Here is the band-aid story that I promised to you in my post on July 31:
One morning in mid-July, Oo woke up and told me she had a bruise on her leg that stung. I took a look and saw a bizarre, dark pink blotch on her thigh that was obviously some sort of bug/spider bite. By lunch time, part of the blotch had developed a small water blister, and by bedtime the blotch was fully blistered—over one inch long and 1/2 inch high... seriously. The next day, I took her to the doctor, who was stumped as to what may have bitten Oo. The theory: perhaps Oo was having an allergic reaction to a bug bite. The prescription: give her Benedryl and wait for the blister to pop.
For the three days that followed, we found ourselves addressing the bug bite and a fever (from 99 to 102) with regular doses of Benadryl and Motrin.
After the blister popped, we used band-aids and Neosporin on the spot. Removing band-aids to put on fresh ones turned out to be the MOST traumatizing part of Oo having this daddy-tarantula bite* on her leg. (* Oo's self diagnosis.) Before I could even touch the old band-aid with so much as my pinkie finger, she would scream and thrash around. Band-aid removal was definitely a two-parent job.
One night Adrian was working very late, and the band-aid task was up to me, alone. In a moment of desperation, I decided to cut the band-aid in half through the pad, so that I could pull it off one half at time. Oo and I thought this was a great plan, and all was calm while I cut the band-aid and pulled the first half off. Immediately after pulling it off, however, there was a dramatic scene of flailing and wailing and dirty "How could you, Mom?" looks. And so it was decided that the other half of that highly waterproof band-aid would stay on her leg "until tomorrow."
THREE DAYS later, enough was enough. Oo's skin is sensitive to adhesives, so that half of band-aid, with its dark dirty edges curling up at the corners, had to go! I armed myself with lots of baby oil (to loosen the adhesive) and Adrian's assistance. The anticipation was too much for Oo. She screamed and kicked; she pleaded for us to leave the band-aid alone. While she was distracted (trying to throw a most spectacular fit), I grabbed the edge of the band-aid and quickly yanked it off.
Her immediate reaction to my cruelty: "WOW!" Followed by a smile and "That wasn't so bad." Oo was relieved and now at ease, but Adrian and I collapsed, doubled over from both emotional exhaustion and laughter.
(Note: Just minutes earlier I posted an old blog entry that I started to write back in June. If you have not already read that entry, scroll down now to read "Better Late Than Never.")
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Better Late Than Never
In June, I downloaded a few photos and wrote only four sentences before I needed to turn the computer off and head home for a visit with my family. Afterward, I forgot all about this blog entry and never posted it.
This morning I finally finished writing the entry. Here it is... originally from early June:
Okay, so this picture has nothing to do with the stuff I'm posting about today, but I just had to share. In my unbiased opinion, it's cute on so many levels.
I need to make this a quick post; this morning we're leaving for a car trip to see my "littlest" brother at Chippie's house and again at Nonny's.
Yesterday we went to the zoo to spend some quality time together. The day was beautiful and perfect for watching animals. Before getting to the zoo, we stopped at a neighborhood carry-out to get bottled water. Oo took a long look at the store and said...
Oo: That place is for DJs.
Me: Yeah? How do you know it's for DJs?
Oo: Because the last time we drove by, there were DJs coming out.
Me: How did you know they were DJs?
Oo: Because they were wearing necklaces and black shirts, and they had their hats on backwards.
(Sounds plausible to me.)
Last summer the zoo had a dinosaur exhibit that scared the pants off of Oo (it had life-sized robotic dinosaurs that growl and spit). But when Oo heard that the exhibit was at the zoo again this summer, she said she HAD TO go see it because it was her FAVORITE thing at the zoo.
At the main zoo gate, we were each inked with a dinosaur stamp on the back of our hands so we'd be permitted into the special exhibit. The stamp was enough to get Oo over-the-edge excited, but T had a different perspective as he stared at the blue dinosaur on his hand...
T: I want dinosaur OUT! It's stuck!
