My Gummy's Grill

Having kids is scary. Just physically preserving them is a daunting task. When they're newborns, you're worried, Am I holding their head up right? Are they still breathing? When they are toddlers and they become mobile, I swear your job is to save their life 24/7. Stairs are death traps, everything from hot dogs to pennies become choking hazards, and electrical outlets become a source of obsession.

I thought as my children got past that stage that maybe, just maybe, we'd be able to exhale. Relax. What I didn't realize that you have a lot of external resources in those early years to help safeguard your little one. Babies R' Us sells stair gates and outlet covers. You can baby proof your house. But as your kids get older and more creative, you really can't predict or prevent some of the random or crazy stuff they decide to do. And those are the times they really get hurt.

A couple of weeks ago, my dad was watching my girls at our house. I called home as I always do to check on them. Gabby got on the phone and said I have a blood toof. I asked my dad what she was talking about and he said she just fell and her mouth had bled a lil around her tooth. I thought nothing else of it.

I had a dentist appointment on my side of town yesterday, so I stopped home before my appointment to brush my teeth. As soon as I walked in, Gab walked up and said, Look at my blood toof. I pulled her top lip up and at first thought I saw a TON of dried blood and asked my dad why he hadn't wiped it off. So I went to go wipe it off, and realized it was hunks of gum tissue literally just hanging off the bone. I about died.

Apparently, she was playing hide and seek with a neighbor while I was at work/ dad was watching her. She ran into my bedroom, tripped and slammed her face into my metal bedframe. I found blood all over my bedspread. My dad didn't even look at her mouth after she fell. He says because Gabby only cried a little when it happened.

I called her dentist, who was out of town. I asked them what I should do. They said either Children's Hosp or since I was going to the dentist, have her look at her. I preferred the latter, only because she's specialist and I've had bad experience with ERs, even Children's. She took one look at her, said it was serious, and called a gum surgeon who agreed to see us right away.

They did xrays because they were afraid of bone damage. Luckily there was none. He said they could let the tissue die but that could cause bone loss/damage. That's not good. So he said they'd try to repair it, which I didn't understand how they could do since it was a jagged mess. But when he went in to stitch it up, they realized it was more severe - she had ripped through a muscle in her gums above her teeth. They ended up having to remove that muscle. He said it's a muscle you don't need - it's only used in embryonic stage of life to bring your palates together. They moved tissue around to piece Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Anyway, she's short a gum muscle and gained 8 stitches. Doc says her front two teeth will probably die (luckily they're baby teeth) but if they die they will try to treat them and not remove them because of her age - a loss of two front teeth leaves too much space and will wreak havoc on the rest of her mouth. So she very well might have two black hillbilly teeth until she's five. If that happens I'm gonna get her shirt that says, "I really do brush my teeth. I just like to bite chew on metal."

I have to say, I'm so proud of my Gab - she is so tough. During all of that, not a single tear was shed by my little girl, not a single whine or complaint. She was giggling and playing with all of the nurses and doctors and was 100% compliant with everything they asked. In the words of her older sister, Gabzilla is so brave, Mommy.

(Side note: since we are on the subject of nicknames. One of my many, many nicknames for Gab is Gum Drop - which has morphed into Gummy. Ironic considering, huh?)

She was and still is her normal self, like nothing happened. The only complaining she did at all was because she was supposed to eat soft, cold foods -- and avoid any more trauma to her face of course, so we had to cancel the daily wrestling routine.

She has to been back to the gum surgeon once since the incident and returns in another month. Luckily, we have THE BEST dentist and THE BEST gum doctor. Check out her before and after shots to see the amazing things dentists on the West Siiiiiiiide can do.

Before:

After

Nice grill, huh? Yes, those are gold teeth. And of course a joke.

I'm just glad I can still laugh about this.

