There have been exciting happenings here at the Mauk Ranch in the last few days. It all began two nights ago (insert wavy lines and synthesized dream music here)...
SCREAMS: Around 11:30 a piercing scream broke the night...I'm really not being dramatic. Andy will back me up on this, Jackson screamed like he was getting a shot at Dr. Jones's office. I thought he had gotten an arm stuck in the crib slats. After the initial shock wore off, I headed in to settle the boy back to sleep. He was NOT going to settle right down. He strained and struggled to have me carry him out of the room. I thought surely once we were out in the living room he would calm down. Nothing doing. 10 minutes later he was still screaming - the kind of screams that worry a parent. I finally let him down because he was beating the hell out of me straining against my holding him. As soon as he hit the floor, he staggered into the kitchen and tried to climb into his highchair. Still screaming I tried everything from slices of cheddar to graham crackers and milk. Nothing made him stop screaming. After 25 total minutes of screaming with 10 minutes in the high chair, he picked up a graham cracker which I thought he would throw. His eyes were kind of glazed over and when this had all begun we thought we were dealing with a night terror. Because he was responding to our ministrations with yes's and no's we finally determined he was still asleep and sleep walking. This was confirmed when J vacantly stared at the refrigerator, blinked, stared at his hands, dropped the graham cracker he had been screaming at, looked and me and said, "Mama?" Yep, he had been asleep the whole time. 3 minutes later he was happily munching some graham crackers, sipping some milk and chatting with me and Andy. When he was full, he went right back to sleep. We have all officially experienced Jackson's first nightmare/sleep walking experience. Whew.
SMILES: Jackson's such a happy guy - they call him Smiley at the YMCA. Whenever we go work out and leave him at the Kidz Zone, they love to have him because he smiles so much. This morning was no different. It was another play date with Jackson's Trojan Tots classmates. We headed to Zoinks which is Tallahassee's version of The Jump Zone. (For those non-parents out there, picture warehouse space filled with giant inflatable jumpers, arcade games and screaming kids) Jackson had SO MUCH FUN! He was smiling from ear to ear walking down the hallway to the front door. After we got arm-banded and socked up, he headed straight for... the big kid jumpers. Of course, he thinks he's 7. He won't stay on the toddler jumpers but wants to go with all the big kids on the huge jungle jumpers. I would have spent all day pulling him off of them though. He was so happy. Laughing and chasing around his little buddies, he was the definition of ecstatic. At one point, all the moms had me in the jumper hauling in little ones and dumping them over the side and down the slides. They loved every minute of it. No, Mimi, I didn't have a camera but my mommy-memory-bank will keep those shots forever.
On a more somber note..
SIRENS: Andy's office is participating in intramural Kick Ball this summer. Tonight was his first game so me and the kids loaded up the juice boxes and goldfish to head out and cheer Daddy on at the opening game. Turns out it was a short game. 1 full inning completed, the opposing team had a man on base and it was batter-up. It was a high-fly ball straight into center field that resulted in an out. However, their man on base was headed for home. And he barreled straight into our catcher, Liz. Now Liz is probably in her late 40s or early 50s and had offered to play catcher to avoid lots of running. She didn't realize this was to be a full-contact sport. The runner's head made contact with Liz's mouth. (Are you having flashbacks, Mom?) She fell backward and her head bounced on the ground. I mean BOUNCED. When she sat up she was holding her mouth, blood seeping between her fingers, while saying, "My teeth! Are my teeth OK?" with a wide-eyed, dazed look on her face. It was scary. She actually passed out, not once but twice while we waited on the paramedics. Yep, it was that bad - we had to call 911. 1 University policeman, 2 EMS SUVs and a fire truck later, I made the executive decision that it was time for Andy's cheering section to exit. Andy was helping keep her from falling over so he stayed until the paramedics arrived to treat her. Originally we just thought everyone would get up and dust themselves off but it didn't turn out that way. We kept Emma out of direct line of sight but of course she had lots of questions. I think things will be OK but we're still waiting to hear an official report. More than likely she has a concussion and all your prayers are appreciated to make sure that this is a minor injury that turns in to a ruefully humorous story in the months to come. Hopefully, the next Kick Ball game will be much quieter and boring.
Hope everyone else is enjoying your summers as much as we are!
Don't have time for Kaboodle so here it is:
