On Friday evening, as I was taking a moment's respite in the lavatory, Lily fell. She didn't just trip and stumble, though, she tripped and fell into the front door frame, hitting the large metal hinge near the floor. It caused a deep, moon-shaped gash in her forehead that began bleeding profusely.

Kevin scooped her up and brought her into the bathroom, where I was -- ahem -- finishing up. He was alarmed, saying, "It's not just a cut, it's bad." He was right, it looked deep, and destined to scar if we didn't get her over to the emergency room asap. Having never done this, we fumbled about, not sure what to grab, or even where to go. After a brief discussion of nearby hospitals, we figured UW Medical Center was the closest.

Half-way there, I realized that Children's Hospital was actually closer, and likely a better choice, for obvious reasons. It occurred to me that the wait time would be shorter, as well.

Once we got there, they processed us immediately, and we started what would be about a 3 1/2 hour visit. Apparently it was a head wound extravaganza on Friday night, as five other kids were also there to have their head injuries treated.

After our initial visit with the nurse to take her vitals, we were shown to a room where we waited for a doctor. The doctor was an intern, so after she surveyed Lily, she had to have the head doc come in to approve her course of action. They determined that the gash was "clean" so using glue would be easier and have a less evident scar once healed. So instead of giving her a shot to prepare her for sutures, they instead put a topical agent on to deaden the spot enough that the glue application wouldn't be so intolerable for Lily.

That whole affair was the worst part. They had to apply the topical agent directly to the gash, so they had to hold her head still while applying the stuff. I was lying across the bed on my elbows, holding Lily's hands and doing the best I could to offer encouraging words. Of course, it all felt very futile as Lily cried and cried. She was so good, though, and didn't move or try to jerk away. She just cried and looked around wildly, like, "WHAT THE HECK?!"

After that, we had to wait for the topical stuff to take effect, which was about 30 minutes. Lily ran around, having recovered from that trauma. Later, when the nurse came back, she ran toward me, anticipating another round of torture. The gluing didn't take nearly as long, and though it was a shortened version of the previous affair as far as the Lily-panicking went, it wasn't as bad.

By this time, it was about 12:30am, and we were all ready for bed. They gave Lily a popsicle, which she's never had before. I tried to demonstrate how to eat it, but instead, she just wanted to hold it, and let it drip over her fingers. I just let her. So all the way home, she sat in her carseat, holding her red popsicle upright, staring at it in the glow of the streetlights.

I haven't posted in a few days. I'm searching my memories to think of something memorable that Lily did, but alas, I'm coming up empty. I guess I'll just talk about her continuing penchant for wanting to stay of up later, which causes her to get really giggly. Tonight she sat on my lap, hurling her little body back against mine, expecting me to catch her before she fell all the way into my lap. She laughed maniacally while doing it, knowing it was all just a delightful game.

The sounds of her laughter are precious.

Lily is napping at the moment; a part of my day to which I often look forward. I've been reviewing curricula for homeschooling, which is just part of my obsessive planning nature. My problem tends to be the follow-through.

So far, top contenders are the Hillsdale Academy curriculm, distributed for free via their curriculum guide, and the Well-Trained Mind, a book I need to buy one of these days.

I can't help thinking that homeschooling Lily will be the biggest challenge I've yet faced.

Logic, toddler-style

Lily loves to climb up on the kitchen table, a habit of which I am trying to break her. It is turning out to be more difficult than I thought it would be, and it takes constant vigilance to prevent her from jumping up on the table whenever my back is turned.

Today I'm sitting at the computer, reading a message from Kevin. Lily begins her ascent, pulling herself up on the chair next to me. I say in no uncertain terms, and pull her back to the floor. She begins a mini-fit, crying, "MAH-MAHHHHHHH." I say, "Do you need a time-out to settle down?" She gets the word "time-out," and stops crying immediately. She's not particularly interested in crib confinement. Then she says, "Mama? Mama?"

"Yes, Lily, what would you like?"

"Cookies."

Wednesday

Nothing that notable happened today, although Lily did sit on the couch with me. I was typing on the computer -- something I do far too often, if I'm honest -- and she placed her small hands on each cheek. She turned my face to hers, and she gave me a huge gleeful grin, and rubbed her nose on mine, drawing me into an "eskimo kiss."

Then, before bed, she rested her head on my shoulder, sucking as usual on her trusty binky.

Small moments.

Saturday at the Fenno-Fedofskys

Today's only notable happening was Lily acting like a little terror at Circa. I should know better than hope for a low-key eating out experience with a 21-month-old. Annabel, though, was a doll. So, I was in one of those situations where your own child is being a terror, while the one almost exactly her age, across the table, is acting like a little angel. Melissa made me feel less embarrassed by pointing out that Annabel is accustomed to being at Circa, whereas Lily is not. In fact, we don't take her out much to restaurants, so she is not accustomed to eating out at all. Luckily, we escaped mostly unharmed, although I slipped and jammed my foot under a table leg, resulting in an inch-long cut on the top of my foot.

Humph.

First post

It's long past time for me to start writing about my family and little one. The time passed since Lily's birth seems a blink, and yet it's nearly two years now. She walks, she talks, and I know that I'm going to regret not jotting down, even if it is just a few lines, the wonderful things that happen day-by-day as she grows.

In other words, this is a blog for me (and my children when they're older), and will likely mostly be of interest, well, to me.

Today's events:

We awoke, got ourselves together, and immediately took off down to Enumclaw to visit with my friend Leanna, who recently had a little girl. I asked Lily as we headed south, "Are you excited to see the baby?" to which she squealed, "Baby! Baby!" She's well-aware of what a baby is, and is dutiful in pointing them out whenever she sees them. Her first recognition of babies was when she'd see them in car seats. We'd go to the store, she'd see a seat, and yell, "Baby!" It was one of her first words.

We visited with Leanna for about an hour, during which time Lily had a ton of fun playing with their dog, Mud. Lily's enthusiasm for dogs has me thinking on adopting one, and after I'm done with today's post, I'll probably start exploring the Seattle Humane Society website for possible candidates for adoption. Still on the fence, though. We shall see.

The only other thing of note that happened today is that Lily is figuring out how to get us to let her stay up past her bedtime. She's been screaming, "DA-DA!" at the top of her lungs to get Kevin to get her up, and then saying she was "nuggy" (chicken nuggets) or "wice" (rice). Since she never seems to eat enough, we're inclined to assume she's still hungry, which it turns out, she is not. She doesn't eat what is put in front of her, and wants down to run around the living room. Lovely! I can't believe how quickly these kids can reason out strategies to achieve their intended goal. She's not even 2.

Well, that's it for today. I have an e-reminder to post daily, so we'll see how tedious this ends up reading.