soda can evangelism

We were on our way to church tonight for my Alpha class (and, if you get a chance, take an Alpha course somewhere--it's incredible!) when Dennis drank the rest of his Sprite. He held the empty can in his hands and said "this can is like the tomb where they put Jesus when they took him down off the cross--it's empty because Jesus isn't in the tomb any more." Profound! I agreed, and he said "I think I'll tell my friend Marshall about that tonight." I'm so proud of the way his mind works!

After church, we shopped at Winn Dixie for a bit, and we found that Zyrtec was on sale (well, the generic brand, equally good), and that's the new allergy medicine the pediatrician wanted Dennis to try. We bought it and tonight I gave him a dose just before putting him to bed. He made a face and said "wow, that tastes as bad as my Allegra did." I hope it helps him, though.

Just after I put Dennis to bed, as I was about to sit down for a few quality minutes with my Tivo, I heard a scream from his room. He and Rusty had been tussling, and Rusty bit his nose. It wasn't a serious injury by any means, just some scratches and one little dot of blood on the end of his nose, but Dennis and I both freaked out. We loaded up in the car and went and fetched David from work and, because the scratches were so close to his eye, we headed to the ER. Now, let me assure you here that Dennis is perfectly fine. No shots, no medicine, nothing except a cleaning and a glance by the doctor happened to him there. But while we were there, Dennis was pretty entertaining. He was the only patient in the waiting room, so we went straight to triage. The nurse asked if he was allergic to anything, and we replied "no" and Dennis added (in his best Eeyore voice with heavy sigh) "not even monsters." And he asked the doctor if he had to get a shot and the doctor said "do you want a shot?" and Dennis shook his head vigorously that he didn't. He didn't need one, though, thank goodness! When they came back to clean his nose, he closed his eyes when they told him to and didn't flinch, and then he demanded "I need a Band-Aid." The guy that did the cleaning told him he couldn't put a Band-Aid on it until it was looked at again but offered a sticker instead. As he was leaving the room, Dennis yelled "and tell them I need a Band-Aid!". He wasn't happy with the SpongeBob sticker, so he got to go to the nurse's station and choose from what they had. We heard him telling them that they needed to order some Transformer stickers. He settled for Toy Story stickers (telling them "I really like Toy Story 1 the best"). He was a model patient, didn't cry or fuss or anything, and when we left, he said "thank you Mommy for taking me to the emergency room." And as far as ER visits go, this one was quick and painless, easily our best visit ever as such things go. The nurses told Dennis they'd have Transformer stickers for him for next time, but I hope there's not a next time! He has been there more often than I'd like for him to have gone for sure!

For the record, Rusty isn't doomed or anything. His crate has moved to our room, and he'll be sleeping in there now. Dennis learned not to be so rough with him, I hope, and we'll see what happens. I am fairly certain that the fault was not entirely with the dog, though Dennis can't exactly describe what he was doing to Rusty when it happened (we think Rusty was licking him and Dennis shoved him a little hard to get him off the bed, from what we can piece together from what Dennis said). If it turns out that Dennis is in any way afraid of him or emotionally scarred, Rusty will be moving out, but Dennis says he is sure they can be friends again in a few days. I hope so. They've really been enjoying each other.