We Might Owe Someone Money
“Blue how come you didn’t eat any of your lunch today at school?”
“I wanted to pretend to buy lunch.”
“You wanted to pretend to buy lunch?”
“Yep.”
“Well, what did you eat when you pretended to buy lunch?”
“Meatloaf, french fries…. carrots… and juice.”
“So you just got in the lunch line and pretended that you paid for lunch and they gave it to you?”
“Yep.”
“Do you know that’s stealing?”
“Nope. I was pretending.”
Did you buy or bring lunch to school as a kid?
123 To 94
Most of you folks on Twitter already know but I spent half of the night last night in the Emergency Room with Blue. Just before dinner he jumped off the couch (again) and landed on his head. He was having a hard time eating and falling asleep at dinner so we had him lay down. About an hour later he started throwing up, and acting really confused. Not recognizing Kristin or I, and really disoriented. By around ten, he had thrown up several times and was saying things that didn’t make sense, so I decided to take him in.
Almost immediately the doctor ordered a CAT Scan to make sure his neck and head were okay. It’s a pretty weird feeling watching your six year old slide into a machine that’s scanning his brain for injury. He did great and was half asleep during the whole thing.
After the CAT Scan we went back to the room we started in and Blue was hooked back up to the blood pressure thing and the finger thing to keep track of his pulse. It was pretty quiet in the ER which gave me some time to think and just watch Blue. I noticed that though he was asleep, I could see on the computer that his heart rate was around 123. I don’t know anything about medicine so I don’t know if that’s normal in kids, or even if that’s normal in regular people, but as I watched it I could see the waves of what I assume his heart beat was. After a couple minutes of watching, I reached out and started to rub the side of his face with my finger. Instantly I noticed a change in his heart rate on the machine. I watched as his heart rate slowed with every time I rubbed his face. 120, 119, 117, 106, 101, 98, 95, 94. I stopped rubbing his face and watched as the number slowly climbed back up to the 120′s. I started rubbing his cheek again and watched the number fall.
You see where I’m going with this don’t you? Blue was not even awake, and was completely disoriented with what was going on to the point of having a hard time recognizing his parents, but something inside him knew that touch and it calmed him down. Something inside his senses found peace in that touch, and his heart rate slowed down. Maybe it was the drama of the night, maybe it was because it was the middle of the night, but I instantly recognized the connection to something more spiritual. I started thinking about the peace that I feel some times in the middle of my disorientation. In the middle of my confusion. The times where even if I don’t recognize what’s going on, and I don’t want people around me, someone is there, rubbing my cheek and slowing my heart rate.
I love the moments in life where the definition of a “father’s love” is so evident. Ever since I became a dad I’ve noticed the Biblical connection to that “father’s love” become more and more real. It’s awesome to see how something like sitting in an emergency room because your six year old has a concussion can actually bring a sense of peace. A sense of peace that I have needed for a while now.
Anyway. Blue just woke up and came downstairs and is completely back to normal. He looks fine, is talking fine, and even has that six year old attitude this morning. Thanks so much for your prayers last night, and thanks for all the Twitter folks that blew my phone up after hearing about it. Community across the country still blows me away.
Yankees 13 – Angels 12
Blue’s team lost by one run yesterday in his championship game. They played the Yankee’s. You remember. The team with the coaches with man goatees that take things to serious?
Anyway, Blue’s team did great. They were loosing most of the game but came back to tie it up at the top of the last inning. Blue got on base all three times he was up and was somehow dirtier than every other kid. He got a pretty cool trophy and loves carrying it around and putting it places so he can look at it.
Now, I played little league growing up and there were always one or two coaches that seemed to take things a little too far. The way this league works is that the coach pitches five pitches to the kids and if they miss those then they are allowed to hit off the tee. Let’s just say that if it were any other league the Yankee’s coach would have been a great pitcher. He “struck out” every one of his kids allowing every batter to hit off the tee. Clever strategy I suppose. Either way we had a great time and the boys had fun.
We found out yesterday that there is a County Tournament for the cities best teams starting today that Blue’s team is in so it’s cool the season doesn’t have to end quite yet. I can’t say enough good things about Blue’s coaches. They have done a great job. I have no idea how they are able to organize twelve 5 year olds, but somehow they do it and do it well. I will have some pictures posted here as soon as I can.
I’d Like To Check You For Ticks
This morning I went in to check on the boys as they were waking up. Cooper had woken up and since he shares a room with Aiden I waned to get him out of the room before he woke Aiden up. If Aiden is woken up and doesn’t wake up on his own, we all pay for it the entire day. He’s the musician in the family. Oh, come on you all know it’s true.
