Well, it finally happened. I figured it would sooner or later, and actually it is amazing we almost made it to three years old before taking a really good whack. Yup, that's right: Isabelle finally hit her head. I mean HIT her head, not just one of the billions of times she has bumped it (once you have a child you will understand the difference, trust me.) The kid has fallen down the stairs, rolled off of the bed, fallen off a deck and a dock, and walked into doors more times then I can count, but this injury definitely goes on Isabelle's top ten list (number one, for now).
Last night Clay was lifting weights, which he does three/four times a week. Isabelle loves this and frequently counts for him as he does his reps or picks up her own weights (little one lbs.) and imitates Daddy. Well, he was doing his arm curls (20 lbs. in each hand). For those of you who don't know, this involves raising the weight up in a "curl" and then bringing it back down to his side. As Clay was bringing his left arm down, Isabelle took that exact minute to run into the room behind Clay and right into the weight, which proceeded to bounce off of her forehead.
Yes, that is right, 20 lbs. connected with my daughter's skull in the matter of a split second and before Clay even had a moment to realize she was there, let alone react. It is in that moment that time seemed to slow down and I felt every organ in my body jump into my throat. One thought played quickly across my mind. "Please, God, do not let it be too bad." Well, of course, all hell ensued, with Isabelle doing an immediate about face and rushing into my arms screaming at the top of her lungs, which if you have not been privy to hearing ranks up there with a thousand "yippy" dogs howling. She was so distraught that I could not even get a look, so while I held her I sent Clay to grab a cold washcloth and the all important "Boo-boo Bunny." "Boo-boo Bunny" is a creatively folded yellow washcloth with eyes and a nose and ears, but more importantly holds a tiny frozen ice ball in it's belly and is kept in the freezer. He works miracles and will be held on any offending injury by Isabelle without complaint. Thank you to Mom for buying it and to the craft show lady who made it!
After repeated gasping sobs from Isabelle, Clay and I finally got a look by pushing her bangs out of the way and each of us let out a collective groan. On the right side of her forehead an ugly black and blue mark had already appeared and was swelling to an impressive size, making my little girl look like she was about to pop a nubby deer antler out of her head. I spent the next forty minutes holding Isabelle and applying the cold washcloth and "Boo-boo Bunny" to the ugly bump. Fortunately, she did not break the skin and Isabelle was most definitely functioning normally, informing all who would listen that she "bumped" and going on in her typical dramatic fashion about how "it was accident" and "she cried." I managed to put her to bed shortly later after checking that yup, pupils were equal and reactive and that the crisis seemed to be over.
This morning Isabelle is sporting a lovely bruise, which thankfully, is hidden by bangs and the swelling has faded right down due to our quick application of cold and ice. I have no doubt it will fade much quicker then any of my bruises, as Isabelle possesses every child's freakishly wonderful ability to seemingly heal over night (too bad we can't hold onto that as we age). Clay is incredibly relieved as he was feeling enormously guilty, but I cannot say I am all that surprised. After all, she is my daughter and if she takes after me at all she will be hitting her head a lot over the coming years. But God seems to have planned for this frequent occurrence by blessing me (and I suspect my daughter) with very hard heads. Thank goodness.
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