Burns and Birthdays

On Thursday I got a call at work that was really unnerving. Jennifer called and you could tell she was upset. Grace was in the background crying, so I knew something bad had happened. Jennifer told me Grace had burned three of her fingers on the stove and wouldn't stop crying. She told me Grace wouldn't let her do anything to her hand. She wouldn't let her put ice on it, clean it, or anything. She called me wondering what she should do, and I didn't have any idea. She had already called the doctor, and they had pretty much told her to put Grace's hand in some water, but there wasn't much more we could do for her. The burn wasn't too bad, so it was just the pain that was bothering Grace. Jennifer was finally able to get Grace to calm down by giving her a pacifier. It was the same thing we did months ago when she had a procedure to remove a cashew she had inhaled from her lung. Other then that time, she hasn't had a pacifier since she was 1. Occasionally she'll grab Logan's and put it in her mouth, but we always take it from her. She just chews on them anyway. Jennifer said once she got Grace calm and focused on something, she took the pacifier away.

I felt bad for Grace getting hurt, because we had snow on Thursday. Not a lot, but enough that she got excited about it. She saw lots of snow while we were in Michigan, but our schedule while we were there made it all but impossible for her to get to play in it much. Besides, the weather was just WAY to cold up there.

Thursday morning, I went in an picked Grace up and opened her Window to show her the snow. She started screaming, "Snow! Snow!". Then she noticed my car was covered and told me I needed to go clean it off. I went to finish getting ready for work, and when I came back out, Grace was missing. She had put her shoes on and was out on the deck (You see, we used to fuss at her for going outside and told her she had to come in because she didn't have any shoes on. Now she puts on her shoes before she goes outside without us knowing. She's clever, that one.). When I went out on the deck to get her, she looked at me, grinned really big, and started bouncing and giggling in the snow. "I like! I like!" she screamed as only a excited toddler can. It was adorable.

Yesterday was Logan's first birthday. It is hard to believe the kid was born a year ago, but then again it almost is since this year has gone by so quickly. Staying at the hospital with Logan is such a blur, because it went so quickly and smoothly. Grace had difficulty passing her hearing test, had difficulty nursing because of a lump of skin in her mouth that was removed while we were in the hospital, and Jennifer had a much harder recovery. Logan popped out, ate fine, pooped fine, and Jennifer was better overnight. We went home much sooner.

I also recall that Jennifer and I were much more relaxed with Logan. With Grace, Jennifer seemed to have this compulsive thing about keeping Grace in the room with us. With Logan, we didn't have a problem pushing him back to the nursery so we could enjoy our dinner in quiet or get a good nights sleep. We knew we'd get plenty of sleepless nights and screaming at home. Boy did we ever. A year in and he's just now starting to wake up once a night.

The party yesterday was hectic, but fun. We had 12 adults and 6 kids (including ours) in this trailer. It was a little cramped at times, but the kids stayed in other rooms playing for the most part so that helped out. We had this Italian dish that Logan really loves. It is chicken, marinara, and polenta. Most everyone seemed to like it. We knew it was a little bit of a different dish, but we figured that it was only weird in name. The taste is very nice. Basically, it is like eating marinara and chicken on top of a cheese sauce.

Logan got a lot of clothes, because that is what we asked for. With is birthday so close to Christmas, it didn't make much sense to get more toys.

Oh, we also managed to get some games of Wii bowling in during the party and I have big news...I went PRO in bowling!!! Finally. Yep, it only took me a year (good grief). Now if I can maintain it. I woke up early this morning and played a few games. I have my pro status up to about 1,049 for the time being. That should give me some wiggle room.