Gunnar was doing one of his signature dance moves: an arms in the air spin with both eyes closed. It gets a moderate to low difficulty rating and he generally pulls it off. Just not this time. I'm guessing that the double ear infections (diagnosed earlier that morning in the doctor's office) threw off his equilibrium . . . because he punched the coffee table with his face.
Immediately there was screaming - the bad kind. You know what I'm talking about if you have a kid. And immediately after that came the blood. Looking back now, it wasn't a lot of blood but it was enough to spurt down his face and to cause a mini meltdown in me. I freaked out. Especially when I saw the huge goose egg swelling up between his eyes.
I immediately ran to the freezer and grabbed the ice pack, then the baby tylenol, then a towel to put over the ice pack, then to the medicine cabinette again for something to clean the wound, then to the fridge for his bottle. It was about this moment when I noticed that Gunnar had stopped crying completely. And then I thought, "Oh crap. My baby has a concussion!"
So, I ran downstairs to the neighbors apartment to get another mom to help with some level headed feedback. She played peek-a-boo with Gunnar and the icepack while I called the Pediatrician. And she immediately said, "take him to the ER." So I grabbed him and a diaper bag full of a lot of things we didn't need and jumped in a cab headed to the hospital.
The triage nurse quickly took our info and shuffled us along to what they call 'Fast Track'. I must have first time mom written all over my face because everyone we met there made a point to say that I 'hadn't seen anything yet' and that they expected me back to the ER often with this one. Nice.
Fast Track is an area where everyone is put into tiny little rooms without doors along a hallway while they wait for the doctors and nurses to come by and treat them. If you are ever having a bad day or feeling too sorry for yourself, fake an injury and go there because I gaurantee you will find at least 23 people with something way worse than what you're dealing with.
By this time Gunnar was laughing, making friends with other wounded children and no longer bleeding. He was having fun.
The youngest doctor I've ever seen then came by and told us that we would have to put an anesthetic patch over the wound and then wait for 45 minutes and then clean it and then stitch and/or bond it closed. About five minutes later an older looking nurse came by and told me that Doogie Houser didn't know what he was talking about and cleaned the wound right there. She came back with another doctor who confirmed that the cut wasn't deep enough to constitute even a bandaid.
But they made us get an x-ray anyway. This was by far the most traumatic part of the entire hospital visit for Gunnar. I had to cover him in a lead blanket and strap his arms and legs down while the technician repeatedly tried to get a good shot of his forehead from the machine. It took a long time because Gunnar likes to shake his head "no" now when he's saying "no" and that's what he was doing for a good 5 minutes. No fun. But it was good that we did it because found out that he has a tiny little fracture right between his eyes. So sad.
Three hours and a hefty deductable later, we were walking back home to our apartment, another 'first' under our belts.
Gunnar had his first emergency room visit last night. I predict many more. He split open and slightly fractured his head. The coffee table won this round. I was on an airplane while Renae was at the E.R. I'll let her fill in the fun details. Here's to you Gunnar...way to be a tough little dude.
Gunnar and I just spent the entire weekend in front of the computer.
We are sort of in quarantine. He's got 'agripe'. That's Spanish for 'the common cold' but even if you don't speak Spanish, "a gripe" pretty much covers it.
I can't even remember the last time he was sick. Poor guy. But other than not sleeping well and almost dying at the mere sight of the nose squiggy, he's been in pretty good spirits.
(I've been making him wear his hat because the building doesn't have heat yet)
But the reason we've been in front of the computer is because this weekend was the 178th semi-annual General Conference for our church - and because Gunnar enjoys touching and destroying technology.
I LOVE General Conference! And not just because it means a Sunday of PJs instead of heels. Hearing our prophet and apostles speak is always an incredible experience. Chris is actually in UT right now for work but enjoying time with family and the privilege of seeing 2 sessions live in the conference center!
Since he's been out of town and since Gunnar is now sleeping from 6:00 pm until 6:00 am most nights (words cannot express my gratitude) I almost went to see Jenny Lewis perform at the Apollo on Saturday night.
