Falling

Where have I been you ask? The answer...at work. My main excuse this time for not posting is that I have worked over 110 hours in the last two weeks. I've been on a break from school and one of my largest clients just acquired one of their largest competitors, I've had a huge project to try to wrap my arms around and it all needs done NOW! The good news is that this is the last week before we're taking a week vacation to my parents, so I have just 5 more work days before having a well-deserved week off. The bad news, is that in those 5 days, I also have to start my next class (Mon and Tues night), make a list to pack for vacation, go to Milwaukee, WI for two days (Thurs and Fri) and then get home Friday in enough time to launder and pack our belongings for a week-long vacation. We depart at 9 am on Saturday. Sigh. Mom offered to let me finish the laundry at her house if needed, so we'll see how that goes.

Now on to more exciting things...I haven't posted on here, but in the last 3 weeks, I have allowed Grace to have two moderate/serious falls. The first one Eric and I both witnessed. Grace was on the loveseat with me. I was sitting with my back to one arm and my legs stretched out to the other. Grace kept climbing onto the arm of the loveseat and then she'd jump and land in my lap. Looking back, it may not have been the smartest thing to let her do. Well, one time she stood up and lost her balance before jumping and fell headfirst to the floor. It's only a couple of feet, but we saw her head hit and her neck twist and both Eric and I were sure she broke her neck. She cried a bit and was a little scared, but a few minutes later, she was running and playing and trying to climb back onto the couch. We debated taking her to the hospital anyway, but she acted totally fine and didn't show any symptoms of head or neck trauma, so we didn't.

Next..last Sunday, Eric was doing something with the youth from church and Grace and I had just came back from my softball game. We went upstairs so I could change clothes. After Grace climbed up the stairs, she shut the gate (she likes to shut things), I headed to my bedroom, leaving her in the hallway and started changing. I remember thinking that I should check to be sure the gate latched when she closed it and then I heard, "thump, thump, thump..." I ran out to the hallway to find Grace laying at the bottom of the stairs looking startled and then she started crying. I ran down and grabbed her and ran back up to my bedroom and layed her on the bed. She stopped crying almost before we reached the top of the stairs. I think I'm lucky I didn't see her fall that time. I chose to think she slid down on her bottom. Let me think that, please. I told Eric when he got home, but of course she was totally normal by then. Just please no more falls!

Last week I was thinking about this alot. She was perfectly fine both times and I am not a "freak-out" kind of parent, but there is a sick feeling you get in your stomach at that instant when there's nothing you can do and you know something bad is happening to your child. I was so scared there would be something seriously wrong with her or worse. It's only been 18 months, but that girl has my whole heart.

Just gotta be more careful. Oh, sounds like somebody's up from her nap. Gotta go!