Xavier's Second Trip to the Emergency Room
Greetings to everyone.
This morning started out in an unusual fashion.
Rebecca, who has had the crud all week (the same crud everyone else is getting), fell asleep on the couch last night. She was in such a deep sleep, I left her there, adding only one more blanket to keep her warm. She slept there all night and didn't move. Unusual.
Xavier began loudly yelling "Dad!" just before 5:00 AM; he wanted out of his crib. He sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00 of late. Unusual.
Until Xavier began yelling "Dad!", I was sleeping and may have made it past 6:00 if left alone. Even after getting up and moving around, I still wanted to return to the sheets. Normally, I'm awake between four and five, and once up, I'm up for the day. Unusual.
As time marked the passage of 7:00 into 7:01, Rebecca and I noted "It's only seven o'clock? It feels like an entire day has passed us by." Unusual.
After breakfast, while Xavier dragged his Hot Wheels tower and track around the house and rolled cars down it, Dad returned to bed. Unusual.
Crash! Despondent crying! Xavier not being consoled except to a constant, quiet whimper, even with a bottle. Bleeding gash behind right ear. Swelling. Purple right ear lobe. Unusual.
Cleaning up the wound (not an easy task with an uncooperative, squirmy boy), looked like it might need two stitches. In fact, only some medical tape and glue were the solution. But a trip to the ER before 8:00 in the morning on a Saturday? Unusual.
A Helmet for Building Sand Castles
Greetings to everyone.
One of things Xavier scored last Saturday was a kit of sandbox toys: sieves, hoes and molds. Most of the molds, which double as buckets, create parts of a castle.
All this week, Xavier has used these buckets/molds to carry around his Hot Wheels, and to pour his Hot Wheels from one bucket to another. Tonight, he imagined a different use for the largest bucket. He spent a good amount of time running or crawling around the house, wearing the bucket in various configurations.
His antics made me laugh. First, it was just plain funny to watch him blindly navigate the house with a bucket on his head. Most of the time, the bucket completely covered his face; all he could see was his feet.
Second, I thought of a scene from the 1989 movie "Parenthood" where one of the mothers explains to an in-law "He likes to butt things with his head" after her son rams a wall wearing a bucket. The in-law's response was a dry "How proud you must be."
For the record, I am proud.
Xavier Helps in the Garden
Hello to everyone.
This year we had a patch of lawn (which did not do so well last year) cut out and decent soil tilled in. Rebecca likes to garden, and now we have a nicely sized "starter" one.
Aunt Chelle stayed the night (giving Rebecca and me a night out after Xavier's birthday guests departed). Today, the two sisters took Xavier and went shopping at a local nursery.
Though the weather threatened rain (and eventually followed through with its threat), Rebecca wasted little time getting some of her new purchased in the ground. When the wire towers went up, Xavier decided to get involved. With Mom as a spotter, he climbed the tower.
One of the items Rebecca picked up was a package of Lady Bugs. These insects are always fun, and fun to release. Rebecca thought Xavier would really like it (especially since he has discovered sow bugs and likes playing with them). Xavier did not know what to make of the bag of crawling bugs; it took him a while to work the courage to get close enough to watch them crawl around.
We have not yet released the Lady Bugs. We're waiting for a break in the weather and, therefore, allowing for more interesting beetles when we set them free.