Bloody Monday

Last week we got a recall notice from Toyota about our Prius. I was a bit busy what with finding a babysitter for the Supply Corps Ball (post about that soon to come) and taking Ela for her one year check up. So yesterday, I tracked down a Toyota dealer and got an appointment. The fix was supposed to take an hour, so I gathered up books and toys to occupy a one year old and we headed off.

We managed to find the dealership, and most of the hour wait was completely uneventful. Ela charmed the other customers and toodled around doing her thing. We had enjoyed 40 normal minutes when I noticed Ela looking at something on the floor. I looked closer at the something and discovered it was a razor blade. I immediately got up to grab it and set it on a counter, out of range of little fingers.

I was too slow.

Ela picked up the blade without cutting herself, miracle of miracles. I grabbed it and tried to pull it from her hand and somewhere in the struggle, she sliced open her right index finger.

She only cried for a second. I pulled baby wipes from my diaper bag and started wiping her up, but she was bleeding pretty bad. A Toyota employee noticed my plight, and went for a first aid kit. Together we made several attempts to put a band aid over the cut, but 1) it was a bloody mess and 2) Ela kept pulling away or pulling off our attempts. Four band aids and a lot of blood later, I decided that I was going to have to take her to a doctor, and the sooner the better.

By this time, my car was done. The guy who had serviced the car took up the cause of helping me with my bloody baby, and I think the manager even came over to survey the damage. I figured I was close enough to the clinic where Ela had gone for her one year check up, I’d just go by and ask for a consult on the finger. They don’t do emergency care there, but I didn’t know for sure that she’d need stitches. What little I could see of the cut didn’t look super bad, I just wanted to make sure.

So I paper toweled the back seat so that the blood would be contained, and got Ela into her seat. The drive was probably the worst part of my day. I was frantic with worry and I didn’t really know where I was going, so I got lost twice before I found the place. Every time I’d look back to check on Ela, I’d see all the drying blood on her hand and get even more worried. Thankfully, Ela was completely calm when we weren’t messing with her hand. In fact, having smeared blood all over her face and arms, she fell asleep in the car (which only worried me more).

She was awake again when we got to the clinic and I took her in. Unfortunately, the doctor was not in, but the two nurses who were in the pediatrics were happy to have a look. Ela played happily as the nurse took her vitals. I had way too much nervous energy, so I worked on cleaning the blood off of her (and everything she touched) while they worked. The first nurse thought she’d be okay with just a bandage, but then the head nurse took over and, an hour now since it was actually cut, the darn thing was still bleeding pretty constantly. This, she said, was not a good sign. So she bandaged it up and gave me directions to the nearest hospital.

This whole mess started at 2:00ish. By now it’s 3:30, so I call Zack to tell him we probably won’t be home when he gets there. Zack doesn’t do blood. Period. He hates the stuff. So I mention bleeding and he kind of loses perspective. Despite my assurances that the baby will survive, he begins worrying himself silly. Ela falls asleep in the car again. Still completely unphased. I love that little girl.

She’s still asleep when I arrive a the hospital, so I enter the emergency room in a bloody shirt carrying a comatose child. The nurse in triage didn’t even let me get the registration form, she called me over to make sure the baby was okay. Ela opened her eyes to see what was going on, and sat up for me, which reassured the nurse.

We filled out some forms and then we waited. The triage nurse got us registered complete with hospital bracelet. Then we waited some more. We called my Mom to pass the time. Zack called us to lower his blood pressure and make sure Ela still had some blood left. At 4:40 we finally were taken in to see a doctor.

By this time, Ela is cranky from lack of afternoon nap. I’m a little wiped out from the adrenaline rush that is long gone. The doctor takes the band aid off, and miracle of miracles, it’s not bleeding any more. She suggests some Dermabond. For those of you who don’t take regular trips to the ER for bleeding wounds, it’s like glue for skin. I was delighted that no stitching would be necessary. She went to get the stuff to stick the cut back together.

Of course by the time she returned, the cut was bleeding again, and if it’s too bloody, they can’t glue. Ela was wiggling like crazy trying not to pass out, and nursing her to get her to hold still wasn’t working anymore. Somehow, we managed to get her locked into a still enough position to wipe her cut clean again and glue it. They put on 3 layers of the stuff and then set me to the task of keeping her still for 10 or so minutes until it could dry.

It was a long ten minutes.

Finally, the glue was set and we were ready to go. The doctor said we didn’t need a band aid, which was good news since it’s hard to keep Ela in them. However, she also wanted me to keep the finger out of Ela’s mouth. Yeah, right. She told me just to do my best and go with whatever worked.

