Still Three Behind His Sister

Our son has been getting more and more reckless in his bid to visit the ER for himself.  He has been there in the past with his sister but never for an injury of his own.  I guess he was jealous of all the attention his sister would get because his actions of late seem like those of someone determined to end up in the ER.

His crashes and falls have gotten more and more frequent and daring.  Hardly a day passes without a new shot to the head and a new bruise.  Two nights ago, it was a bruise on the forehead coupled with a cut eyelid.

The cut on the eyelid could not be cleaned as any peroxide or neosporin would ultimately end up in his eye.  We used a damp paper towel to see how bad the cut was.  He didn't like that very much but we were able to figure out the cut didn't need any special treatment.

So last night, he decided to pull out all the stops.

While the rest of the family was in the kitchen, Caleb was running around the house.  We didn't actually see the fall but we heard it.  It was a very loud crash in the living room.  Then the screams started.  These were not the normal I hurt myself screams.  These reached a new level for Caleb.

I picked him up and started the blood check.  There was no blood.  What I found was the largest knot on some one's head I can ever remember seeing.  It was right in the middle of his forehead.

We had to make a quick decision on what to do.  Over the last five years I have seen enough cuts, bruises and head trauma that I could probably work triage at a pediatric ER but this thing was huge.  It stuck out close to 1/2 inch. 

I quickly went through concussion signs.  He never passed out.  He started screaming immediately on impact.  He wasn't throwing up and he was tracking things fine with his eyes  Nothing pointed toward a serious problem but man, that thing was huge.

Looking at it, Kerry wondered if we should call 911.  Considering he had no concussion signs, we decided that would be a bit much.  However, as I told the triage nurse, while I would be willing to bet my house that nothing was seriously wrong, I was not willing to bet my son's health on it.  So, off the ER Caleb and I went with me praying along the way.

Caleb was calm on the trip to the ER.  It was his bedtime and I think he just wanted to sleep but he was still awake when we arrived.

Checking patients in at the ER desk last night was a nurse.  He took a quick look at Caleb, assured me it didn't look like there was any problem and checked us in.  During the check-in process, he called pediatrics to see if we could skip the line a bit considering Caleb's age and sent us to the pediatric waiting room.

We were quickly seen by the triage nurse and sent back to wait for our named to be called.  Maybe 15 minutes had passed when the triage nurse called us back in and introduced us to the doctor.  We had indeed skipped much of the normal process.  A process, I am familiar with from our daughter's previous visits.

The doctor looked Caleb over and told us there was nothing to worry about.  It was exactly what I wanted to hear.  We received our discharge papers and headed back home.

As we needed to check him several times throughout the night, Caleb stayed in our bed.  Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.  I was consistently kicked and punched throughout the night.

Today, Caleb has not slowed down a bit.  He still has a pretty good knot on his forehead and that cut over his eye.  He looks as if he lost a fight.  However, he has already started shooting for ER trip number two. 

As I have been writing this, there have been two crashes and a lot of jumping on the couch.  Maybe he is his sister's brother after all.

These pictures were taken by Kerry after we returned from the ER. 

Too Much Heat

It has been hot this week.  Really hot.  100 + degrees hot.  I know, my friends and family down south are laughing.  I can hear them already.  It been hot down there for a while but what they forget is we are not equipped to handle the heat up here.

I don't just mean we aren't used to it.  We aren't, but I mean the infrastructure as well.  This past week, NJ Transit had delays all over the rail lines because train engines would get too hot triggering an automatic shut down.

Then there is the lack of air conditioning.  I remember in Houston, there were parking garages that had air conditioning.  I am not joking.  Here, most people don't have central air in their houses or their apartments.  At best, most have a few window units. 

Our next door neighbor has a gas grill outside by their garage they cook on almost everyday during the summer because it is too hot to cook in the kitchen.

We are luckier than most as the back of our house is a fairly recent addition and we have central air back there.  The vents run into a couple of bathrooms, the family room and the play room.  We have one vent in the kitchen as well.  There is no central air in the front of the house or upstairs.  We do have a few window units upstairs though.

Our air conditioner in the back of the house ran non-stop for about 4 days and still the temperature in the downstairs area was 80 or above.  In our son's room upstairs where there is no window unit, the temperature would reach 98.  Needless to say, he slept in our room for several nights.

It has started to cool down a bit.  We still can't get much of the house below 78 but at least we've broken 80 now.  And things are looking up , tomorrow the high is only supposed to be 80.  Maybe we won't melt after all.

Friday July 2nd

Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, our town's fireworks display on the 4th was cancelled.  That display is usually held at a local park only 1/2 mile from our house.  It's an easy walking distance.  We were quite disappointed when we heard the news.

