Humpty Dumpty

We had our first Humpty-Dumpty doctor's visit this afternoon. I only thought the kids were playing nicely in our living room, and I seized the opportunity to put in a load of laundry. Next thing I know, there is lots of crying and then Marci appeared in the laundry room bleeding from the forehead. (Yikes!)

We haven't yet had the occasion to deal with much blood in our house other than Osten's occasional nosebleed, which have become almost uneventful. I got Marci cleaned up as best as I could and got a good look at the cut on her head. It wasn't huge and it didn't bleed much, but the open gap in her skin just didn't look quite right. Because we had been trying to use the afternoon to work on potty training, Marci was in nothing more than a pair of practice panties and that was all that she would agree to wear for the car ride to the doctor. As an after thought, I convinced her to put on a pullup over her panties. She was quite a sight with her bloody hairline and bare chest! We swung by Daddy's office so he could have a quick look in the parking lot. He agreed that a trip to the doctor was in order, so off raced to make our appointment. It was a busy afternoon in our pediatrician's office, but they were nice enough to squeeze us into their schedule. Marci finally appeased me in the parking lot and let me slip a dress over her head making her a little more presentable. By the time we got to the waiting room, she was in rare form and playing her little heart out. I started to wonder if we shouldn't have stayed home, but isn't that always the way it goes . . . After about an hour of desperately trying to entertain both kids with very few tricks up my sleeve since we had to leave the house in such a hurry, we saw the doctor. He cleaned up Marci's head (surprisingly, she held still much better for him than she did for me) and immediatley identified her cut as a laceration. (Whoa, Dorothy. We ain't in Kansas anymore!) He offered a referral to a plastic surgeon, but we opted for the needle-free super glue fix right there in his office. A rather rough-and-tumble girl, I can only imagine that this is the first of various childhood contusions. (Sigh!)

By this point, both kids had swiped a pair of exam gloves and were trying to chase each other around the small exam room while wailing their hands above their heads like a couple of wild animals. I finally coaxed Osten into a chair while the pediatrician's assistant and I pinned Marci to the table. As expected, she was not happy! In a moment of extreme desperation and parental guilt, I promised both kids a trip to the toy store in exchange for their bravery and cooperation. I must say, they were both champs! Marci cried a lot, but she didn't wiggle a bit, and Osten helped me sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to her from his chair. It was quite pitiful as Marci alternated calling for me and Osten through her tears. Halfway through the song, his curiosity got the best of him, and I noticed a couple of toddler-sized gloved fingers waving around between the assistant and me, and it provided the perfect distraction for Marci. (Hallelujah!)

Luckily, the glue dried quickly and as an added bonus it contains an anti-bacterial agent so there is very little wound care. (Wahoo!) The kids collected their stickers and lollipops, took a few laps around the room and down the hall, and then we made our way to Toys R Us. If there's one thing I can say about Marci, that girl is decisive! She immediately selected a plastic princess purse (with matching lipstick, keys, cellphone, compact and bracelet), and she never waivered during the next thirty minutes that we wandered the store looking for a set of Batman and Robin figures for Osten. Unfortunately, we had no such luck, so he finally settled on a gun-shaped bug vacuum. (Excellent!)

And in case you're wondering about the rest of the story . . . For posterity's sake and because I'm sure Marci will want to know the details when she gets older, in a fit of frustration Osten apparently pushed Marci and she fell into the corner of the fireplace. Luckily, it was covered with padding. Although I'll never know for sure, Osten claims (and Daddy and I are I inclined to believe) that Marci was teasing and tantalizing him while he was playing with their blocks. Of course, that is never a reason to push, and we have had LOTS of reminder talks this afternoon and evening about not pushing. I think he's gotten the message, and I do give him credit for 'fessing up and offering to kiss Marci right smack on her boo-boo in the midst of all of the bleeding. (After noting his sincerity, we decided that a kiss on her hand was a much better idea!)