They Sew Up So Fast

In case you hadn't already heard, Jake got his first stitches last Friday - three in the middle of the forehead.  I missed the event, but he was apparently not too keen on it.  Especially the part where they strapped him down to a board in a baby straight jacket.  Still, by all accounts he did admirably well, and "has the strength of a three year old."  By the next day he was off and running, and didn't pay any attention to his forehead for the next week - we just had to keep him from wrestling his stuffed animals.  This Friday he got the stitches out.  He sat quietly for it, which was a huge relief.  I feared he'd be back on the waterboard again.  Apparently, the week of cleaning the area and changing band-aids paid off, since he got used to letting me mess with his forehead.  The only downside - incoming molars (as best we can tell) put him in a bad mood for the day, and he did some headbanging leading to a slight re-opening.  Not enough to justify more stitches, thankfully.

Laurie hung in there with him through it all, but is clearly the more emotionally scarred of the two.  We passed through "I'm a bad Mom" phase on days 1/2.  The lingering effects are simply her reawakening to the Danger That Is Everywhere.  Not to make too light of it.  We did re-inspect our own home and are trying to get rid of the worst offenders - the many things we didn't worry about before he was sprinting everywhere and had the strength-of-a-3-year-old.  However, the accident happened at a park with Laurie standing right behind him.  I guess in some respects I'm a fatalistic father - I just hope that the many accidents and injuries in his future are learning experiences that we all readily move on from.  Even Laurie has to admit, though, that I worry quite a bit about his safety - just not in the same ways as she. 

An aside - his hair looks combed here.  I have no idea how that happened.

On a happier note, I think, the obsession with balls continues.  In fact, "ball" is the only word he says now, and he says it a lot.  Lots of other sound effects, mind you, but no consistent words except for "ball."  With all the practice, I'd say he's already pretty good at throwing and kicking - relative to a 16 month old, of course.  His strength-of-a-3-year-old (okay, last time) throwing technique does sometimes send him off his feet, of course.

Also, his Nana Mimi is in town for a visit, which is fun for all of us.  I haven't challenged her to my ritual losing game of Scrabble yet, as I'm trying to make ground on a research paper (procrastinating at the moment), but there may be time yet.

To close with, a couple of cute kid shots.  Enjoy!

Pre-stitches - he loves bath time every night!

The bike trailer box - he likes it much more
than the bike trailer.  Drat!