What a crazy couple of days we've had here! On Christmas Eve, Ronan and I ventured out to buy one last Christmas present. I was prepared for bad traffic, long lines, and grouchy people, but overall, it went pretty well. There was indeed a long check out line, but it moved very quickly. And Ronan was fascinated with all the stuff, so he did fine just sitting in the cart. That evening, he was pretty worn out and actually fell asleep on me right after dinner. I let him have a short nap, thinking it would be helpful for going to church later. Well, when I woke him up, he freaked out. I don't know if I interrupted some deep sleep stage too suddenly or what, but he would not or could not calm down. He was shrieking and crying and wanted to be held by me only but wasn't happy with that either. I finally had to give him to Tom briefly so I could put my contacts in and quickly change for church. When I got back out there, Ronan was laying on the floor, still screaming. He wouldn't let Tom hold him. So then I started to think that church was definitely out, but that made me sad, because I love going to church on Christmas Eve. Tom was trying to get ready for work and then Ronan slowly began to calm down. I decided to just try going, figuring we could always turn around if he was still freaking out when we got there. Unfortunately, there was no way to change him into his super cute Christmas outfit I had bought. Luckily, though, he was perfectly happy and cheerful by the time we got to church, so that was good. He did very well - he was fascinated by the twin 3 month old babies in the row ahead of us. He kept peering at them and saying "Baby!" It was quite cute. He also got excited when Santa came during the children's sermon. I didn't think he really knew who Santa was, but when he left, Ronan said, "Santa" and spent the rest of the service staring at the door waiting for him to come back.
So that was Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning, once Tom got home and we ate breakfast, we went to open Ronan's presents. He didn't really know what to make of it at first, but then he had fun ripping open the paper. He got a book from his Aunt Emily and it was so cute. Once he saw it (it was about a dog and had a picture of one on the cover) he started going "Oooooh!" I really wish I had been filming it. Then he had Tom read it to him. Very sweet. After that, we went over to Tom's parents' house for presents with all the grandkids. We're up to six now, with the very recent birth of my niece. So the ages were two 5 year olds, three 2 (or almost 2) year olds, and a less than two week old. It was fun to see all the kids and they were of course over the moon with presents (well, obviously, except for the two week old). All of Tom's brothers and their spouses, kids, or significant others were there and for once Tom was able to come as well. Poor guy ended up going about 30 hours without sleep, but he stuck with us until we got home around 6 p.m. Ronan hadn't slept all day either, but got about 25 minutes of sleep in the car on our way home, so that really screwed up our schedule. He was exhausted, but had gotten just enough sleep to not be tired enough for bed. So he and I played with his new trucks and other toys, and then he started having a huge meltdown. I took that as the sign for bedtime, but that still took another 45 minutes or so.
Sunday started out fine. We went to church, where I learned just how important it is to have someone sitting at the other end of the pew. Before the service started, Ronan kept walking to the end and, realizing an opportunity, walked down the aisle back toward the door. I finally asked him if he wanted to go to the nursery instead, and he opted to stay with me. That path to freedom remained tantalizing for him though. But we made it through, got home, ate lunch, and then he decided to burn more energy by running and jumping around with his brand new (metal) truck, which had been a gift from grandma. As I was watching him, he took a bad fall and landed on his truck (don't you hate those accidents that you see coming but just can't get to fast enough to prevent?). He immediately started crying, which was the sign that he was seriously hurt (he almost never cries after falls or bumps or anything else). He was holding his hand, so I was worried he'd sprained it or something. (He had been holding onto the sides of the dump truck with both hands, then fell face forward on it and rolled off to the side.) So I was holding him, trying to look at his hand and noticed blood. Wiped that off, but didn't see a cut. Then I noticed more blood on his chest, but again, no cut. Then I finally got a look at his chin, which was very bloody and had a wide cut. I tried to get it cleaned off, but he wouldn't let me near it. I finally went and woke up Tom; meanwhile, Ronan had stopped crying and was happily playing with his truck again. Tom made the professional decision that this was bad enough for an ER visit, so I bundled Ronan up and off we went. He ended up getting six stitches. I felt so bad for him. They had to strap him down in this papoose thing and Ronan hates to be restrained in any way. He doesn't even like the little cape they put on you at the barber's shop. So he was screaming bloody murder and crying. Then they injected his chin with the anesthetic and started washing it. He looked at me and cried, "All done? All done?" which I have never heard him say in reference to anything other than food and more clearly than he's ever said anything. So I had to tell him no, there was still a little more they had to do. But on the plus side, as soon as they freed him and I picked him up, he stopped crying. And once they gave him a Popsicle, he was super cheery. We got home and he immediately went back to his truck. So far, it seems there's no lasting psychological trauma. We go in on Friday to have the stitches taken out and hopefully that'll be that. I also found out today that my cousin's daughter split her chin today and needed stitches as well. Apparently, it's an epidemic. But she and Ronan should be able to compare scars and stories.
Today was a bit calmer, thankfully. Ronan went back to daycare, where he could proudly show off his battle wounds if he thought of it and I came home, walked the dogs, cleaned, and napped. It was a lovely day all the way around. I'm really looking forward to our trip to Minnesota on Saturday. I found out that in addition to my aunt and uncle, my cousin and her two kids will also be in town. So we'll be celebrating with five kids, a 5 year old, a 3 year old, two 2 year olds, and a baby. Sound familiar? It should be a lot of fun. Well, I think that just about wraps up this novel. See how much better I do when I'm not in the middle of school? You should probably ration these posts - the semester starts again on Jan. 10.
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