The kids had fun seeing the dinosaurs, but our trip to the zoo was during T's naptime. He's been slowly weaning himself off naps, and we figured that seeing the animals would ward off any sleepiness. Well, we were wrong. As we pulled him around in the wagon he became less and less interested in animals. Soon he was completely crabby and miserable. At the mere mention of monkeys, however, he perked up.
Our zoo is horribly spread out. To see the monkeys, you have to make a long trek uphill. It's quite a schlep, and there are no animals to see on the way. By the time we made it to the monkey house, T had reached his limit. To our dismay, the first few "cages" were monkeyless, and the empty cages sent him flying off the deep end. He threw himself down on the floor—arms flailing, feet kicking—and began screaming, "I NEED monkeys!"
After Adrian and I had a quick chuckle at T's expense, I scooped up T, tucked him under my arm like a football and ran through the monkey house looking for a monkey. Some of the monkeys I showed him were apparently not monkey-ish enough, prompting T to repeatedly scream "NO! Not a monkey!" The picture below documents the glorious moment when we finally found a monkey that was satisfactory.
After the monkey house, we ran back down the hill and all the way back to our car. T fell asleep on the ride home and again once we got him in the house. The pic below perfectly captures his exhaustion.
Lesson learned: Never assume naptime can be intruded upon by anything other than monkeys.
This morning I finally finished writing the entry. Here it is... originally from early June:
Okay, so this picture has nothing to do with the stuff I'm posting about today, but I just had to share. In my unbiased opinion, it's cute on so many levels.
I need to make this a quick post; this morning we're leaving for a car trip to see my "littlest" brother at Chippie's house and again at Nonny's.
Yesterday we went to the zoo to spend some quality time together. The day was beautiful and perfect for watching animals. Before getting to the zoo, we stopped at a neighborhood carry-out to get bottled water. Oo took a long look at the store and said...
Oo: That place is for DJs.
Me: Yeah? How do you know it's for DJs?
Oo: Because the last time we drove by, there were DJs coming out.
Me: How did you know they were DJs?
Oo: Because they were wearing necklaces and black shirts, and they had their hats on backwards.
(Sounds plausible to me.)
Last summer the zoo had a dinosaur exhibit that scared the pants off of Oo (it had life-sized robotic dinosaurs that growl and spit). But when Oo heard that the exhibit was at the zoo again this summer, she said she HAD TO go see it because it was her FAVORITE thing at the zoo.
At the main zoo gate, we were each inked with a dinosaur stamp on the back of our hands so we'd be permitted into the special exhibit. The stamp was enough to get Oo over-the-edge excited, but T had a different perspective as he stared at the blue dinosaur on his hand...
T: I want dinosaur OUT! It's stuck!
The kids had fun seeing the dinosaurs, but our trip to the zoo was during T's naptime. He's been slowly weaning himself off naps, and we figured that seeing the animals would ward off any sleepiness. Well, we were wrong. As we pulled him around in the wagon he became less and less interested in animals. Soon he was completely crabby and miserable. At the mere mention of monkeys, however, he perked up.
Our zoo is horribly spread out. To see the monkeys, you have to make a long trek uphill. It's quite a schlep, and there are no animals to see on the way. By the time we made it to the monkey house, T had reached his limit. To our dismay, the first few "cages" were monkeyless, and the empty cages sent him flying off the deep end. He threw himself down on the floor—arms flailing, feet kicking—and began screaming, "I NEED monkeys!"
After Adrian and I had a quick chuckle at T's expense, I scooped up T, tucked him under my arm like a football and ran through the monkey house looking for a monkey. Some of the monkeys I showed him were apparently not monkey-ish enough, prompting T to repeatedly scream "NO! Not a monkey!" The picture below documents the glorious moment when we finally found a monkey that was satisfactory.
After the monkey house, we ran back down the hill and all the way back to our car. T fell asleep on the ride home and again once we got him in the house. The pic below perfectly captures his exhaustion.
Lesson learned: Never assume naptime can be intruded upon by anything other than monkeys.
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