However, thanks to some community support and fund raising, there ended up being fireworks on the 4th but we were unable to attend as it was done at a local independent league baseball stadium.  We would have had to drive there and from what I heard, traffic was horrible.  Fortunately, the kids were able to get their fireworks fix on Friday night instead.

There was a concert in Brookdale Park Friday night with a large fireworks display afterward.  The park is about a 1 1/2 miles away so we could walk to it and not have to worry about traffic.  The concert was to start at 7:30.  We arrived about 7:15 and found some space toward the back. 

(Caelyn sitting on the beach towel)

We met up with some friends whose oldest son is Caelyn's age.  The children were excited to see each other as it has been a while.  With the exception of one incident, which will be described a little later, it was a very nice evening.  The sound system for the concert was not very good so the show was mostly background music.  It would have been better had we been able to hear the band as the kids liked them but they were having fun and playing anyway.

(Caelyn and Matthew)

Caleb was simply content to eat his way through all the snacks we brought.  This has basically become standard operating procedure for him. We arrive wherever it is that we are going and he proceeds to take out every food stuff we bring along.  You'd think we never feed the kid.

(Caleb happy to see more food)

As the sun went down and it got darker Caelyn and her friend Matthew kept playing.  They eventually started fighting with lighted swords we parents had been suckered into buying from the vendor traveling through the crowd selling useless glow in the dark stuff.  The sword may have not have been worth the eight dollars we paid but it did provide eight dollars worth of entertainment.

(The Force is with them)

The fireworks started about 9:30 and when the did, they started with a bang.  No pun intended.  Actually it was a series of very loud, very rapid bangs as they were set off very close to where we were sitting.  Caleb freaked and dove into me.

There is a large and thriving music scene near our old neighborhood in Brooklyn.  It consists mostly of parents who have put together rock bands with child friendly lyrics.  If you have kids that watch Noggin, probably 75 percent of the bands you see featured there are from this area.  As a result, we take the kids to see live music whenever we get the chance. They like to hang out in front of the stage or in Caelyn's case, on the stage, whenever possible.  Hence, we have some serious headphones to knock down the decibels a bit for them.

Caleb dove at me the instant the bangs started.  Fortunately, I had the headphones ready for him. I placed them over his ears. He calmed immediately, sat back and watched the show.  Caelyn was cackling and clapping throughout the show as well.

(Caelyn enjoying the show)

When it was all over, we said good night to our friends and walked back home.  Four of us arrived together and four of us left together though for about fifteen - twenty minutes, that wasn't guaranteed.

Which brings me to the one incident that kept it from being a nearly perfect evening with family and friends.  We lost our daughter.  More accurately, she lost us as she wondered off into a crowd of thousands.

Normally when we are out somewhere, I am always tracking our children's location.  It has become instinctive over the years of being a stay at home parent.  Occasionally, such as when there are more adults than children in our group, I can get lax.  So it was when I stopped in mid-conversation with our friends to ask if anyone knew where Caelyn was.  No one did.

Immediately, we started searching.  I did a big loop to the right of where we were sitting.  Our friend did a loop to the left and Kerry moved forward into the crowd while the fourth adult stayed with the other two kids.

After completing my loop, I went to the other side where our friend pointed out the police command center and sent me there while they kept looking.  I explained the situation to an EMT, who gave me to an officer, who led me into the command center.  I gave the officer a description of our daughter's clothing and showed them a picture from my phone.

They broadcast the information to the officers watching the crowd.  I noticed the officer in the command center had a large notebook full of descriptions of missing kids.  Our child was not the only one who had wandered off.

The officers who were there with me did a great job of keeping everyone calm.  They were very professional and went about their business with focus.  Fortunately, I received a call from our friend shortly after the radio call went out that Caelyn had been found.  Kerry had spotted her further in the crowd and ran her down.

I thanked the officers profusely and asked them to please disregard any screaming they heard as I planned to hug my daughter and then kill her.

When I got back to the group, I did almost that.  I gave Caelyn a big hug and then ripped into her.  She spent the next 10 minutes or so crying and apologizing for taking off.  I think she got the message.  After she spent some time being upset, I started to bring her out of it so she could enjoy the rest of the evening.

Four of us arrived together and four of us left together.  All in all, it was a good evening.

The Day in Cell Phone Pictures

Today we headed into the city.  We left late enough to miss rush hour but you are never late enough to miss Lincoln Tunnel traffic.

We went to Madison Square Park to see Hot Peas n Butter.  If your kids watch Noggin in general or Jack's Big Music Show in particular, you have probably heard of them.  It was a beautiful day and the park was full of kids.

