November 2011
Second Degree
Yesterday Brooke burned her finger. I had just pulled a pot of boiling water off the stove when I saw her reach out and touch the burner. Initially she hardly reacted. She carefully pulled her hand away and just stood there. No crying out or jumping around screaming in pain. For a second I wondered if she was one of those people whose bodies don’t register pain signals.
Finally, after several seconds of nothing, I said, “Did that hurt?”
Brooke: “Yeah. Really bad.”
Me: “Here, put your finger under some cool water.”
Brooke moved her stool over to the sink and let the water run over her now-blistered finger. Still no crying.
I was really impressed by her composure which continued all evening. Her finger hurt when it wasn’t in water, so I gave her a small container of water to put her finger in while we had dinner. As we were eating, Brooke lamented her new fate.
Brooke: “I can’t take my finger out of the water because it hurts!”
Me: “I know.”
Brooke: “So I just have to keep my finger in water forever?”
Me: “Well, until it feels better.”
Brooke: “When will my finger get better?”
Me: “It will take a while.”
Brooke: “Like lots of days?”
Me: “Yes.”
Brooke then mourned the things she would no longer be able to do because she could only use one hand. The amusing thing about this was everything she listed off were things that she only needed one hand to do anyway.
“I have to take a drink with only one hand!”
“I have to scratch my head with one hand!”
And, with lip quivering, “I can only hold bear with one hand!”
To the relief of all, the cool-water therapy worked and by the evening she was able to go to bed without a cup of water for her finger. Let’s hope she’s learned her lesson and will be able to resist the urge to touch the hot stove in the future.
After all — we wouldn’t want her having to drink one-handed for the rest of her life.
Eight Months
Spencer is eight months old. Eight months! Can you believe it? I can’t. Mostly because this means I’ve gone eight entire months waking up one, two, three, four, ten, twelve, twenty times at night.
The past week we decided sleep training was in order.
Spencer had made very little progress until last night. Ladies and gentlemen, Spencer slept from about 9PM to 6:00AM. I think he would have slept longer, but that’s when Dallas gets up and I think Dallas’s alarm woke him.
I’m hoping this wasn’t just a fluke because the thought of sleeping for longer than four hours at a time two nights in a row makes me giddy.
In other developmental news, he’s getting three teeth all on the top. Plus, he learned how to say ma ma which is really cute. He loves splashing in the bath and giving Dallas hugs when he comes home from work.
A Video
You haven’t heard from me in a while so I thought I would post a video. This is from when Ben came home from his mission and all the kids were putting on a show for everybody.