A Case of the Stitches

I declare Sunday as Family Funday.

We are going to the Art Gallery. It's free.

We're a family.

And it'll be fun.

So we ate our lunch. Roasted garlic tomato soup (yum) with leftover veggie pizza (yum) for the big people and tuna dogs and pear slices for the little people.
Tuna dogs?
Yes, this is tuna salad on toasted hot dog buns. One must improvise when there is only one slice and a heel of stale sandwich bread left.

After lunch it is time to do a quick clean up of the kids rooms, put on shoes and head out the door for a fun filled afternoon.

As usual, Joey is lickity split, shoes on and ready to go. During the "waiting on the girls" time, he leaps and bounds outside to ride his skateboard on the driveway.
He has only had this skateboard for seventeen days, mind you. He got it for Christmas. Needless to say he is still learning the basics and theory of balance and control on this little bone breaker of a Christmas present.

So the girls and I are upstairs, picking out shoes, I'm helping with hair accessories, then I'm on to my own primping and spritzing. And then just as I consider whether or not to revamp into more appropriate attire for the art gallery gala...

I hear some crying.
Not the whining, upset, why-won't-you-give-me-cake-at-nine-in-the-morning crying...
but real crying.
I go to my bedroom door and listen a little more intently.
That sounds serious.
I disregard my second outfit of the day and scurry downstairs.
There's Joey... over the kitchen sink,
cupped hand full of blood.
Daddy behind him cupping his chin with blood soaked napkin.

Ah crap.
The first skateboard war wound.

He's scared from the blood.

Who am I kidding, so am I.

But I'm the mom, I play it cool...

Rubbing his back, telling him it'll be alright.

The bleeding finally slows,

the crying finally quiets,

the napkin comes off,

the wound is assessed.

Daddy says,

"Yep Joey, you're going to need a couple stitches."

The crying escalates once again.

"NOOO"

I DON'T WANT STITCHES!!!"
"IT'S GONNA HURT!!!"

Like it doesn't right now?
Aaaand we go through the same routine we just went through the previous six minutes.

I fix the baggie of ice.
I give him some tylenol.
The girls come down to inspect the situation.
Daddy gets his keys to the car and his office.
Those are the perks of having a doctor daddy. He stitches people everyday.
Just a quick visit to the office, a little numbing, a couple stitches and we'll be on our way.

This is when we got there...

The car ride went smooth,
really it did.
But the moment of anticipation had built up.

The waterworks start again.

Honey, it's gonna be okay.


I'm pretty sure the good doctor comforts all his patients like this....

And this is Joey during the first stitch. Eyes squeezed tight.
You should have felt how hard he was squeezing my hand.
and then a few more stiches, he relaxes a bit...

And this is what the girls are doing.

You can see they're super concerned.
But this is what we do when we go to daddys work.
We make rubber glove balloons.
Why would today be any different?

Yeah- real concerned... torn up I think.
Ahem.

So the girls are a little preoccupied.

Daddy's work is fun.

Joey's in good hands.

Daddy's stitching...

Six perfect stitches to be exact.

Mommy's comforting and holding hands...

See?

Awww, look...

you can take a deep breath now.

It's all over!

Only love, smiles and rubber glove balloons fill the air.

And the procedure is complete.

Life is good again!

Joey's got some cool stitches and a great story to tell at school tomorrow.
And better yet, he'll have a scar.
Well, Daddy sewed him up, and he's an awesome stitcher upper,
there will probably be no scar.
Sorry Joe...
Your Daddy rocks when it comes to putting in stitches.
That's alright,
you rock too.

You were a brave little man today.

And your getting a new helmet!

One with a chin strap!

Oh, and we still made it to the art gallery.

Meet Joey

I love this kid.
He has been a ton of work, but I still love him.
He has taught me much patience. Not enough yet, he's still testing me and I'm still working on developing more of it.
This is a picture from when he lost his first tooth, no excuse me, his second tooth.
He is so proud and excited that the tooth fairy will come and leave him a dollar that he will lose a couple days later.
None the less...
Here he is,
My boy.
And now lets meet the family unit.







This is Sophie.

You can tell she's a quirker, can't you?
Boy she can press his buttons like no other.
But Joey and Soph can play "monster shooters" till the cows come home.
He can get a little rough, knock her around, she holds her own.
She's a stout little one.





This is Eva,
Joey's twin sister, his favorite person in the whole wide world.
(Okay he may not admit it but I know that's what he thinks.)


She and Joey spend hours on end together playing, laughing, hanging out.
She is there for him when all the scary kids show up at the beginning of the school year.
Boy, he's on her like white on rice for the first few weeks of school.
There's nothing better than having twins and seeing how awesome their bond can be.

I mean really, look at them! smiling, playing in the sunshine on a warm summer day.
Never mind the rusted chain link fence from the abandoned house next door.
Come on kids! Back to the sprinkler! Weehee! Fun Fun!
Ah, gotta love the Detroit suburb charm, right?



Here he is hugging her...




Here he is cuddling her, keeping her warm on the boat...

Are they not the cutest pair of siblings you've ever seen?




And all three of these little charmers came from us. Yours truly and this guy,
Big Daddy.
Here we are, the proud parents of these three little monkeys,
the three munchkins,
the three poliwogs.
(Shaking my head) How I was so blessed and so cursed at the same time?
Yet I smile because the blessings far outweigh the cursing.

(Well, most of the time
but we won't go in to that right now, will we)

And luckily, not only was Joey blessed with

a great quirker of a Sophie,

a best twin/friend Eva

an awesome, mother blogger of a mom (that's what Big Daddy calls me when I'm typing away)

He was blessed with this guy,

the best Daddy in the world.

For he is best at wrestling, playing burrito, being a tickle machine, making loud entertaining noxious gas, fixing broken toys, cuddling at night, playing guitar hero...

Shall I go on???

Because I can...

Oh shoot, this sums it up, what kid wouldn't love a dad like this?

And the apple don't fall far from the tree.
So in the following posts about Super Joe,
remember this face.
And it'll be clear as glass
why my kid is such a goof pants.