We have not posted frequently of late. To say we are busy would sound silly and like an excuse. Everyone in the world is busy. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that there are quite a host of things which have happened lately that are a little out of the ordinary and which have necessitated our attentions focused elsewhere.
Some of them might include:
a baby who has always slept beautifully waking every night at least once and sometimes more times than that for the past month (Mommy wakens also at these times and she must admit that a full month of this has rendered her usually cheerful personality a tad bit grumpy, and her efforts at home perhaps less fruitful than they might normally be!);
or the close family member whom we love dearly who is suffering terribly at the hands of a little known but very debilitating disease known as Meniere’s (please pray for Mom/Grammy/Ruth if you would);
or Abigail falling and injuring another ankle (thankfully this one was not broken, only badly sprained – she did get a cool Darth Vader-ish looking boot out of the whole thing);
or yet another case of thrush for Tricia and Josiah…….
but the one which I will bring you to contemplate tonight concerns our second-born, little Jonathan, who, yesterday at preschool had a nasty fall and injured his mouth quite badly.
Around mid-morning yesterday at his preschool class, for reasons which were not readily apparent (ie, no foul play from fellow classmates nor tomfoolery on the part of the subject being discussed) poor little Jonathan evidently fell face forward into a self-made creation of wooden blocks and in the process managed to dislocate 3 teeth, completely destroy his upper lip frenulum, and severly cut his upper gum. Aside from the damage inside, the skin and jaw area around his mouth is swollen so badly that he looks exactly like a little boy-monkey.
Around 7:45 this morning he and his Daddy headed to our local pediatric dentist, who is absolutely wonderful, to have the damage assessed. By way of aside, I have always really loved this doctor for his amazing and caring bedside manner with my children combined with an obvious expertise in dental medicine, but have even deeper respect for him after reading this very interesting article in which Dr. Bob aka Robert Morgan is quoted on his thoughts about treating dental Medicaid patients.
But back to Jonathan…the summary is: one tooth was able to be slightly moved back into place. The other is staying put at its rakish angle, as it will not be budged. The third is mildly askew, but not to a degree which raises worry. Gums will heal slowly, but he will be watched for complications, such as an absessed tooth. The two teeth most damaged will also be monitored to see if they truly heal, or need to be removed by pulling. The one which is slanting inward is of most concern, as its current position may ultimately interfere with his bite and as a result, affect his jaw and adult teeth longterm. So we wait one week for all the swelling to go down and we’ll hear the final determination next Tuesday.
In the meantime, it’s a soft liquid-ish-like diet for Jonathan. He’s getting his share of milkshakes, healthy smoothies made by Mom, and yogurt. I’ve also finally put that Baby Food Grinder to good use (certain other small fry around here practically laugh in my face when i try to feed them soft food other than Mother’s super-delicious homemade milk!). Thus far for Jonathan, I have pureed strawberries, bananas, peaches, and tonight even, (gulp!) pasta and meat sauce. Which, btw, dear Stephie, he absolutely LOVED!!! {Added by author: Just so our readers are aware of the challenges presented when a parent purees one child’s supper but not those of his siblings, I will assure you that Nicolas was quite envious of Jonathan’s special dish. In fact, he begged us to make his spaghetti “like Jonathan’s”, but we told him mashed foods were only for those with hurt teeth or no teeth!}
Our sweet boy is handling his funny little face and odd diet in a very brave fashion. And despite his injuries, he is acting for the most part like a healthy, active 5 year-old. We certainly do hope and fervently pray that he will heal with no complications or further medical action needed.
And in the meantime, I say, let’s all raise our glasses of cabernet to a heartwarming and delicious bowl of warm pureed Italian food!
