1, 2, 3 Staples... In The Head

If you get squeamish at the sight of / stories about blood, skip the first few paragraphs and photo...

Hayden can now count to 10 and if she could have seen the top of her head this weekend she would know that she had 3 staples in it. Last Thursday, Hayden was sitting in her booster seat, which sits in an adult sized chair, and she pushed herself back onto the back legs... and completely tipped the chair over. The chair slammed against the tile and her head hit the back edge of the chair. I knew she was scared, as she was crying hard, but didn't know she was hurt badly until I lifted her up and blood gushed from her head. Not a pretty or comforting sight!

Thankfully, Keith hadn't left for work yet and was there to step in and stop the bleeding by applying pressure while I called 911. Keith checked out the wound, which was not as bad as we first thought, and told me to load Payson and Madison so we could drive Hayden to the ER instead. When I offered to call 911 again, he said "yes," followed by a quick "no." The blood flow was slowing and she was calming down and acting normal so he wanted to drive.

The kids still all sit side-by-side in the middle row, so after cleaning his bloody arm and putting a towel over Hayden's car seat, he climbed in the "way-way back" (as I've called it since childhood). I loaded the other two and drove us down the street to the ER. Keith read to the kids in the car and Hayden was talking and naming objects in the pictures in between saying, "owie, owie" and patting her head.

Pretty quickly after checking in, Hayden was seen by the doctor. He said that kids do that often and that she would need 3 staples to close up the gash. After some small donated toys to keep the three occupied, some numbing cream, and 3 staples, we were sent on our way. She had pink hair for the rest of the day because we couldn't wash the area. We had the staples removed five days later and she's doing great!

Then, as if we didn't have enough going on that day, Payson ran a 100-degree fever that evening, followed by Madison the next day. But thankfully the near-symptomless virus was short, and we were all happy and healthy by Monday.

Hayden was feeling well enough that same afternoon to prance around in her tutu and wear her shades. She and baby laid on the kitchen floor for some R&R.

She also loves to wear Payson's "Cat in the Hat" hat from their 1st birthday party. Here she is all adorably goofed-out!

Speaking of birthdays, today the triplets are 23 months old! I seriously can't believe my babies are almost two! Their t-shirts from their 1st birthday party, which were too big then, fit them well now. Although I was reminded this morning at my stroller workout class that they are much heavier than they were a year ago. I now push around nearly 85 lbs of toddler weight plus the 55 lb stroller.

Hayden continues to be a little Mommy-in-the-making. While Keith was comforting Payson after waking up grumpy, Hayden grabbed her baby doll, climbed up on the couch, leaned back and began patting her doll the way Keith was patting Payson. Also, after her injury, if Madison starts to push back in her chair, Hayden gets really upset and cries and reaches out toward her. The other day when Madison started to push her chair back Hayden ran over and cried, "No, no, Maa-maa, no, no!" Hayden definitely remembers her injury and wants to make sure Payson and Madison don't experience it too. Those two have a wall behind them so they couldn't get hurt in the same way, but we are still disciplining and doing all we can to get them to stop the behavior.

While the girls prance around in their tutus, Payson flies through the house wearing his cape, which was his Daddy's when he was a toddler. It cracks me up to see him in his cape while pushing a baby stroller. Little boys who have sisters get to play with all of the fun girl things that families with only boys don't. This time there was a baby in the stroller but he often stocks it with Hot Wheels and his magnetic cars.
Hayden watching the birds (and being cute).

The tutus stayed on for music class. Hayden just gets more and more beautiful.

Madison watching the bubbles. It's possible you've never heard a voice as sweet as hers. I love the long "s" sound she makes when she says plural words and "bubbles" couldn't sound cuter!

Payson catching bubbles. This boy gives me hugs and kisses all class long. He'll go participate in a song or activity and then catch my eye and, with eyes only for me, run as fast as possible to throw his arms around me. Love it.

Madison was terribly frustrated that she couldn't successfully push two strollers at once. Now she knows how Mommy felt trying to push a double and a single stroller alone through the airport and hotels in California this summer!








Below are the links to my recent Dallas Morning News Moms Blog posts:

Jessica: Rooting with "One Heart" for kids who need it

Jessica: Connecting with multiple moms like Jane Seymour