amount of drool the numbing
produces which makes the tape less sticky.
I continued adding more and more tape to
the side of his face to keep it on.

While waiting for the "twilight sedation"
to kick in, he became completely obsessed
with the red glow of the monitor stuck on
his toe.  He continued to point at it and say "toe".

Sedation in full affect. He didn't care what
the doctors did - and that was the point.

All stitched.  Just three.
(the room was dark -- we all thought with
the sedation meds and no nap he would
definitely fall asleep but he proved us all
wrong.) Had to use the flash which
is why he has the stoner look.
"Bright."

A better look at the cut, post stitches.

After leaving the house just before 9, we
returned home around 5 to my still very
full cup o' morning joe.

And even with no nap and stitches, he
was immediately back to his old antics. 

Side note: The ER nurse asked me if we'd been there before because Myles looked familiar.  I told her no, but I had a feeling we'll be back someday.  I'm hoping for nothing too soon but with this stubborn,  no-fear boy, I think it might be inevitable.  Even Grandpa apologized for laughing when I told him because in his words, it seemed pretty typical for Myles.

She's Three

This little sweetie is THREE today. 

Three.  

Three!  

It sounds so much older than two.  Two still sounds like a baby but three... three is a little girl.  And a little girl she is.  A little girl who loves all things sparkly, princesses, jumping, books, pink, her baby, Guy, and blanket, and most of all her Daddy, Mommy, and brother.  She has a loving and gentle heart and is growing all too quickly before our eyes.  

We had a small party today with Gram, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Katie, and Uncle.  This was the party that almost fell apart the morning of.  Mother Nature had plans for an ice storm which changes plans when you're traveling but the grandparents braved the roads and took trains to give hugs and kisses (and presents!) to Nora on her day.

25 balloons is a great birthday morning
surprise for a three year old.

After lunch we started opening presents.  One of her
first presents was from "Uncle"
(She calls her Uncle Greg simply Uncle).

To say his present was the present of
the day is an understatement.
Cinderella glass slippers with a small heel.

She immediately took them for a spin.
They tap.  She loves that.
She didn't take them off all day.
Took them off for a bath but put them
back on for bed.  That's right - she's
even sleeping in the shoes.

A Rapunzel dress to play in!
Thanks Uncle Jeff and Aunt Katie!

Gum!

And tic tacs from Grandma Grandma.
"I'll put these in my purse."

Her cake was sparkly!
Of course.
hmmm... whose fingers got into the
cake... Myles.

Time to sing!

 

She started singing along towards the end.

Make a wish.

This little dude got messier with the cake than he did
for his first birthday when we wanted him to get messy.

 

But what kind of party would it be if you didn't get a little messy?

Happy Birthday to you, our three year
old princess. 

Outtakes

I thought I'd try taking Nora's official three year pictures myself this year.  Other people do a great job and this and I take decent pictures so I figured it was worth a shot.  There was really no good time to do it on her day other than after her party.  Needless to say, the sillies set in and things didn't go too well.  But I got some good outtakes from it.  

For the first minute, every time I'd put
the camera to my eye I'd get this face.
Followed by lots of laughing.

Then she only wanted to show me her
gum (Thanks, Grandma Grandma S)
and laugh a whole lot.

Lots of open mouth pictures.

and not too ladylike poses.

I think I'll stick with my original plan and wait until the weather is a bit warmer and head outside for the photo shoot.  There I can capture her not as posed (and the lighting is far better than in our house).

From the Phone

Sometimes, mostly with the use twitter and instagram, I forget to update the blog if we haven't done an activity or gone somewhere special.  But then I take a look at all the pictures I have on my phone and realize how many great pictures I have of our daily musings to share.  While some of you may have seen many of these already, there might be a new snapshot or two you haven't.  So, here's what we've been up to this January.

Since there's no snow by us, we went to
the snow.  High knees to get to their house.

He's all about the shoes - no matter whose.

Dug, scooped, and dumped the bowl of rice on a day
that wasn't too cold for January.

Made a get well card for a sick
second cousin.

Played at the park (finally!!) when it was in the 40s -
very windy but manageable.   

Decorated cookies with Packer colored
sprinkles we got in the mail from Gram

Gave kisses while grocery shopping.

Started a new session on church class.
Myles is officially a member of the class
this time.  

Gambled. Then had a fish fry in a bar
in the middle of a corn field.

Celebrated this man's 93rd birthday!
Love you, Grandpa.

Made and threw snowballs.

Tried (and failed) to color pasta to play with.

Sampled the food coloring while mom
was distracted (but standing right next to him)

Asked to take a picture with Guy.

Looked simply adorable first thing in the
morning.

Painted on paper with brushes

then fingers and hands....

then herself while I was cleaning brushes.
Hilarious. Clearly.

Checked herself out in the mirror.

Posed because it was still hilarious.  

Then took baths and played with
shaving cream.

Just like Daddy.

Went "night-night" together in Myles' crib.
(I asked him to close his eyes - he did and pointed
to his eyes to say "eyes".)

Celebrated this guy at his graduation party.

Then he smothered Nora with hugs and
kisses.  Probably one of my favorite picture
in a while.  Love these two more than anything.