Caelyn decided to head up front to the stage while Caleb decided to lounge around with me.

After a bit of relaxing, Caleb decided to work his way though every food product in the bag.  The bottle was after the Honey Comb, banana, and some other snack I can't remember at the moment.

After the show Caelyn got to meet the band. 

We then headed to the playground in Madison Square Park.

Caleb likes going up and down things.

I don't know where he is driving to but he seems intent on getting there.

Our daughter likes to pose.

Our son likes to pose as well.

No trip to the park is complete without a ride on the tire swing.

After the playground it was off for lunch at the Lyric Diner.

 

Chocolate milk is really good.

Upon our arrival home, we were greeted with Caleb's handiwork from the morning.

After his nap, Caleb decided to pick up where he left off.

What is Pollakiuria Anyway?

My daughter has lost her mind.

Seriously, this is not a joke.  I have the doctor's visit to prove it.

A few days ago, Caelyn started feeling the need to go to the bathroom an incredible amount of times a day.  Many of these trips produced little or no results.  As we have taught her to wash her hands after going to the bathroom, she has been washing her hands much more than usual. 

This has led to her obsessing about whether or not they are dirty and washing her hands for no apparent reason.  In addition, she has become more punchy and volatile than usual.  The slightest thing can suddenly set her off into hysterics.

As she has always been a bit volatile, it was the frequent bathroom trips that started to worry us.  Over the weekend she would sometimes go to the bathroom three or four times in an hour or spend fifteen minutes on the toilet trying to "get the pee to come out."

We thought there might be an infection of some kind.  Monday morning I called the doctor and set up an appointment.  Caelyn and I explained to him what was going on.  After an examination, it was determined that there is very little chance anything is physically wrong.  A urinalysis was ordered just to make sure but the diagnosis was Pollakiuria (where do they get these names?) or Frequent Daytime Urination Syndrome.  I'd never heard of it either.

It's cause is emotional stress.  Hence, our daughter has lost her mind.  I have no doubt she will get it back. This condition though, can last anywhere from a week to several months.  It is going to be one bumpy ride.

While it is hard to know the trigger for certain, it is our belief that this has been a direct result of the end of preschool.  Caelyn is a tough kid.  She can take a hit as well as any larger child but she is also emotional.  She was very attached to her teachers and her classmates.  Suddenly, that has been removed.  It has been tough on her.  Her doctor also believes that this would be more than enough to bring on this condition.

Every parent has heard the dreaded, "I have to go to the bathroom" coming from their child.  It is usually followed by the parent asking if the child can hold it or why didn't they go before they left.  When this condition first started to express itself, Kerry and I handled it with the usual amount of exasperation one would expect when your child repeatedly says they have to go and then doesn't.

This, it turns out, was the exact wrong thing to do.  It only makes Caelyn more conscious of the condition. This adds to her stress level which causes the condition to worsen.  It's a cycle that has to be broken if we don't want to spend the next few months visiting every toilet in the tri-state area.

The primary way to lessen and end the condition is to find ways to calm and relax your child.  The most important thing we can do is remain calm and not draw any special to these frequent bathroom trips.  No matter how time consuming or annoying, if we make her self conscious of it, it will make it worse.

Basically, if we act as if nothing is wrong and reassure her that everything is OK, she will begin to believe it and the problem will go away.

Here's hoping it will go away quickly.

(On a side note, we have friends who are really struggling with issues in their families.  They make me feel like a wimp for even writing the above.  Even if we are dealing with this in it's worst case scenario, we are still extremely blessed.)

A Recap

It has been over a week since I posted anything.  Here is a brief recap of the events of the last nine days or so.

Last week was a transition week. It was Caelyn's first week of summer break and the preschool void had me being a dancing monkey for the little one.  She had a bit of a hard time adjusting.  I also had to adjust to having a constant shadow.

Caelyn's end of school year celebration went off very nicely.  It was the Friday before last.  The kids did some singing, some dancing and received certificates of completion.  There was a party that followed.

Caelyn has been very sad with the end of preschool and had a meltdown the day before the year end ceremony. She just rested against me on the couch and cried so it was fortunate for us that shortly after the ceremony, we were off to stay with friends at their house in the Poconos. 

The Poconos weekend was a nice one.  We spent Saturday at the lake.  Caelyn made friends with another little girl and they played all afternoon.  Sunday was spent in Scranton at the Steamtown National Historic Site.  Steamtown is a train museum with a lot of old train engines and cars.  We took a ride in a 1922 Pullman car being pulled by a 1917 steam engine.  This was the kid's first train ride aside from the subway.

