Shawna’s Whimsical Weblog

I find it hard not refer to the past 5 months as the “dark ages” where I couldn’t escape from the horridness that was my second pregnancy (SO much worse than the first). Let’s just say I’m happy that I have entered my third trimester and the end of being uncomfortable from one pregnancy-based malady or another is at least in sight. I had gone in for another anatomy scan yesterday to check on my placental placement, and I had them re-confirm that we are in fact having a girl. The doctor was worried my placenta might be too near the cervix, but it looks like the placenta had moved up in the uterus as they tend to do as a pregnancy progresses. Tim and I will continue to go through the alphabet in search of a name via the Baby Name by Country website. We’ll be doing “L” tomorrow. No, I’m not going to say what we’ve jotted down so far. You’ll just have to be surprised and smile and tell me “how beautiful” the name is when you hear it with the birth announcement.

Scar Tissue
Marshall may be the kid with the highest constitution I know. In his three years, he has never had a bad cold. No vomiting. No diarrhea. No high fevers. No ear infections. When he went in for his 3 year check-up, we were told he was perfectly healthy and average (50% height and weight). We finally made our first trip to urgent care last month. It was a typical Wednesday. I had strolled with Marshall over to the “red park”, so named due to a large red ship play structure that resides at the park. Marshall typically likes to follow routines at the park. Go up chain-ladder, clambor up to the steps to the slide, slide down the slide, gallop/skip back to starting point. Repeat x20. It’s even better if he can coerce another park-goer to participate in said routine with him. Today’s pattern contained going under the suspension bridge and scurrying up the stairs on the red ship. However, one time around Marshall didn’t duck enough as he ran head first into the side of the bridge. I recoiled as Marshall’s feet flew up in the air and he landed on his bottom/back. He started to cry almost immediately and when I saw that his sunhat was starting to turn red above the brim, I sprung into action.

I hurried him over to the nearby bathroom to grab some paper towels to press against his head. The cut was in his hairline, and blood was streaming everywhere. If you have never seen a head wound in action, let me be the first to say, “It takes a long time for the bleeding to stop.” Poor Marshall didn’t know what had happened, and kept repeating “Why is there blood?” through his tears. I tried to console him to the best of my ability while cleaning off his face. Another woman came in to check on us, and asked if she could call anyone for us. I was pretty sure the cut wasn’t too bad and gratefully told her, “No thank you”. She probably thought I was crazy, since by then Marshall was looking much like “Carrie” at the end of prom night. After the bleeding had stopped, we got in the stroller and wheeled home. Marshall calmed down when I told him he could have a popsicle when we got home.

After a shirt change, a warm wash cloth and a popsicle, we headed to Pomerado Hospital to see if Marshall needed stitches. I didn’t mention to Marshall we were going to the doctor, because he cries whenever the words “doctor” or “dentist” come up. I had grabbed a computer and the Cars DVD for the waiting room. The laceration ended up being about an inch and the doctor glued it shut and put on two steri-strips. Marshall was not thrilled about this procedure, nor was he thrilled with the nurse cleaning the wound with iodine just prior. They told me not to take the strips off, and that they would come off on their own, but we ended up finally cutting them off after they had been on for 10 days and didn’t look like they were budging. Glue + hair + bandages = your kid left with a bald spot. His hair is slowly growing back in, so we shall see what sort of scar is seen in the end, if any.

Buzzzz
In happier events, Marshall had a great time going trick or treating for the first time this year. The Hamon family headed over to the Hubbard-Marshall (or Hubb-arshall as we like to call it) household so that Marshall and Benjamin could go out together. I had picked up a $5 bee costume off Craigslist for Marshall, since I wasn’t even sure he would dress-up when the time came. One day in pre-school, the kids were dressing up as “insectos”. Marshall got to be the bee. In the weeks leading up to Halloween, I had asked what he wanted to be, and the answer always came back “bee”. When I brought the costume home and wanted to try it on for sizing purposes, Marshall protested, “But it’s not Halloween today!”

Sure enough, when we got to the Hubbarshalls, Marshall was ready to get in his costume on and head out. He would run up to the house, ring the bell, say “trick or treat?” and “thank you” with very little coaching from us. I was floored. The only thing we had to lecture the two boys on was not having them both ring the doorbell. We must have hit 25 houses before we decided that the boys had gathered enough “treats”. We returned to the Hubbarshalls where the boys could hand out candy to the many older trick-or-treaters that were still roaming the streets. It was amusing to see Marshall still repeatedly greeting the house-visitors with a emphatic “trick or treat!” every time the door opened.

Benjamin the fireman and Marshall the bee (with headwound)

Family Adventures in Nature
The Hamons went to the first Family Adventure in Nature (FAN) hike last weekend. FAN is being coordinated by Marshall’s homeroom mom, Janice Swaisgood and her husband Ron. Since the club was just founded, the website is still in development, but can be viewed here. Sadly, it’s much harder for suburban kids to get out and explore nature like we did when we were kids. Marshall will not grow up and enjoy a neighborhood canyon within walking distance, like I was able to. The club is going to meet at least once/month to go out on a nature adventure. I have decided to try and help Janice coordinate “Wilderness Wednesdays” (my idea), which I’m hoping will just get the kids out into some of the canyons that are located within a reasonable driving distance.

My next big project… planting a fruit and vegetable garden. Here’s hoping Santa had 4-5 bare-root trees in his bag for me.