Last Wednesday night, James told me that my blog writes itself. And sometimes, it totally does. There was no thought at all as to a subject this week. Why, you might ask? My kid got stitches last week. Five of them. Five stitches in his beautiful face.
Cullen is generally a rowdy kid. He's a boy, and he's shameless about it. If there is something that can be torn up or destroyed, he's there. If he can make a mess, he's in the middle of it. Bath time is always somewhat loud and hilarious. Cullen loves to splash the water, dance around, drink the bath water, and occasionally poop in it. I think he does the last one just to hear me scream and watch me frantically scramble around the room.
Last Wednesday, I offered to clean up the kitchen while James gave Cullen a bath. It's usually the other way around, but I feel like James is missing out sometimes. Accidents can happen to anyone, and it breaks my heart that this one happened to my kid.
During the progression of Cullen's bath, he decided to hop around the bath tub. Great idea. Great. Of course, he slipped on the non-slip mat and hit his head on the side of the tub. I'd be lying if I said this was the first time he'd fallen in the tub. It wasn't. It probably won't be the last. Unfortunately, Cullen fell JUST RIGHT and smacked his face on a completely smooth (i.e. no sharp edges) part of our garden tub. And then there was blood.
James took a picture once the bleeding had mostly stopped.
James was yelling for me to get into the bathroom. I was taking my sweet time cleaning the sink. You know. Because people clean sinks on Wednesday nights. That's totally normal, right? By the second shout, I decided I should probably make sure that everything was still intact. I get into the bathroom to find blood everywhere. In my mind, I still see some sort of murder scene. It wasn't quite that bad, but any drop of blood from your child might as well be a pint.
We packaged Cullen up and took him for his third ER visit. Seriously? Third? He's not even two yet. Meh.
We made it to Texas Children's after a couple of in-transit phone calls to our in-family doctors. Thank you Jim and Chris! After a couple hours waiting and one moment of me nearly puking when they re-opened the cut, Cullen got his first stitches. I'm not going to say it was a good experience, but it wasn't bad if you consider the circumstances.
Cullen receiving his very first stitches.
Cullen was a champ through the whole process, and he has really been enjoying showing off his eye. He is such a ham for attention. When people walked up to him for the first few days, he would tilt his face so that you were staring right at his black eye. People in public places looked at me like I was mom of the year. Might as well just hand over the trophy now.
The stitches are still in place, but they should be dissolving soon. The black eye is almost gone. Now we just have to take good care of it to reduce the scarring. I can't believe I'm already dealing with this. Maybe God is preparing me for the rest of his childhood.
I think the most frustrating part for me (surprisingly) has been how everyone assumes that James was bathing him when it happened. Maybe he was, but that's not to say that this couldn't have happened on my watch. James is such an awesome dad, and he deserves more credit for it. That being said, I'm so happy it happened while James was with him. You probably would have had to commit me if it happened while Cullen was with me. It's all part of parenting, I guess.
On a better note, I was able to enjoy my last Friday off with the company of a great friend and her little girl. Amy, Hadley, Cullen and I went to Froberg's to pick strawberries, and we had a wonderful time. I can't wait to go back. Those strawberries may have been the best I've ever eaten, and we've enjoyed fresh produce every night this week. Tonight, we're having zucchini with dinner. I can't wait!
As Cullen keeps growing, I'm enjoying each moment more and more. It is so true that each stage continues to be your new favorite. Every single day is something new. Right now, Cullen is using his first two syllable word. Baby. He also loves to say "yeah" really loudly, so James and I have been trying to teach him his first phrase. We're real live grown ups, people.
Onward and upward to our next adventure. Next week, I should have pictures to post of all of our family time. James' mom has been in town this week, James' cousin arrives on Saturday, and my brother is in the state. I just hope we can track him down before he heads home!
xoxo ashley
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