In Loving Memory of the Chickens

We never, ever use our front door to enter our house. With the convenience of an electric garage door with keypad entry, there really just isn't a reason. In fact, we very rarely even notice our front door much because the front of our house is rather oddly shaped, with the front porch turned at a 45 degree angle facing away from the garage.

This past Sunday afternoon while we were out during our neighborhood garage sale, Madelyn decided to sit on our front porch. As she did, she noticed something a little different about our front door, particularly about the wreath placed upon the door. The wreath is made of faux twigs and berries (not those kinds!), but suddenly it had a lot more twigs. It turned out that a bird had built a nest at the top of our wreath and there were three newly hatched baby birdies inside (two visible here):

My girls were very excited. I was amazed. While we don't enter our house via the front door, we certainly have plenty of visitors coming in that way. That day alone, I had easily opened and closed (perhaps even slammed) that door six times because of guests dropping in. No one ever noticed the nest right in front of their face. Mama Bird must have secured her nest pretty well, too. I'm really surprised it stayed put.

Well, it did until last night. Jack was up late watching baseball and suddenly heard quite a commotion on our front porch. He went to the front window just in time to discover that an orange cat had found that a bird family had moved onto our front door. The cat made a giant leap towards the front door and took the entire wreath, nest and all, down with him in one big swoop. Jack tried to scare the cat away, but it was too late. All of the baby birdies perished in the attack.

Mama Bird was not around when the hungry kitty made its attack, but today she has been lingering around the house, sitting atop our deck and roof. In mourning, I guess. I was heartbroken to hear what had happened.

This morning I very delicately told my girls what had happened to the baby birdies. Their reactions, like everything else, could not have been more different. Cat-phobic Madelyn expressed fear and anger at the cat and riddled me with questions about it: whose cat was it, what did it look like, was it still outside, did Daddy get scratched in the attack, will it come back? After those questions were answered to her satisfaction, she proclaimed with dismay, Well, I guess we won't be famous for having a bird's nest on our front door. Sensitive yet silly Gabrielle immediately started crying upon hearing of the news. She kept shaking her head in disbelief and repeating, Those poor little chickens.

Gabrielle's Wish

Last month, we celebrated the fourth birthday of my younger daughter, Gabrielle. As with my older daughter, whose birthday we celebrated just the month prior, the morning after the party I asked Gabrielle what she had wished for as she blew out the candles. Her response was just as touching as was her sister's described in the prior post.

Mommy: Gab, what did you wish for when you blew out your candles?

Gabrielle: (without thought or hesitation) I wished that Madelyn would never have allergies again.

You see, weeks prior to the birthday party, Madelyn had been experiencing horrific allergies, which had kept her confined to the house, crying relentlessly about how miserable she was, and it even caused her to miss a day of school. Her eyes were an oozing, itchy mess, made even worse by her refusal to leave them alone. Try to tell a 6-year-old not to rub her eyes when they feel like sandpaper (heck, I have a heck of a time following that advice myself).

Anyway, clearly Madelyn's extreme discomfort had really made an impact on her little sister, worried her even. But I have to say, this caring statement from Gabrielle was not in the least bit surprising to me. I know I'm biased and all, but I swear to you, this kid is the most sympathetic and empathetic human being I have ever met. When she was just two, she had cried during a Lifetime movie because a baby got hurt. When her sister is sent to time-out (even if it's for something she did to Gabrielle, like pinching her), it affects Gabrielle more than Madelyn. Gab cries for her, tries to sit in time-out with her, pats her on her back, and comforts her. She even tries to talk me into taking Madelyn out and putting her in instead. On the other hand, if Gabrielle is in trouble/ in time-out, Madelyn takes the opportunity to rub her nose in it, tongue stuck out at her, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.

Regardless, I feel I got the greatest wishes granted to me this year (exemplified through the types of wishes made by my girls at their birthday parties): my babies are growing to be incredibly happy, beautiful, and caring little girls (despite the tongue-sticking-out thing).