So we got back in the car and Ela screamed for most of the ride home through rush hour traffic. Five minutes before we arrived at home, which was right around 6:30, she fell asleep again.

Completely drained, I arrived home to the smell of dinner cooking. That was when things started getting better. Zack had made us steak, potato and broccoli. Ela woke up when I got her out of the car, but was quite happy to sit in her high chair and eat a late dinner. Because the dermabond isn’t supposed to get too wet, we skipped bath time and she went to bed fairly easily all things considered.

Zack told me about how he had to call the help desk at work because there’s a mouse living in his desk. It would have been funny any day, but on this day it was hysterical. I laughed and laughed and laughed, so I didn’t cry.

Lots of deep breaths, and one strong drink, later, I finally calmed down and we all slept really well.

This morning, Ela was picking on her Dermabond, so I put a band aid over it. The glue is supposed to last about a week. I called the doctor to make her a follow up appointment. She pulled the band aid off. Before I could get another one on her, she pulled the Dermabond off, too. That stuff lasted 16 hours. Sigh.

The cut started bleeding again and I got to practice more calming techniques as I put another band aid over it. I needed a shower, so I decided to do that, then investigate. By the time I got dressed, the bleeding had stopped. The nurse, who called to follow up on our visit, said that as long as it’s not looking wide open or bleeding too bad, we don’t have to go back to get more glue. So that’s a relief.

So for the next few days, I get to try to convince a one year old not to keep her right index finger in her mouth or to take off her band aids. It should be good fun.

Just another chapter in the parenting saga.

Ela has a birthday

Last week, Ela turned one. I can't believe how fast the last year has gone! We had a lot of fun celebrating with Ela in a variety of ways. On Ela's actual birthday, her godfather, Rob, was around. We went out to do some sightseeing with him.

Rob also gave Ela some presents. The book about Dogs is her favorite for the moment, but the monkey made for better photo ops...

On Saturday, all the grandparents and some other family came up for Ela's first birthday party. Since Ela is a little young to be choosing her own theme, I decided to go for a Japanese theme. The hardest part was attempting cherry blossoms on the cake (and the picture refuses to rotate, sorry about that).

I also did a little bit of origami to decorate the house. I didn't expect this to be interesting to Ela, but it turns out she loves it. We still have it hanging, and I'll probably turn it into a mobile for her room sometime soon.

Even though it's two months early, I put out our decorations for Children's Day, since it's a Japanese thing.

And, of course, there was Japanese food to be had: onigiri (rice balls), sushi, pocky sticks, some baby cookies, and Miso soup (not pictured). We took a trip to the Eastern Market the morning of the party, and Zack bought chips and salsa, so we served that, too.

Ela, of course, was all dressed up, and seemed to enjoy all the grown ups giving her attention.

She only had one friend under the age of 17 at the party, her second cousin, who is a pro at this birthday stuff and helped her with the present opening process. I'm pretty sure we couldn't have done that bit without her help!

We got the cake eating ceremony on video, but by that time Ela was more interested in napping than eating. She really does like cake, though.

After cake, Ela took a good nap and the party broke up pretty naturally. I think the adults all had a good time, too. I certainly enjoyed having everyone around to celebrate the big day.

Ski Trip

Zack and his family have been trying to get together for a ski trip for about a month ago. We finally managed to get it together this weekend. So Saturday morning, we headed out to Virginia to meet his family. We met up in the early afternoon at the bed and breakfast where we were spending the night. We spent the afternoon walking around outside it, enjoying the nice weather and the animals who call the area home. This, according to Ela, says "Woof woof", just like all the animals at the museum.

We gathered on the porch in the evening for a family picture.

We went for dinner at a brewery recommended by the B&B owners. They were super busy, so they put us in a quiet area in the back, and Ela practiced her waitressing skills in the available space.

The next day, Zack, his sister, and his dad went skiing. Ela, her grandma and I took a shuttle to the lodge and relaxed.

It was a very relaxing weekend trip. We hope to repeat the experience next year. May be by then Ela will be up for a little sledding or tubing!

FFF! FFF!

One thing living in Japan taught me was that we tend to take the places we live for granted. While I was in Japan, I visited most of the island of Kyushu, and loved it, but when I'd ask my students what I should go see, they'd all insist that the area around Sasebo was super boring. It's the same everywhere; ask a native what to see in an area, and they're likely to start by saying there isn't much worth seeing. With this attitude in mind, Zack and I determined that we would not waste our time in D.C. We want to take advantage of the chance to see our nation's capital. So we resolved to try to do one museum/activity every week. We went to the national aquairum one week because of Ela's love of fish, and then we got snow dumped on us and the outings stopped. Last weekend, we started up again. This time, we went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
In honor of the occasion (and because I've been dying to try it) I did Ela's hair in pigtails. They didn't last even until we got out the door, but it was fun to try anyway. Now I just need better hair ties.

