Life with Sweet Peaches

We had our second ER visit in less than a year last night after Molly ate it on the sidewalk outside our house. We went for a walk and when we got home, Molly was climbing out of her stroller like she always does. She somehow lost her footing and landed on her forehead. I went to scoop her up and couldn’t even tell where the cut was because there was so.much.blood. The head bleeds a ridiculous amount. I brought her inside where Jim was on a work call. He took one look at us and said, “I’ll have to call you back.”

Once I started wiping Molly’s face, I realized right away that we would be making a trip to the ER. Molly kept asking for a band-aid and her boo-boo bunny, so Jim got that out of the freezer for her {the funny part is that she just holds onto it and doesn’t actually put it ON the boo-boo} while I grabbed a change of clothes and MJ’s blanket and Katie {the baby doll}. Two minutes later, we were checking into the ER. It was relatively quiet for a Sunday night at bedtime.

Molly was SO brave the entire time we were at the hospital. They checked her stats in triage and put some numbing gel on her forehead. The nurse found a hot pink bandage to hold the gauze in place, which Molly was excited about. We were really hoping that the laceration could be glued together, but unfortunately, it was really gaping and not a clean slice on the bottom.

She was very concerned about her outfit. Luckily, we were able to salvage it thanks to Shout and Tide.

After about an hour long wait in the waiting room, we were called back to see the doctor. Molly had to wear a hospital gown, which kind of broke my heart. It was past her bedtime at this point and the numbing gel was working, so Molly wasn’t in any pain and she was being her seriously funny self. A child life specialist came in to prep Molly for what to expect; I can’t say enough about how wonderful the professionals at the hospital were. Annie, the child life specialist, had a doll and showed Molly how the doctor would clean the wound and showed her the thread that would be used to sew up the wound.

After the doctor stitched her up {3 stitches, 1 cm. laceration}, Annie brought Molly a popsicle and an Olivia book.

BUT, that’s not the end of the story…

We asked the doctor about sending Molly to school today, and she replied that there was no reason not to. Jim had to be at work early so Nana came over to take Molly to school. Around noon, I got a phone call from Lisa, the director, that Molly had fallen and was bleeding from the same place as last night’s wound. I told Lisa I’d be right there and I dismissed my class.

Turns out that Molly had slipped on some water during a bathroom break and fallen, right onto the same spot on her forehead. What are the odds of that?!

The stitches weren’t broken as far as we could tell, and we were able to get in to see Dr. Holladay. Jim was on his way home already, so I brought Molly home to have a cupcake while we waited on her appointment. When it was time to go to the doctor’s office, Molly looked up at me and said, “It hurts. Do you want to ride it he back with me?” I cracked up because she certainly knows how to work a situation!

I was so grateful that Dr. Holladay said the stitches were still tight {he actually said the doctor had done a wonderful job, which I was glad for because I wanted to ask for a plastic surgeon for the original stitches and didn’t}. There was a new bruise and goose egg, so the swelling made it appear that the cut was pushing open. Dr. H was confident that once the swelling went down, all would be ok and that we most definitely didn’t want to risk re-stitching the area.

Molly and I took naps and snuggled all afternoon after the emotional past 18 hours. I let her watch tv and we played with the balloon that Nana dropped off. Now, we just need to keep her upright until Friday morning when the sutures come out!

We are working hard with Molly to remember her pleases and thank yous and she often remembers with little or no prompting. She gets worked up every once in a while and just screams PLEASE! over and over again, but I don’t know what it is she wants. Monday morning, Molly came up to me, crunching on some Kashi Heart to Heart cereal and said, “Thank you Mommy for combing my hair.”

“Oh, you’re so sweet! What nice manners you have! Did Daddy make you some cereal?”

“Yes!” Then, to herself, “I should go tell Daddy thank you!” And off she ran to tell Jim “Thank you for making my breakfast!”

We’re also working on excuse me when she needs to talk to one of us while we are otherwise engaged. This afternoon, I was on the phone with Beverly and Molly was calling my name. When I got to a place in the conversation where I could take a break, I gently reminded Molly to say “Excuse me” when she needs me. So, then she would let me  talk for about 10 seconds and sweetly say “Excuse me.” When I would say, “Yes, Molly? What great manners you have!” she would go back to her ensuing tantrum until she need to say “Excuse me” again. If she hadn’t been so crabby, it would have been incredibly funny. Or maybe that’s what makes it so funny? She wanted to be sure I was paying attention, so she said “Excuse me” before she escalated the fit!

It’s a good thing she’s so sweet and uses her manners most of the time. Remember that phone call with Beverly earlier today? It took us three tries to have a real conversation and I finally had to let her go because I couldn’t hear her anymore.

Like I said, we are working hard with Molly on her manners.

I was talking to a mom on the playground at preschool today about the differences between toddler boys and toddler girls. One big difference seems to be the attitude, or more specifically, the sass. Oh, sure, she said, her boy is stubborn and tells her no and refuses to follow directions sometimes, but she said it’s more of a casual kind of disobedience. Not the full-out drama that she sees from some of the girls.

Example #1:

The other night, Jim asked Molly if she wanted to ride to the grocery with him to get the lime I forgot to get when Molly and I were at the store an hour before. {I can’t possibly imagine how I forgot to get that lime…} Molly, without even looking up from her drawing and stickers, responded, “Nope. Already went there.”

Now, “nope” is her favorite way to decline.

As in, “Molly, pick out your shoes. It’s time for school.”

“Nope.”

“Excuse me?” Not only did she not bother with a “no,” or a “no, ma’am,” but she flat out refused to get her shoes. I’d almost rather her pretend like she didn’t hear me…

Example #2:

MK said her son, Nolan, will say “Mama, bye-bye” when he wants her to leave him alone.

Molly, on the other hand, let’s us know she wants some alone time by shouting, “Go away, Mom!” followed by a slamming door. Not even a Mama or Mommy. Mom.

Example #3:

The clothes. Oh, the clothes. Molly likes to select her own outfit each day. On Monday, she wore a pink & orange skirt, brown/blue/purple/green striped tights and a different shade of purple shirt. Tuesday afternoon, we decided to go for a walk and she says, “I need to change.” She comes out of her room with turquoise Puma shorts, white church shoes and a brown pj top. Sure, babe…whatever.

Yesterday, Nana took Molly to the park while I was tutoring. Molly wore a pink and brown Tea Collection dress and her black flats. Which are too small. Nana and I both suggested she’d be more comfortable in shoes that actually *fit* but Molly insisted. But then last night, in the bath, Molly winced when the soap hit the blisters her too-small shoes caused while she was running around the park.

My friends who have boys say that getting dressed is *rarely* a cause for a cage match at their houses.

They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…Jim must have really give his parents a run for their money.