The Joker

Samson's school called on Tuesday afternoon to report that he had tripped and fallen, hitting his chin on a table and biting through his lip. Mama rushed to school to assess the damage and found Samson and three teachers with blood spattered shirts and shorts, yet Samson was as cheerful as ever. Since the deep cut went into the white part of his face (yikes!), stitches were in order. Off we went to our first visit to the ER across town at Dell Children's Medical Center.

Here Samson enjoys the waiting area, watching cars in the parking lot and the fish in the aquarium. Tough guy seemed completely oblivious to the gaping bloody gash on his face.


The staff and protocols at Dell Children's were as kid-friendly as could be, so we were as comfortable as possible given the circumstances. The wait in the general waiting area was no more than 10 minutes or so, then we were whisked into our private exam/procedure room, complete with cable TV on a flat screen. Samson was as cool as a clam while the kind doctor looked him over, peeking in ears, eyes, & nose, and then even touching all around the injury. A child-life specialist came in next to show us what would happen during the stitching, giving Samson the chance to see and touch many of the tools to be used and to see Mama & Daddy pretend to get operations.

Of course, no amount of tender preparation could head off the awful shrieks and tears once our poor little buddy was wrapped onto the papoose board and a giant needle was inserted into his upper gums to block the nerves on that side of the face. As Samson screamed, the child life specialist coached Mama on distracting him with some books, toys, and favorite songs. Three stitches were put in place and thankfully we were out of there within two hours of our arrival.

Here's the result. It's still a little swollen, but we expect the lip to heal up nicely and show very little scarring.

Beach Baby, Beach Baby

Splashing in PawPaw's Pool

Before heading out to our vacation at the coast, we stopped for an overnight visit at Grandma & PawPaw's big new house. Uncle Kevin and cousin Bridget joined us for a dip in the backyard pool.


As usual, Samson was fearless in the water, this time even jumping in from the side of the pool into Daddy's arms and begging to be tossed up into the air again and again. Looks like he's got Daddy's swimmer gene.

A little off the top

When you realize that your baby is veering dangerously into Cozmo Kramer territory...
It's probably time to admit that a haircut is in order. Now you might be tempted to go for the do-it-yourself trim and save a few bucks, but that hasn't worked so well in our family.

Exhibit A:

Bang Trim by PapPaw, Post 6 Pack of Schlitz, 1976

So this morning, Samson and Mama took a trip to KAOS, aka Kids Are Our Specialty, to see Miss Yvonne.

At first we tried sitting on one of the cool motorcycle chairs, but Samson decided he'd rather sit safely in Mama's lap and sip a juice box as the scissors clipped away. In less than 7 minutes, the new do was complete.

Afterwards, Samson was like, "Hey, nobody told me they had CAR chairs. I coulda sat in this CAR all day, man!" Sorry, SammyPie, but Mama figured Daddy wouldn't be too thrilled with you having your strength shorn away while perched atop Barbie's pink Jeep....

Before we left, Miss Yvonne gave us a lovely "1st Haircut" certificate, an envelope full of golden curls, and a first lollipop for the boy. Yummy cherry Dum-Dum!

Calm down, safety nuts. The choking hazard was removed &
seatbelts were buckled securely before the car was put into motion.

This is how I say "truck" and "kitty"

So, at this point, "truck" is a nasally "crnk" and "kitty" is "kee." Hey, we know what he's saying!

Samson's other vocabulary is really starting to pick-up now, and he understands even more words that he hasn't yet attempted to say. Along with his new verbal skills, he has also begun using his sign language much more. For example, he loves to say "mo" for "more" and at the same time (or whenever someone else says the word) do the hand motion for "more." Another communication game he loves is to point at Mama and say, "Mama!" and then point at himself and wait for Mama to say, "Samson!"

Here are some of his other favorite words of the past couple of weeks:

• Mmm! = yum
• Ahhh! = refreshing (after taking a swig of beverage)
  
• num-num = yum-yum
• brrr = cold
• haah = hot
• opp = up
• puh-zaa = pizza
• teess = teeth
  
• caa = car
• ba = ball
• haa = hat
• gah = goat (maybe this is a cross between "goat" and "baa")
• shish = fish (for fish and any cheese-flavored cracker regardless of shape)
  
• Hi! (to be said whenever passing anyone in public or upon seeing Mama after being out of sight for any length of time)
  

Ride 'em, cowboy!

Today outside the Babies R Us. Fifty cents buys thirty seconds of adventure.