Ice juice

Benjamin was right behind me as I headed out to meet the school bus this afternoon. I went down the front steps and he tripped after me, literally. I had just reached the sidewalk when I heard him cry, "Uh-oh! Mom!"

I turned to look at him and he was sprawled, face down, on the (brick) steps.

"Oh, Benji!" I cried, setting him upright. "What a mess! Let's get you taken care of—quick, before the bus comes!"

I tried to put Zoë down but she's feverish and cranky (she had her shots yesterday) and her screaming was stressing me out as much as Benjamin's blood so I held her while I cleaned him off. We headed out to meet the bus together with Benjamin holding a cold cloth to his forehead.

Once we were back inside I snapped this picture to send to Andrew:

We chatted about it and decided a bandaid would be fine, so I put a bandaid on him and he ran off to play with his sisters while I gave my poor, neglected garden some desperately needed TLC and Zoë sat and watched (miraculously cheerfully) from her bouncy chair.

Andrew came home and made dinner while I tried to tame a once-again cranky Zoë, we ate, and then the kids requested we go on a family walk. It was quite pleasant out, but still hot and humid, and Benjamin's a head sweater. By the time we got home his bandaid was dangling so we peeled it off and noticed his cut looked worse.

We played the "do we stay or do we go to the ER/urgent care" game for a while and finally decided to poll Facebook (because we have dear friends in high places (i.e.. we know a few doctors and other medical professionals)). Ultimately we decided to stay home. I wasn't worried about him having a concussion (he was acting perfectly normal) and his wounds weren't actively bleeding (unlike the time Miriam fell off the bench and was soaking through bandaids for hours)...but his goose egg is forcing that cut open and that's bothering me. *sigh*

Andrew got some butterfly bandages to help hold things together and I got an icepack ready for his head. We've gone through a lot of ice this week, first with Andrew's wasp stings and now with Benjamin's head! I put some ice in a ziplock baggie, wrapped it in a paper towel, and held it on Benjamin's head while I sang him some lullabies. Soon, though, Zoë was calling for me again so I told him to keep holding the ice to his head.

I was getting ready to change Zoë's diaper when Benjamin came to his door and said, "Mmmmm...it's really good when this ice pack is opened, Mom. There's ice juice! It's yummy! Want to try some?"

He'd opened up the baggie and was dipping his fingers into the water (from the melted ice, i.e. "ice juice") and then sucking it off. We've been cracking up about ice juice all evening!

Anyway, let's recap this week, shall we?

Monday: Andrew suffers two wasp stings
Tuesday: Benjamin tries to swim without a floaty
Wednesday: Zoë learns that shots are uncomfortable
Thursday: Benjamin falls down the front steps

It makes me wonder what's on the docket for tomorrow...

Anyway, I finally got this grumpy baby to go to sleep, so I'd better head to bed so I can face whatever the day holds!