8-8-8

It's triple 8 day, 8/8/08. Babies born today will have a really easy job remembering their birth dates. Last night, after I typed the blog entry, I went in and looked at Dennis sleeping. He was sleeping perpendicular to the length of the bed, smashed up tight along the end of the bed (and the newly washed crib bumper), and I straightened him out and turned him lengthwise in the crib without waking him. I watched his legs and toes stretch out gratefully. He does this often, so I imagine it will be difficult to convert him to a toddler bed when the time comes. He'll keep falling off the end.

As I watched him sleep, I reflected on how toddlers really attack life with gusto, and I intended to write a long post about toddler emotions and toddler joy over the simplest of things, and it was going to be a good one, kind of flowery and sweet, but still good. And then, at 7:03 pm, we embarked on a Real Adventure, which I will have to write about instead. The actual real time right now is 2:20 am, and we have just arrived home from the Real Adventure. I could be suspenseful here and build up a big story, but it's way too late at night for that, so I'll just state it like it is. At 7:03 pm, while we were waiting for Pop to come home so we could have dinner with him, Dennis walked over and put something into his mouth, and I ran to see what it was, and then his mouth was empty and I saw what he was playing with... I was convinced he had eaten a paper clip. I wasn't all that worried about it--it was a small paper clip, and after he coughed a couple of times, he was absolutely fine and acted normal (for him). David paged the pediatrician. I didn't understand why he was so worried until I let my train of thought really get going. Paper clips have sharp points on the ends and one swallowed might puncture something important on its journey through the digestive tract of Dennis. The doctor called back as we were taking turns eating the barbecue sandwiches Pop brought for us without letting Dennis see us eat. He was hungry, but we didn't want to do anything to disturb the Paper Clip, which had suddenly become pretty important--much more important, in fact, than the average paper clip ever manages to become. The doctor confirmed what David said, and asked us which emergency room we'd like to go to. So tonight's Real Adventure involved FOUR HOURS at Shelby Baptist ER, because lots of folks were trying out Stupid People Tricks today and we shared a waiting room with many injured people. We waited one hour for triage, an hour and a half after that to be put in a room (see photos), half an hour for the doctor, half an hour for the x-ray machine, fifteen minutes for the result, and then fifteen minutes for our discharge papers. Turns out he did NOT swallow a paper clip.

I honestly thought he did. He was playing in some paper clips, and there were two really wet ones on the floor, and I saw him put something in his mouth and swallow and nothing was in his mouth when I checked it. I didn't know he had found paper clips until I saw something go in his mouth, and then I found the slobbered on ones and looked for one in his mouth. I was horrified that he'd apparently eaten one, and while I watched, he picked up another one and stuffed it in his mouth, and I promptly removed it. He giggled. Scary. I am sure he swallowed something but maybe it was a piece of dog food or some other surprising non-metal office supply that will show up in his diaper over the weekend. His x-ray was clear and the doctor said not to worry about a thing.

He was so good at the ER. Not a single tantrum, even when I wanted to throw one for having to wait so long. He chatted up the other patients and occasionally asked us for "eat" and "juice" which we couldn't give him. When we left the hospital, we went straight to the nearest drive-thru and got him a kid's meal, but the line was slow and he was crying for juice so I hopped out of the car and walked to the gas station next door to buy juice for him. David said he'd almost cried himself sick while I was gone. Poor little guy. He hadn't eaten in twelve hours and I know he was starved. He ate for pretty much the entire drive home and fell asleep one mile from the house. He didn't wake up when I changed his diaper or put his pajamas on, and he stirred briefly when we picked him up to put him in the crib, but then he rolled right over and went to sleep clutching his beloved Froggy (who almost got x-rayed tonight as well since Dennis didn't want to let him go). We are all home safely now, none the worse for our adventure. Here's hoping he eats only food items from now on...