That's right, I was going to take myself out on a date. I had the sitter. I had the ticket (center orchestra). I even had my hair did. But poor little Gunn woke up at 7:30 pm coughing and sniffling and not feeling good at all.
So, I canceled.
At first I was kinda bummed. I love all of her albums and really wanted to see her perform. But some things only mom can do. And even though I'm sleep deprived and my shirt looks like a giant handkerchief this morning, there's something special about walking the halls with a 24 lb toddler at 3:00 am. I'm not trying to be sarcastic. It's just amazing to me that my arms and kisses and love can make every one of Gunnar's problems disappear. I know it won't always be like this.
Last night when he finally fell asleep, with his head in my arm pit and half my body teetering off the bed, I laid there, awkwardly, thinking about how grateful I am to be a mom. I know, it's a weird moment to have such a thought, but I wouldn't trade any of my pre-marriage, pre-child, concert going days for what I have now.
Does this mean I'm getting old?
After an entire morning of YW church meetings Saturday, Gunnar was ready for some milk and major nap. I was ready for a sandwich and a major nap. And Chris was ready for some - skateboarding? Yep, skateboarding.
There's a skatepark not too far from our apt. It's a pretty good one. It has a nice half pipe and lots of other cool thingys to do tricks on that I'm not cool enough to know the names for.
Chris has been skateboarding since he was a little kid and even skated the same parks with famed Tony Hawk (there's a name drop for you). He's good - but he hadn't been on a halfpipe in almost 2 years! So, I think he was a tad bit nervous at first.
After warming up he got right back into the swing of things and even dropped into the halfpipe a couple of times. He did fall once and bruised his wrists up pretty bad but not as bad as Halloween last year when he fell on his stilts as witch-man.
Gunnar, on the other hand - loved it. Chris hopes to have him up on a board in the next couple years. I hope to have every part of his body padded and helmuted beforehand.
We had a great time.
But . . .
As we were walking home we ran into an old man I sometimes see in the grocery store. He's a nice guy but of the elderly sort that likes to yell at shoppers in the dairy aisle about the dangers of cheddar cheese.
When he saw Chris walking along with 2 skateboards he immediately went into a rant about how he should wear a helmut (which he does) and how 2 kids just died skateboarding on Riverside Drive last year. Followed by something along the lines of, "you punk kids are gonna kill yourselves on those dang skateboards!"
A woman who saw the exchange took one look at Chris and began laughing hysterically. Probably because she realized that he was 35 and not a 'punk kid'.
"I guess you're never too old to be scolded!" she said. I think Chris was secretly thrilled that someone confused him for being subversive. He doesn't get that as much these days as an obispo.
Sometimes you just need a little variety.
But, variety is hard when you are, well - let's not say lazy. Maybe more along the lines of, 'not especially motivated'.
When you are someone who is 'not especially motivated' at times, it is much easier to forgo variety and stay within a certain routine.
Like, for example, the routine that Gunnar and I have where we go to the same exact park 2 blocks from our house and play with the same kids on the same slides and swings and the same semi-nasty sandbox for an hour or two and then go home. It's fine and good and fun, but let's face it - even lazy people appreciate a little variety.
That's why we went all the way down to the bottom of Central Park and met up with my friend Caroline, who is amazing, and her 2 kids, Elijah (2 1/2) and Claire (4 months, I think?). The park down there is GINORMOUS. The sand box alone has got to be as big as our apartment. And there's a huge water park, tons and tons of swings and several items to scrape your knees and elbows on. It was great company and so much fun! Gunnar and Elijah played while Caroline and I talked and Claire slept the entire time.
After the park, I talked to my lovely sister Rhonda in Hawaii because when you're in the mood for variety - she's the one to talk to. She and I had a great conversation about diabetes, acupuncture, her fiance, Eitan and the labor intensive process of her conversion to Judaism.
A little proof for all of you who think I never answer the phone.
For those of you who don't know, my sister is an inactive Mormon who considers herself to be Taoist. She's only converting to Judaism now so that her future kids can be Jewish and her future in-laws appeased, not because she's found Elohim. (Although, I totally think He's finding her right now - but don't tell her I said so). She's getting married in Israel next summer so we're saving our pennies to go. Can't wait!
