Jake's First Boo-Boo

It happens to all kids. My sister called last night to tell me Jake, my 2 1/2 year old nephew, had sustained his first major injury, requiring several staples to the back of his head.

How it happened is a little fuzzy. My sister was just getting out of the shower when she heard a loud "Smack!" She said it sounded like if you took your hand and hit the wall as hard as you could with an open palm. Not a "crack" but a "smack."

She heard Grant saying "Jake?" and Jake crying, so she wrapped a towel around herself and went out to the hallway at the top of the stairs, where Jake was laying. Somehow he'd gotten his feet twisted around Grant and had fallen backwards into the corner of the wall.

They picked him up and that's when they saw the blood just gushing out of the back of his head. Nicole ran for a towel and then called their next door neighbor, who's a nurse. Per Nicole, she said, "I babbled something about Jake and blood and she said she'd be right there."

So Nicole's throwing on underwear and a robe and trying to stay with Jake and Grant. Grant is holding Jake and shaking, he's so nervous. Nicole thought Jake was the one shaking, having seizure and Grant said, "No, that's me."

Jake wasn't even crying when the neigbor arrived a minute later. She looked at it and said, "Yeah. That needs stiches," so they put him in the car and off they went.

Nicole was so proud of Jake. He barely cried and was very brave as the staples were put in. Immediately after it was over he sat up and said, "I see boo-boo?" amazing the nurse and doctor. So the nurse got a mirror and tried to show it to him.

Here's the best part. So they're gathering their things, preparing to leave and a police officer enters the room. He's very friendly and chit-chats, then says, "So what happened here?"

Nicole and Grant go through the whole falling down thing and the officer is looking more and more confused. Finally he says, "So this isn't a dog bite?"

Nicole and Grant exchange a glance and say, "Nooo..."

"Oh." The officer stands up. "I'm here to see some people about a dog bit. I've got the wrong room. I'm glad everything is okay here, thought. You folks have a nice day." And he walks across the hall into another exam room.

Nicole said it never occurred to her the officer wasn't there to see them. She just assumed any injury involving a child was probably investigated.  

I think the whole experience was worse for Grant and Nicole than it was for Jake. That's probably typical too.  But everyone is relieve he's fine, and Jake is very proud of his new stiches. As for Nicole, as she said, "Now I know how to take blood out of a carpet."

So don't mess with her.