New Things

It is amazing to me how many fairly simple events present themselves as new things when you have a young child. Kate’s first birthday was on Thursday, October 15. We celebrated with a small family celebration in which Danielle and Brennen surprised Kate with some balloons, a small cake (which alas, she could not enjoy with her food allergies), and some gifts. The gifts were a particular hit with Kate. Brennen seemed to enjoy the festivities, too. He really likes birthdays, and likes to encourage us to have them often. I, on the other hand, feel less and less eager to see another year pass.

Somewhere in my brain (between sleep and lack of sleep) there is a list of ‘new things’ to mention, but I only remember one at other at the moment. Brennen has been discovering the healing benefits of ice. The other day on our way to Racine to celebrate Kate’s birthday with the Gaithers, Loftins and Scharnicks, we stopped at Woodman’s grocery store. Brennen, Kate and I dropped Danielle to get a few items and we headed off to Auto Zone for some new brake pads for the car. Unfortunately, I got Kate and Brennen out of the car, locked the car door and closed it—right on Brennen’s hand! The horror flooded over me as I had to use the key in the door to unlock it before opening it and freeing his hand. I put them both straight back in their seats and since we had a cooler with refrigerated food in the back, I grabbed a large ice pack and had Brennen place his hand on it. Remarkably—whether a simple act of God’s amazing mercy, or a combination of God’s mercy and outstanding Volvo engineering—he recovered quickly without any bruising or lingering pain. By the time we reached Racine it seemed he had forgotten about his hand. I’m really thankful, but I still shudder to remember the scene of my son’s hand caught in the car door. Now, whenever he hurts his toes or foot by ‘accidentally’ kicking the wall he cries for ‘ice’.