Welcome to having a little boy?!

Two years old. Two years and five days old, to be exact. That's how long it took for Landon to enter true boyhood and get his first (hopefully only, but I'm not holding my breath :)) set of stitches. Ah, little munchkin.

Last Friday, I was volunteering downtown for the Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Championship. I was a "floor monitor," helping make sure things were going smoothly on one of the floors of the courthouse where teams were competing. I had left my personal phone downstairs at the volunteer check-in center and only brought my work phone upstairs. In between rounds, I went downstairs to get a drink and checked my phone. I saw that I had a missed call from daycare along with a voicemail. The missed call was at 4:45, so I knew that wasn't a good sign, since we normally arrive a little after 5:00 to pick the kids up (by that I mean that usually if it's that late in the day, there's no need for them to call us for minor illnesses, etc., since they know we'll be right there). I listened to the voicemail and it was the Assistant Director saying, "Hey Kristen, it's Judy - Landon just tripped and fell and has a little cut on his head. I'll just give John Michael a call." I couldn't figure out why she needed to call either of us for a little cut so close to the end of the day, so I just called John Michael. He was already on his way and had talked to Judy. He said she told him it was bleeding quite a bit and so he told me he'd call me once he got there.

My phone rang about 15 minutes later and he said, "Yeeeah...we're gonna need to be seen for this." Yikes. He called the pediatrician's office and they said to go on to Vanderbilt E.R.

I went back downstairs to tell the Mock Trial leaders that I was leaving. Actually, I ate dinner first because I knew they were still in Spring Hill and I had time :) Then, I left and headed over to Vanderbilt, and John Michael and Landon arrived a few minutes after I did.

I was impressed again with Vanderbilt. We waited for about an hour and a half, which at the time seemed like a long time but I know it really isn't in the grand scheme of things. They put some numbing gel on the area right when we got there, so he never had to have a shot or anything! The staff were amazing with Landon, and he had a blast in the waiting room (although he did keep coming over to me, grabbing my hand and saying, "Come on, Mommy! Let's go home!"). He charmed a few of the parents in the waiting room and made friends with a six-year-old boy. He also crawled around all over the floor and stuck his hands in his mouth. Still shuddering about that, almost a week later. Ew.

When it was our turn, we went upstairs and the doctor confirmed that stitches it would be! He and the nurse kept telling us to be prepared for Landon to be really upset and cry a lot because they'd be swaddling him while they did the stitches. Our little brave boy barely cried, and only after the fourth stitch (out of five)!!! He was so good. Both the doctor and nurse gushed over how well he did and told us how they had never seen a two-year-old be that good! I know it's just that he wasn't aware of what was going on, but I was proud nonetheless.

Thankfully, they used absorbable sutures, so we don't have to go back! I'm not sure that he would be as good as he was for a Round 2 :)

(Okay, I took one picture and it makes his injury look FAR worse than it was, so I've decided not to post it...but rest assured, he was adorable and quite happy most of the time while we were there!)