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Sunday, April 19, 2015

six stitches

WARNING! THIS POST IS GROSS. if you can't stomach gross, skip it. thanks.
 
 
okay, the only reason i am choosing to blog about this is because some day (i hope) i will want to remember this event, and maybe even laugh about it. ok, we are already starting to laugh about it. but it sure didn't feel funny in the moment.
 
 
on wednesday, april 8 we arrived at the farm for our weekly after school play date. this day was extra special because we were planning a surprise baby shower for a good friend. i had prepped stuff all day for the shower, and we showed up early to get set up. coen was playing with a friend in a cardboard box play house, and i sat down on the floor nearby. within 10 minutes of arriving coen tripped getting out of the box and landed on the concrete floor on his chin. he yelled really loud, the way he does when it is really bad, not just the normal drama. i was sitting so close i didn't have to get up, i just scooped him up and i saw that his chin was split wide open. we put a wash rag on it, and i loaded him into the car. he was really mad to leave the farm and he kept telling me, "it's okay mom. it doesn't even hurt. we can stay and go later."
 
the farm is a good solid 45 minutes from the hospital. he was pretty mad the whole way. telling me that he wasn't going, that it wasn't bad. we were taken back straight away and they put some numbing gel on it. he handled it all really well. whew, we would get through this. wes arrived shortly after us, and he waited with marin in the waiting room while i went back to the ER with coen. the dr took a look and confirmed that it was going to need stitches. coen has been glued back together a couple times, and he was expecting that again. when he heard the word stitches he totally lost it. he jumped up and hid behind the bed. in my best mom voice i tried to talk him down, but he wasn't having it. so i got firm, and used my "you don't have a choice" voice. that wasn't working either. i was wishing that the dr would just lie and tell him he was gluing it, but really not. it just got crazy, and coen was really really freaking out. i decided maybe i should go out with marin and let wes come in. but before i knew it, some big dude that looked like a security guard came in and took a bed sheet out of the closet. he wrapped coen's body up in the sheet and taped it from his shoulders to his knees. coen was SO angry. he was yelling and screaming and asking me to hold his hand. then coen spit in the guys face. yep, he SPIT on him. i was cringing in the corner of the room, and apologizing left and right. i  even stepped up and wiped the spit off of him. once they got coen wrapped up and laying down he started yelling, "oh shit! oh shit! oh shit!" again, i'm shrinking in the corner. as he is yelling over and over, i pipe up and tell him that we do not say those things. (because, you know this is a good time to attempt to parent). so get this, he stops and then he yells, "O. S.H.I.T!" he spelled it! no joke! this kid! ahhhhh!
 
it took the security guard and a nurse to hold the wrapped coen down, while he yelled and screamed and told them that he was going "slug them" and that they were "stupid, and dumb". the dr worked quickly, but i soon found myself in tears. i was so embarrassed of his behavior. i know he was scared, i know it was no fun for him, but it wasn't fun for me either. wes said he could hear it from the waiting room. just like that he had 6 stiches in his chin and we were on our way home.
 
coen, you are a survivor. you will not under any circumstance go down without a fight. this may be a life saver someday, or it may get you thrown in jail. i love you. i love that you wanted to take selfies in the ER. let's take it easy for a while.
 




happy easter!

an extra special bonus to our trip was that we spent easter with aunty mary and uncle dean! living so far from family makes holidays a little rough, and this felt like we were with family. we really enjoyed ourselves, and we hope they liked having us too!
 
night before the bunny, getting baskets ready. 





 
even trek was getting into the festivities.
 
poof! the bunny came, the kids are happy.





 
little bunnies helping with brunch.

 
coen's fav stuffy is a lamb (fleecy) the easter bunny brought 3 years ago. he was real excited to introduce her to his new lamb (punahoe) that the bunny brought this year. they are getting along well, in case you were wondering.
 
 
egg hunt time!











 
a perfect weekend, and a perfect easter with wonderful people. thanks for having us, we can't wait to come back!


oahu!

thursday after school we headed off to oahu for a long weekend with aunty mary and uncle dean. we love our trips to oahu. both kids were really excited to get off our island, i think they were having a bit of big island fever!
 
 
hanging out, waiting to board.
 



 
so the real reason we spent the weekend in a oahu was for mr c. he needed to have a sedated MRI on his brain. doesn't that sound terrifying? here is the background: he has been having on going episodes of telling us that "everything looks far away." and also that objects on the computer seem to shake. we had his vision and eyes checked out with the eye dr, and everything was perfect. since it seemed to be happening more frequently, our pediatrician decided it was time to rule out any odd possible causes. she also assured us that most often, this is simply the way a migraine manifests in a young child. they do not get painful headaches, but rather they experience distorted vision. this phenomenon is called, "alice in wonderland syndrome." crazy, huh? one morning before school i was standing in front of him and i was holding marin, he was sitting on the couch. he looked at me and said, "you look really far away and your head looks small." ummmmm, ok. anyway, we were doing the MRI to rule out something more serious, since you can't test for a migraine. MRI's are terrifying for anyone, so they sedate children coen's age. they don't do sedated MRS's on the big island, hence why we had to fly to oahu. we made it a big fun thing, and he handled it all pretty well. he was NOT NOT going to let them put him to sleep without a fight, but when you are being held down with a gas mask on your face, the sleep takes hold. he was yelling, "stupid! stupid! stupid!" through the mask as he drifted off to sleepy land. ha. i was so impressed with the care we had at kapiolani children's hospital. they let me hold him during the sedation, and walk him to the MRI. i was reunited with him as soon as he was out, and with him when he woke up. he was much happier when he woke, and they gave him as many popsicles as he wanted. they even brought by tucker, the hospital dog. other than being a little dizzy for a few hours, he came out of the sedation real easy. here's the GREAT NEWS, coen's brain was fine. no masses or tumors or any funky stuff that we need to worry about. so we can go along with the theory that he is experiencing this super strange thing called, alice in wonderland syndrome. i mean, it is coen. of course he is. #complicatedchild. (yes. i just hash tagged.)
 
playing go fish in the waiting room.

sleeping through the whole thing. thankful for awesome care. 

 
nom, nom, nom.
 
really mom. we heart tucker!
 
recovering with homemade bubbles with aunty mary.



the rest of the weekend we totally relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. aunty mary and uncle dean make us feel so comfortable. lucky for us, they have a grandson and that means our kids get to play with his endless amount of toys. wes went golfing, and surfing. i snuck away to ala moana shopping center BY MYSELF for like, HOURS! we didn't take the kids anywhere (except to dinner one night) and they never complained. it was delightful.
 
mama's day out. 
 
dinner on the waterfront with these wild munchkins.

 
ok, i asked them to sit still for a picture and marin leaned in and kissed coen. i captured it so perfectly. i can NOT handle his total surprise after. i will show them this is 10 years, as a reminder of how sweet and cute they once where.