Carlysle's First "Stitches"...

Ok so they weren't real stitches, it was Dermabond (the glue stuff they use now if they can). Nonetheless, it was a horrible experience.

Here's what happened.....

So I've said before that Carlysle loves to read and we have recently discovered the joys of the children's section at Barnes and Noble. So the Thursday before Christmas I decided to take care of a few Christmas presents and let Carlysle play at Barnes and Noble. The day was going great. Mommy had her hot chocolate and Redbook magazine. Carlysle and I settled in at the tiny children's table. She sitting on one of the little benches while Mommy sat next to her on the other. However, Mommy was sitting facing forward with her magazine on the table. The table was a little high for Carlysle to see her book so she was sitting sideways on the bench reading a book that was sitting in her lap. Like I said, everything was going great........

And that's when things went very bad. I did see out of the corner of my eye that Carlysle had turned her back to the table and had her legs hanging off the bench like she was going to get down (which she can't do by herself). Generally, when she wants something she will start making noises usually sounding like, "Uh, Uh, Uh, Uh" over and over. I assumed (wrongly) that she would do that if she wanted down.........she didn't. Instead she leaned forward and we all know that at that age your top half is much heavier than the bottom. So forward she went. This would have been a nasty fall by itself but unfortunately there was a display case of books beside the table and she landed forehead first right into the corner. I knew she was going to be hurt so I immediately grabbed her thinking I need to get out of here b/c she is going to wail. I had no idea what I was going to see when I flipped her over.

BLOOD, BLOOD, BLOOD!! She had a gash on her forehead that was bleeding profusely.....everywhere. At that point, my plan of a quick escape was gone. I now needed help because I had nothing to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. I looked around frantically and finally made eye contact with a an elderly gentleman and his wife. They ran over and handed me some Kleenex tissue. Then the horrid screams of my child began to echo through Barnes and Noble and that's when we began to make a scene and draw a crowd. Suddenly, I had a lady grab Carlysle and start saying "I'm a nurse, I'm a nurse". I was in complete shock. Apparently, I looked quite pale and non-responsive (which is exactly what you need for Mom to do in an emergency) because she kept saying, "Ok Mom calm down, she's going to be fine but she will need stitches". I wasn't even saying anything so I must have looked like a deer in the headlights. I did finally muster up a response which was "Oh my Gosh, my husband is a pediatrician and he's going to kill me". I don't know why I said that....um....repeatedly. But I'm sure onlookers were wondering who my husband was and vowing never to go to him. Finally, I got it together and said I just need to get her in the car and take her up to my husband's office. Thankfully, the nice elderly couple pushed my stroller out to the car and helped me load it up while I carried Carlysle and got her in her car seat.

It was quite embarrassing to walk into Joey's office with mine and Carlysle's clothes covered in blood. I also had dried blood on my hands and Carlysle had dried blood all over her face with a huge gash on her forehead. Thankfully, it was decided that she could get away with Dermabond and wouldn't have to have stitches.

So these pictures were taken a week and a half after the "incident". It really looks like nothing now. You couldn't tell by looking at her that we caused such a scene at Barnes and Noble. Sorry for the long story......there was just no way to make it shorter.