Ela rode in her stroller for a lot of the trip, but she did come out to sit next to her Daddy on the metro.

We chose the Natural History Museum in hopes that it would have enough to look at to keep an 11 month old happy for a few hours. At first, we weren't sure it had worked, even though there was a giant Sophie (among other animals). Ela has a small rubber giraffe named Sophie that she loves way more than the one in this picture.

But then we got to the Austrailia section and Ela saw a Kangaroo. Except she doesn't know kangaroo. She knows dogs, and that's about it. Every day, we spend a lot of time pointing at our Dory dog and saying "Doe Daw FFF FF!" Which is Ela speak for "Dory Dog Woof Woof!" All I have to do is say "Dog" and she responds with very excited Ela woofs. It's really quite entertaining.
Back to the kangaroo. We knew she was interested in it because she suddenly sat up straight and began emphatically saying "fff! fff!" We laughed a great deal and then told her it was a kangaroo. Of course, she's an 11 month old, so this produced no change in her behavior. We spent the rest of the visit telling her the names of animals, while she insisted that they all say "woof!"

See! It's a really big dog, right? Anyway, we didn't get to nearly the entire museum before Mommy and Daddy got tired. We intend to go back and check out, among other things, dinosaurs. I wonder if they say woof too...

Snow Days

Halfway through the great snow of 2010, we decided to take advantage of a clear day and see what the weather had done to the city. Here's what we saw.

Zack has better balance, so he got Ela. She had a great nap while we walked.

The sidewalks were mostly clear, but sometimes we had to walk in the road.

We picked up supplies at the Eastern Market.

The bit of melting that had already happened made for some great ice.

I just love walking in DC.

There were a few broken limbs.

And more than a few friendly snowmen.

Since the snow started again that evening, and we were stuck in the house for a few days after that, we were glad we got out while we could.

Celebration

Last Friday was a big day for Zack. It was his first full day as a 30 year old, and he also had his promotion ceremony. In the grand tradition of Zack's naval career thus far, it was super cold outside. Luckily, this ceremony was inside, so Ela and I got all bundled up and went down to the Navy Yards to be a part of it. First, Zack took the oath promising to uphold the constitution.

Then I got to put the new pins denoting his rank on his collar.

Then there was cake for everyone, including Ela.

That evening, we left Ela with our extremely kind cousins for the night and went out to celebrate Zack's birthday. We had dinner, then came home for more cake!

The cake was a banana split cake that I made. It came out mushy despite the toothpick being clean when I checked it, so I don't know what was up with that, but it was good. It was a really fun day, and we're very proud of Zack.

For More Options, say "Stop Baby!"

Today, I'm spending most of my day on the phone. I'm doing this because my entire to do list seems to involve calling someone. First, I have to get a land line set up at our house. While I'm doing that, I'll see if I can get a package for our TV as well. Once the land line is up, I have to call our security people and get that started (I know I really should have done that like a month ago). Then there's a call to the doctor's office to set up either a really late nine month check up or a really early 12 month check up for the baby. Also, I need to find out my teaching license number for a job I'm applying to, and that will take a call because I don't think I can find the piece of paper in our storage area at the moment.
I realized last night that I've been putting off everything on my to do list that involves phone calls. Why? 1) I expect to be hassled when I'm doing things over the phone. I'm not sure why I expect this, but I do. I figure either the person I talk to (if I'm lucky enough to get a human) will be incompetent, or rude or both. Call it conditioning or pessimism. Either way, I hate using the phone to conduct business. I was glad not to have to do it at all in Japan. 2) Worse than the hassle of the actual business conducted over the phone is the automated menu that always precedes it. I hate trying to pigeon hole myself before hand. And as often as not, I've found that I really don't fit the menu options, at least lately. For example, I call Verizon to get a phone line and TV added to our internet. The menu says, "For phone information, press 1. For TV press 2." Which do I press?
I have learned a trick to make this easier, though. I'd heard that with the voice menus, mumbling will get you sent to a real human. And guess what? It works! I kind of found this out by accident. I was on the phone and watching Ela, and I said "No, honey, come away from there." instead of "Yes" or "No" and it said, "I'm sorry, I didn't understand that." so I thought I'd keep trying. Three mumbles later, I had a human to talk to. Yay! So now I tend to revert to that as soon as the menu gets frustrating. I realize this might be a very old trick, but I probably never would have tried if I hadn't been playing with the baby while calling.
If I ever figure out how to make the humans less frustrating, I'll be sure to let everyone know.