Last week itself was, as mentioned before, transitioning to new routines.  It consisted of errands and playground trips and house cleaning.  Nothing terribly exciting.

We visited Kerry at work on Friday and the kids kept large areas of her office building from being able to work.  I am not sure what was the bigger distraction, the World Cup or the kids.

Now we come to this past weekend. It too was pretty calm.  Saturday was the big day for me.  I got my fathers day present; a trip to Guitar Center.  As mentioned in the past, I am a terrible musician but it doesn't keep me from enjoying the racket.  The trip to Guitar Center was a blast for me as I got to play different types of guitars, some of which I could never afford.  I did however, come home with a new one that was a combination Fathers day/early birthday present.  Kerry, who was watching two curious children in a store full of easy to reach musical instruments, did not have as much fun.

Yesterday, we went to church and I received the father's day gifts my daughter had picked out for me.  Surprisingly, she had been able to keep it a secret.  It was Star Wars action figures.  Not surprisingly, she wanted to share them with me and I proudly did.  My little girl likes loud music and Star Wars, how did I get so lucky?

So that is the recap.  Caelyn is sitting next to me on the couch eating breakfast and Caleb is playing in the floor as I write this.  It will be more errands today.  Talk to you all soon.

The First of Four So Far

Our son is now 19 months old. For all those who took the over on his first trip to the emergency room, you win. The over/under line was set at 18 months by our daughter. That is how old she was at her first of what has been four ER trips so far.

To be fair, one of the trips turned out to be unnecessary. However, when a four year old says her head really hurts and she feels sick hours after cracking her head on the floor earlier in the day, you make the trip even if you think it's nothing.  Her first ER trip though, that was something.

When Caelyn was 18 months old she developed a fascination with spinning. I was in the family room talking to my wife on the phone while our daughter was in the adjacent living room spinning round and round.  It was really very funny to watch.  I was laughing about it as I spoke to Kerry.  I was laughing right up until Caelyn lost control and fell like a stone on to the hardwood floor.

I told Kerry I would call her back and scooped up Caelyn. She buried her head into my shoulder, clutching me tightly. I tried to move her head back so I could take a look but she fought me like mad. I decided to carry her into the bathroom to get a look at her in the big mirror. It was then that I saw the blood.

My shirt was soaked with it. Caelyn had it all over her clothes as well. At that point, I forced her head back to look at her face. It took a minute but I found the cut. It was clean, almost like a scalpel and it was deep. Her chin was split open. I called the doctor who sent us to St. Barnabas. After a quick application of a large bandage, it was off on the first ER trip.

Caelyn calmed down in the car. By the time we arrived, she was her normal self. We checked in and waited for the triage nurse to take a look. For some reason, the children's waiting area was unavailable so we were in the main waiting room. This actually turned out to be a blessing as the man next to us really needed something to occupy his mind.

He was waiting for his son to arrive while his daughter-in-law was undergoing emergency treatment after being assaulted during a home invasion. Caelyn entertained the man, even putting a smile on his face by singing, dancing and climbing up in the chairs and jumping off. You would never had know that a short while earlier she was screaming as she bled all over the place.

We eventually got called in to see the triage nurse. They took a look, instantly knowing stitches were necessary. We were moved to a private room. A toy was brought in to keep Caelyn entertained. The toy was loud and repetitive (it's a Diego field journal) but it was just what was needed to distract Caelyn as more nurses and doctors came to look at the cut.

Finally it came time for the stitches. Anaesthetic was given in shot form to the chin. Shortly after the shot, I saw the backboard being brought in. Because of her age, Caelyn would have to be completely immobilized while the stitches were put in place.

The nurses laid the backboard down and I carried her to it. The nurses and I had to hold her struggling little body down while they wrapped her in what was essentially large Velcro straps. The straps covered most of her body, leaving only her head free. She tried to thrash around but could not. She screamed and screamed.

All I could do was talk to her and put my hand over the straps holding her down. A nurse held her head in place as the doctor sewed up the cut. When it was all over, they released her from the backboard and she clung tighter to me than she had before.

The stitches came out two weeks later. It was a tense couple of weeks. I was nervous each time she popped her chin. Caelyn would get hysterical every time we cleaned the cut. Then, one week to the day after the stitches were removed, my fear came true. She busted open her chin again.

This time Kerry was home.  I took one look at the cut and we packed up and headed back to St. Barnabas for ER trip number two. This time, glue could be used to close the wound. So, instead of being strapped to a backboard, she could sit in my lap and the whole procedure was over before she knew what was going on.

Since that time, there have been two other ER trips. One for a hernia that required surgery (a story for another day). The other was for the above mentioned head crack. Somehow, given our daughter's personality, I think there will be more.