Venice Quote

Venice just came in to the office asking about her game pieces. I said, "I'm working, you'll have to ask mommy." She said, "But she said she's totally exhausted." Heh, I just chuckled :)

-Chris

Xander's first ER visit

Well, he made it past 2, but, tonight was Xander's first trip to the ER! Luckily he's completely fine... At around 7pm tonight, he and Venice were playing outside. We didn't witness it directly, so we're going off Venice's story: apparently Venice was on top of the play house and trying to help pull Xander up, when he slipped and fell. He was screaming in pain, and it appeared he may have broken his arm. We've never heard him like that before - not even when he put his tooth through his lip. We waited a bit to see if it subsided, but he just wouldn't let go of his arm, and was just really in pain. So, off to the ER.

We checked in, and already Xander was seeming to be better. At checkin they thought he did not have a broken arm, maybe something more minor, and we chose to still get checked out. We didn't have to wait long thankfully. While waiting, Xander seemed so much better. In fact, he was able to hang from our arms, push himself up with his arm, and so on. We were realizing, jeez, he's completely fine! A short bit later they called us in. The doctor checked him out, and after hearing the story said he had "Nurse Maid's Elbow", which is a funny term for a dislocated elbow in a kid. Apparently it happens quite easily with young kids, and often from them having their arms yanked in some way ( e.g. Venice pulling him up on the house). Interestingly, once the joint is popped back in, the pain goes away completely. This is what it seemed liked for Xander, and the doc suspects that in getting out of the car seat, that's when it may have popped back in (it's rather easy to pop back in apparently, and often can self-repair with just a simple jolt back).

Anyway, so they gave us some minor paperwork on it, and a parking pass, and we were out of there. From injury to being back home was about two hours - pretty quick for an ER visit! Xander seems completely fine, and both kids are asleep now.

-Chris

Venice: On having a baby

So, a few months ago, a friend gave birth to her second child. Venice had seen this woman pregnant for the entire pregnancy and then came with me to 'meet' the new baby. After our visit, on the drive home, she asked me how did the baby come out of the mommy's tummy? I decided she was old enough for me to give her most of the truth. I told her that the mommy pushes the baby out through where you go peepee. A horrified look came over her face and she shuddered. She replied, "Doesn't that hurt?" I said that it can hurt a little bit. She then said, "I don't ever want to have children." I proceeded to tell her how some mommy's give birth via C-section, or that some adopt babies. She asked more about adoption and I explained how some children need parents and some parents want the children. She asked how do they get the children, and I explained a little bit of the process, that they fill out lots of paperwork, interview, etc. The conversation was over at this point.

A few weeks later, we were driving in the car, and Venice randomly said, "When I grow up, I will not have children, it's too painful. I'm just going to fill out paperwork."