Monday, December 17, 2012

Dancing with Dad

Corinna, Corinna

I took these videos of Bubbles a few weeks ago when she turned 18 months.  These are pre-knocked out tooth: 

She's a real climber, just like her siblings.

Popcorn!


20121204_162344 a video by jbellis on Flickr.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Movie Star

Melissa made this fun video on Pivot Stickfigure

Shaving at the Dinner Table

My mom calls us all for dinner. When she asked my dad why he had shaving cream on he replied " You are not to be argued with at dinner."  It turns out he was preparing for a date they didn't go on because Mom wasn't feeling good.

Monday, December 10, 2012

A Bump in the Park

Jonathan took Corinna, Isaac, and Melissa to the park on Saturday so I could rehearse with my quartet for the Christmas program.  When they got home Corinna's face was covered in dried blood and her blonde hair was brown with dirt and bark.

What happened!?

"Corinna kept taking her shoes off and asking me to put them back on," explained Jonathan.  "Except about half the time I wasn't doing it right according to her, so she'd squirm away and try to put them on herself.  The last time she squirmed out of my hands and I couldn't catch her before she face planted on the cement.  She bloodied her nose, but otherwise seems okay."  Meanwhile Corinna munched on some chicken nuggets.  "Oh, and Isaac kept dumping bark on her head, so she'll need a bath again today."

Later, in the tub, the bathwater turned brown and silty so I drained the water and started the bath again.  Her scalp was black with dirt.  Two washes and two rinses later she was much cleaner.

After the bath, I pulled her shirt over her head, she started crying and blood poured from her mouth.  Horrified, I saw a gap in her mouth where her tooth wasn't!  Apparently she knocked her tooth very loose at the park and it was just dangling by threads until it came out completely.  I swept my finger in her mouth and couldn't find the tooth, so I grabbed a wet wash cloth for her to chew on and stop the flow of blood.  She was very distressed, partially from the pain, but also in part from the sight of blood, I think.  She settled down when she got a washcloth tied off with crushed ice inside.  Poor Bubbles!

Upstairs I found her tooth lying next to the bed where I was trying to dress her earlier, tooth, root and all.  I stuck it in milk and proceeded to make numerous phone calls trying to reach a pediatric dentist on a Saturday.  Good luck on a weekend!  Each emergency number from the various dentists' offices would only lead to a completely different dental practice until I was back to the beginning office again.

Finally our regular family dentist called me back after getting in touch with a pediatric dentist.  Apparently dentists don't replant primary teeth because there is a possibility that the tooth root will grow into the bone of the jaw, or that in the process  of replanting the tooth, the permanent teeth will be damaged.

So this is Baby's Bubbles smile for the next 4 to 5 years:


The gum is healing over but still tender and prone to bleeding if bumped or irritated in any way.  Corinna hasn't slowed down in the slightest and still runs, climbs, and wrestles with her brother, much to my consternation.  I'm still concerned that her other front tooth may be loose.  Or that she may knock that tooth out too since she has a slight overbite and her tooth pokes out a bit.  Oh child!

Thursday, December 06, 2012

The road goes ever on

Dad's cycling career is over. (I almost titled this "End of the road for Dad," but didn't want to give anyone a heart attack.)

He wiped out on some gravel doing 20+ mph on his bike. He landed on his left side and broke just about everything but ribs: hip, collarbone, fingers. (He is left handed so that is unfortunate.) He was able to call an ambulance and Mom afterwards.

This is his third (fourth?) bad accident in the last couple years. Mom has already extracted a promise that this will be the last: no more road cycling for him.

It's a real shame because I don't think anything gave him more joy than cycling.  Before the string of accidents started he was consistently doing fifteen, twenty thousand miles a year.  Impressive for a man half his age.

The hip is the worst injury. It was broken in several places, and needed a several hour surgery to put in a pin that reaches almost to his knee.

They want him starting rehab as quickly as possible, or maybe it is Dad who wants that more than the doctors. He made it from his bed to a chair today... in about twenty minutes, with the help of Mom and two nurses.

The plan is to move to an inpatient rehab center as soon as possible and stay there until he can get around with a walker. (Crutches are off the table because of the broken collarbone.)

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Isaac and the yuck

Rachel made enchiladas for dinner.

Isaac: "Dis yuck."

Rachel: "There's ice cream for kids who eat their dinner."

Isaac: "I eat yuck, I have ice cream?"

Rachel: "Yes."

Isaac ate the yuck without further complaint.  One is tempted to guess that having tried it he liked it, but if so, no such admission was forthcoming.