So anyway, as I was walking out of the room Aiden started to look around and I patted him on the head to tell him to go back to sleep. When my hand touched the side of Aiden’s head I felt a little bump deep in his hair that felt like something stuck in his hair. Not wanting to wake him up, I just let it go until he woke up.
About an hour later, Aiden came into our room and I asked him if I could take a look at his head. I started digging around in his curly hair and found the tiny bump that I had felt earlier. I noticed it was a little brown thing that looked like a mole or something like that, but I knew he didn’t have anything like that on his head. I’ve seen his head with no hair on it and it’s never been there before. I started to realize that it looked more like a little creature and decided to pull it out. I grabbed it with my fingernails and did the twist pull thing that they tell you to do with ticks and out it popped.
A freaking tick on Aiden’s head! I wanted to throw up, but I was holding this little tiny creature that was, just moments ago, was sucking blood from my three-year-olds skull. I knew that these little guys are tough to kill so I pinched it between my thumb and middle finger nail. As soon as I did that I felt a quick, light spray all over my face and looked at my fingers that were now covered in smooshed bug and child skull blood. If I had eaten breakfast yet it would have been on the floor. So gross.
I checked the rest of Aiden’s head, and Blue’s and Coopers. They are all good to go now, but I haven’t stopped itching yet. I have a new understanding for that lame country song about the ticks. You know the one with the guy that plays amazing guitar, but sings lame lyrics. Yeah that guy.
Positive Post Tuesday – Cooper Tr3y
He’s the baby and he knows it. This is Cooper Trey. He gets what he wants when he wants it from his big brothers, and can handle his own when it’s time to wrestle. But he’ll also sit and play with your eyelashes as still as he can be.
Last night I went in to check on this little thing in his crib. He had torn apart another book, and was sitting there in all the shredded paper piles. He looked up at me with the sweetest face, which is how he gets away with things, and whispered, “down”, which means “up” to him. I picked him up and told him that he needed to go to sleep, so he grabbed my face and smashed our noses together and started a low, fake laugh in an attempt to be cute. It worked.
We didn’t plan on having three kids. In fact, we never actually “planned” any of our kids, but Cooper was the biggest surprise. The older he gets and the more his personality shapes, the more I realize that out family wouldn’t be the same without him. He’s the entertainment. He’s the “shake your head and smile” moments during rough days. He’s the sweet hugs late at night, and the laugh that infects the house. He’s a sweet guy and I’m glad we get to keep him. We love this little thing. He’s a perfect addition to our crazy family. Here’s a video Kristin put on her blog last Tuesday introducing you to our MiniCoop.
Welcome to Tuesday again. For those of you just showing up here’s how it works. It’s pretty simple. (1) Write something nice about someone, building them up, encouraging them, you know.. being nice. (2) Fill out the box below.
*Make sure that you put the URL of the “Positive Post” not just your blog. That way people can find that specific post if they come back to read them later in the week. It should look like this – “yourdomain.com/the-name-of-your-post”*
Have Fun.
He’s Like A Superhero
Yesterday we took Blue up to a doctor in Nashville to get a hard cast for his ankle. We were stuck in traffic for a while so we were a little late, but got there and signed in. After about ten minutes in the waiting room we were asked to come back to see the doctor. A few pulls and twists, and a use of some sort of tuning fork thing, the doctor wanted to x-ray both feet together.
I took Blue in and laid him on the table. He sat as still as he could while the x-rays were being taken, and then we went back to the room. After about ten minutes, the doctor came in and explained that Blue’s ankle was no longer broken. He couldn’t find anything wrong and there was no need for a cast or even the brace that Blue had been wearing. The doctor asked if we brought his other shoe because there was no reason he couldn’t wear it home. He also said he didn’t see a problem with Blue playing baseball this weekend. No pain, no break in the x-ray, everything seemed normal.
Huh. I remember hearing about quick healing in an X-Men movie. We are talking about installing the unbreakable metal claws later this month.
Baseball
Last night was the first night of Blue’s baseball practice. We got the glove, the shoes, the bat, and made our way to the field to meet his team. Blue did great. He gave appropriate high-fives, rolled around in as much dirt as possible, and even hit a “home run”. His team is the Angels, despite his vote for the team to be called the “Mighty Warriors”.
I haven’t had much time to get excited about Blue’s first baseball season, but after going to his first practice yesterday, I am totally excited about the season and watching him play. We have already practiced this morning in the living room and we are getting ready to head outside for a little more practice. I played baseball from the time I was seven until I graduated high school, so it’s fun to start that that all over again.
