Cruisn' for a brusin'

We've entered the stage...it's a new one for me, it didn't really exist in my home, it's the era of bumps, bruises, cuts, and scrapes. I went to get Charles yesterday morning and found him with a red eye. Evidently he bumped it sometime after he woke up. I knew it was recent because it wasn't black or blue YET. By the end of the day the redness had faded and black, blue, and a yellowish-green hew had appeared. He must've felt fine because later that morning he was falling off the love seat head first into a pile of blankets and pillows.


I asked if we should take a picture of his ouchie and he returned with his toy camera! He took a picture of me, but I wasn't able to snap a shot of his soon-to-be black eye.

He wanted to take a picture of me and wouldn't sit still so I could document his injury. After this picture he wanted to hold my camera. I conceded and let him look at the pictures I'd taken. Being a button fanatic, he loved scrolling through the pictures with the left and right arrows!

At lunch he was being silly...standing or dancing around in his chair rather than sitting or kneeling. He's been warned numerous times about sitting since we have a pub table that's quite tall (like the tall bar tables at Applebee's). Sure enough, he fell head first on to the kitchen floor. I haven't heard him cry like that since he was a new baby. On the verge of hysterical. I rocked him but it didn't seem to help. He got frustrated with me and disappeared upstairs sobbing uncontrollably the entire time. I took the opportunity to use the bathroom (necessary about every 5-10 minutes these days!) and to gather up Tylenol and an ice pack. Charles returned to the main floor still in tears but carrying his precious green blankie. I finally got him calmed down enough to take the Tylenol and get the crying to cease. He fell asleep on my lap which I figured was an okay place to spend the afternoon given the fact I wasn't sure how much damage he'd done to his noggin. He slept about an hour and a half and I was able to doze a bit too.

Later that evening I was getting ready to leave for my Weight Watchers class and Russell was trying to rest after a long day at work. Charles was on our bed with Russell, once again being silly. He lost his footing and fell, hitting his head (the same spot he hit falling out of the chair) on Russell's leg--right on the bone. Again, hysterics. I was glad to leave the house and let Russ handle the injury. With a short nap, several injuries, and being on the verge of two years old Charles' mood was less than stellar and filled with tantrums or demands.

Thankfully their evening went smoothly although Charles did have some ideas about how the bedtime routine should go. He insisted on watching TV so Russell relented and let him watch the women run the obstacle course on American Gladiator! Maybe it's bad to give in, but the funny thing that we've begun to notice with Charles is that if we explain what will happen (i.e. we'll watch the end of this show and then you have to go to bed) he's perfectly happy to comply with you. Russell said they turned the TV off as soon as the show ended he took Charles to bed without any problem.

Hopefully when we go to the hospital to have baby #2 the bruises will be healed. I'd hate to have both kids taken into SRS custody! On the bright side, I've got two freinds who are Master's Level Social Workers (the most prestigious degree in that field, or so I was told when I worked at the Children's Home) who can vouch for both our good character when it comes to parenting. Jeremy has seen Charles in action and witnessed the "tricks" (like climbing on the coffee table) that he's taught Jeremy's daughter Merrill!

Okay...today I made another attempt at a picture or two so you can see the black eye. The results are not the greatest. I need my sister's camera that doesn't have the delay like most digital cameras.

Blurry, but the best I could do. Two-year-old boys don't sit still! You can kind of see the bruise under the eye on the right and a red mark just down from the end of his eyebrow on the left side.

You can kind of get the idea of how tall the table is in this picture, see how much taller it is than Casey? He was being so cute today, just sitting drinking some of Great Value's version of Crystal Lite and swinging his crossed legs!