Boo Boo, Boo Hoo

I broke in the Boo Hoo Pot. It was ironic, really. Last week I asked a friend who's lived here a while if she could recommend any pediatricians to me. She not only recommended their doctor, but asked her MOPS friends and got me SEVERAL great doctors. It was such a big help! I sent her a message two days ago to thank her for the awesome list, and happened to mention that I was glad no one "needed" a doctor right now, so I have some time to figure it out.

Ha.

That afternoon we were reading our library books right before nap time. Lily had had a Day, let me tell you. For no other reason than that she's (almost) two, she had just had one of those Days, you know? Well, we were about halfway through our books and everyone was sitting in front of me, Lily next to Hudson. Then, for no particular reason, other than she's (almost) two, Lily reached over, grabbed Hudson's hand, picked out a finger, and BIT. HARD. This all happened so fast, I saw it out of the corner of my eye (I was reading) but I didn't know what was going on until I heard the scream. I turned to see her clamped down on Hudson's sweet finger, and she was biting with all the force she could- so hard it left no doubt in my mind she'd broken it, and I'm not exaggerating. Yes, my daughter. My daughter bit her brother.

I scooped him up and called Jim at work. The Boo Hoo moment began.

1.) I don't know the actual number for Jim's office yet, I always just call his cell and leave him a voicemail and he calls me back, since his phone is off at work. So, I had to go online to find it, with a screaming Hudson in my arms and a screaming Lily in the background.

2.) The call confirmed that he could rush home right away so I was able to call and make Hudson an appointment at the doctor asap. (At this point Hudson let me bend his finger without extra tears and screaming, so I believed it wasn't broken, just badly hurting, but I wanted a professional to tell me that.) Oh, but wait, I don't know a professional. Dr. Diehl, the greatest doctor ever, who always knows each of us by name, and her staff does too, greeting us with warm smiles and excellent care- Oh, yes. I'm in another city now and I have no idea where to take my son. I found a doctor at a clinic located in an area that I know vaguely, got the girls down for their naps quickly, and scooped up my baby with the now extremely swollen digit. I gave him ibuprofen, and continued to apply the cold pack I'd given him immediately after the "event".

3.) In a nutshell, to wrap this up: the clinic and the doctor were incredible, praise the Lord I randomly picked them- but I believe it was an answer to prayer. Hudson's finger improved a ton after the ibuprofen began to work, and though it was sensitive, it wasn't broken. Time and love should do the trick.

As my now relaxing, less-frazzled self drove home I thought, "This is my Boo Hoo moment!!" I got home, snuggled H in his bed for his nap, and brewed some ginger pear tea. I had about 15 minutes to set up the tea party before the girls would get up from their naps. I grabbed some whole wheat chocolate chip pecan cookies from the freezer (I'd made them a few days ago) and arranged all the other details.

Here's what the girls woke up to. It was, of course, a very special thing for all of them, but I really wanted to do something for Lily. I believe with all my heart that she had no idea why she bit Hudson. She's never done anything like that before, and hopefully (!) never will. She's just (almost) two. And sometimes we do things we don't understand. Oh, she was disciplined, but we know she also needed some grace.

Here's one of the girls' tea cups. As you can see, they prefer their tea heavy on the cream. I loved watching them dip their cookies into the little "tea" cups, seeing the look in their eyes when they saw the tea party, and the cups just for them. (They didn't know I was planning to have a tea party sometime soon, so it was a surprise).

Hudson's doing fine, and Lily's gone back to using her teeth for more appropriate things.