Party of Two: Bloody Wednesday

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

I dubbed this day "Wednesday, Bloody Wednesday" (a la Bono's anti-war anthem) because:

(1) Olli from Finn Pro came over to give me an estimate on some interior painting and as we were laughing and joking in the garden -- probably about my horrible, rusty Finnish LOL -- Ayize skipped past us along a stone path, feeling quite jolly, but caught his foot on a rock's edge and went sprawling onto the concrete patio at a terrible angle. He had been skipping on a downhill plane, so he landed on his face and even slid an inch or two on it.

It was awful.

He has had his share of bangs and bruises and blood and bumps -- and really, what two-year-old boy hasn't? -- but this was about the worst ever.

I scooped him up frantically, dashed into the house. His lower lip was swelling and he had two bite marks in it from his top teeth. His mouth was filling with blood. He was sobbing, "Ma-ma-ma-ma-owie-ma-ma" inconsolably between huge, shuddering sniffles .

My mama heart broke in a million pieces as I lifted him onto the kitchen counter, stroked his hair away from his sweaty forehead, and held him tight in my arms, telling him "Shhh, shh, shh baby, you'll be okay, it'll be okay, you'll be okay, shh shh..." He eventually calmed down enough for me to clean him up and I made do with what I had on hand -- some paper towels, ice in the freezer, and a hand towel.

But later that afternoon, at a park with Tamara where we exclaimed over his poor face, I snapped a photo. You can see how bad it looked.

(2) Well, no actual blood was involved here. But it was part of the reason Ayize got injured.

I -- and therefore, he -- got super excited about the bleeding heart plant we discovered in our yard. I guess I just thought it was gorgeous. Well, that and the fact that it was pretty funny that someone with my personality would have bleeding hearts growing in her garden, ha ha.

But as I was patching up Ayize's lip later, thinking about his happy skipping and general garden jubilation, the irony of the "bleeding" heart causing his "bleeding" lip struck me.

Anyway, ain't she a beaut!

That was the end of the "bloody" part of Wednesday; the second half of the day could easily be termed "beautiful" instead, because it turned out to be a terrific afternoon.

First of all, Ayize had a nice loooong nap. We both needed one by that point, though I'm not a day-sleeper. Still, he had a healing long, hard snooze -- and I took a relaxing mental break with the book I was then devouring, Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Two thumbs up, by the way!

Anyhow, he woke up raring to go so we hit Mason Park to meet Tamara, Brianna, and their sweet, patient pooch, Shadow.

First, a side-by-side climbing attempt (they didn't get too far).

Next, Ayize styled his hair using only the finest organic ingredients. I asked to see the finished product more closely, and he dutifully leaned over to give me a good look.

Hmmm. I'm thinking a bath tonight would be a good idea!

Clearly, he still had salon on the brain, so he approached Shadow and inquired if she would like a pedicure...

..."because, frankly, darling, you're getting almost as long in the talon as you are in the tooth!"

Nail inspection over (I almost thought I heard the poor dog sigh with relief), he moved on to hair and makeup. He gauged her need for an eyebrow wax (fair to middling) and inspected her eyeliner (sadly lacking).

She tolerated his ministrations with her usual resigned resolve.

Shadow, you are a true angel!

A busy guy has to keep his hands free, so I clipped his handy-dandy all-purpose alligator to his tool belt (i.e. the back of his butt). He liked this -- the better to try to force Brianna to imbibe of his sippy cup, despite her repeated, "NO THANK OOS"! Boys can be so thick.

Later, she snatched the orange Al away -- he remained completely unawares, it being behind him -- and proceeded to go hands-free herself a moment later. LOL

Was he trying to get the gator back or just showing some unwelcomed love? I'd have to say -- an equal combination of both.

Suddenly, a gaggle of gapers had surrounded "his" Shadow. How did he let himself get so distracted??

Clearly, he didn't approve of this turn of events one bit, and scowled fiercely at the crowd as he considered how best to drive them away.

He gave up momentarily and wandered over to "drive" the machine handle in the usually-occupied toddler play area. There are perks to having all the other kids at the park busy doing something else.

Next, Ayize and Brianna joined forces to help the big kids in this important task: repeatedly filling the seat spinner to the rim with wood chips, then giving the thing a big whirl and watching chips fly in every direction (and in everyone's eyes). Good times!