That Boy Has Kool Aid Running Through His Veins...

Many, many major events have transpired since I last blogged.

• Violet has taken her first steps. She still crawls all the time. However, if we beg she will do a step or two. She loves standing up and will do that on command like a little circus dog. She also loves pointing at stuff and saying "ta". Her favorite things to point at are ceiling fans and shiny objects.

• I bought a sweet 1991 F 150 to use as an extra vehicle when my Subaru is on the fritz and for weekend projects, boat hauling, goat transport, etc. I always felt like kind of a rube pulling up to the feed store and throwing goat chow and straw bales into the trunk of our Honda Accord. We've already used the truck for hauling sand for the sandbox / playground thing for the kid's and it is just super handy to have and has improved my outlook on life. Although I didn't get the impression it was on mama's top ten list of cool things to buy when we have a little extra money, she did say I should get it. Note to self: I think a CB radio and a police scanner would be practical additions for my new rig.

• Last night, I was relayed a message at my softball game that Henry had "cracked his head" and was on his way to the hospital. Kind of a vague message, so I dove into my sweet new rig and peeled out. On my way out of the parking lot I was able to get through to mama on her cell phone and it didn't sound too serious but I figured I better get down there and hang out with them at the hospital. Henry was goofing around on a wheeled cart (kind of using it as a skateboard) and he lost balance and fell hard on his chin on the hardwood. He split his chin wide open and he was bleeding like stuck pig. I wasn't sure what to expect when I got there but he was in pretty good spirits and was just getting prepped for his stitches. They applied some numbing jelly to chin and bandaged it up and we watched Pokeman for a half hour while it took hold. Then a doctor and two nurses came in to start with the stitches. I tell you what -- my son has ice water running through his veins, or at least ice cold kool aid. The staff went about there business and stitched Henry up and the he didn't even blink an eye or move or anything. Henry basically had the exact same look in his eye as John Rambo in First Blood when he cauterized his own wound in an abandoned mine shaft using primitive methods.

Towards the end, I could see one little tear streaming down his cheek as he stared at the ceiling. They gave Henry about a million Transformer stickers for being such an excellent young gentleman.

Afterward, a nurse remarked to me and mama that she was amazed and had never had someone his age or younger be so well- behaved and composed for something like that and that it said as much about us as parents as it did about our nerves-of-steel child. So I guess we are all just pretty awesome in a general sort of way. Note the blood on his shirt. Most of it was absorbed by towels, but there was some on the floor and what not.

I can now envision Henry down the road as a wily four-star general wearing an eye patch and telling people about the time he had to remove his own appendix during a battle. Then he'd stare off in the distance with his good eye and say something like, "we lost a lot of good men that day..."
Violet sitting at the picnic table Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bruce picked up at the thrift store and practicing her Spring Break chug-a-lug...

Me and mama at a wedding reception a few weeks back.