Rhonda, showing her awesome guns.
We did more things, but I used up all my motivation writing this post and I really need to finish doing laundry right now. Someone in our family is out of clean underwear so it's kind of a laundry (routine) emergency.
I guess there's a time for variety and a time when there's no getting around routine - unless you don't care if someone goes 'commando' for a few days.
That's the name of Gunnar's newly formed one-man rock and roll tween disney-esque pop group . . . of one.
He does the singing, song writing and drumming.
All he really needs is someone to play 'saxomaphone' and the sound will be complete.
Please, no applicants. We only want to look on craigslist.
Chris and I had only been married four months and were still in the bliss of newlywed-ism. I think the phone rang around 8:00 am? Maybe it was earlier. . . I remember lying in bed while Chris answered and thinking, "this better be an emergency. Who calls before 9?!"
All of my annoyance disolved the instant we turned the tv on and saw the the unimaginable tragedy befalling NYC. And our entire nation. We sat close on the couch and watched in complete silence and total shock.
Now we can see the 2 pillars of light they shine each year on this day from our front windows.
I don't think either of us ever thought we would live here, and once we got here we never imagined we would stay so long. But we really love NYC. We love the restaurants and the opportunities, the culture and the 'cool factor'. But more than all of those things - we really love the people. How could you not?
Gunnar has some mean uncles. We're teaching him body parts.
His mean uncles saw opportunity.
"Gunnar, where's your nose?"
"Gunnar, where's your mouth?"
He ate boogers.
10. Hang out in my bathrobe for an hour this morning instead of going up to the deck to water the plants. (As my sister, Rhonda would say: "Thank you Universe!")
9. Put on my really cool sleek rainboots and go to the grocery store with Gunnar. We needed laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent and lots of antibiotic hormone free organic whole milk. Also, I just love wearing rainboots. Something in me secretly enjoys stepping in the garbage juice, toxic, urin filled mud puddles without becoming contaminated.
8. Finally start using my Facebook account, or as my brother likes to call it: "The Facebook".
7. Watch a segment on the Today Show about a friend of a friend/fellow blogger (Nie Nie) and her family. I'd only been reading her blog for a few months when she and her husband were almost killed in a plane crash. Right now they are in the hospital recovering while their 4 children are with family members. Heart wrenching. Both of these women are amazing and they write blogs that are clever and inspiring and wholesome - something I'm much too whiny to ever do for more than one post in a row on LosPeterson.com. By the way, the pistol weilding Lucha Libre fighter on the top left corner isn't helping. (Am I the only one who hates that image?! Chris LOVES it.)
6. Cook and eat spaghetti at 10:30 in the morning and then have carnation instant breakfast banana smoothies at 4:00 pm. Followed by a radio dance party in the living room (of course). Welcome to Gunnar's world.
5. Allow Chris to record my voice for use on our website. Believe it or not - I actually have a pretty decent narration voice. My singing voice however, sucks. This has always puzzled me. How can someone have a good speaking voice but be a terrible singer? Conversely, how can someone with a squeaky, dum speaking voice sing beautifully? I'm sure only Scott Wiley knows.
4. Have a Young Women's presidency meeting in mi casa. It's the perfect excuse to make something with chocolate in it plus it's always fun hanging out with the women I volunteer with.
3. Vote in the NY primaries. I would do this if I weren't registered as an Independent. They discriminate against us here and don't let us do anything until November. It stinks but I just don't feel comfortable being tied to either party right now. (Apologies to my mom and dad and all the many people of my faith for not being a Republican. And apologies to my Aunt Linne, Harlem and all of my social work friends for not being a Democrat.)
2. Talk to my eccentric and authentic little brother, Jordan for the last time! Well, the last time until Christmas. He's entering the Mormon MTC tomorrow afternoon to start his 2 year mission in Las Vegas Nevada! Go Jor!
1. Blog. It's not really the #1 thing to do on a day like this, but it's what I'm doing right now.
