Celebration, Charles Dickens, and a Bit of a Scare...

I am officially finished with this school semester! Yay Me! I definitely showed NO MERCY whatsoever, and got everything finished up. Now I can finally start reading Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." It's my own annual Chirstmas tradition. (No, I'm not a geek! Okay, maybe I am...)

I love that story. It makes me happy on so many levels. Dickens is an absoloute genius, and there is NO way that anyone will be able to convince me otherwise. I've read most of his amazingness, with a goal to one day read everything he's ever written. If you haven't read any of dear Charles' work, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!? READ IT! READ IT NOW!!!

Anyway...on to other things....

My daughter is learning to walk, and yesterday she had a very unpleasant wake up call.

I was sitting on the floor, having read her favorite book to her several times (She LOVES books! Already a bookworm. I couldn't be prouder!) Then she wanted to play one of her favorite new games where she starts by the couch and walks toward me and falls into my arms, laughs, and then stands up and walks back to the couch.

After we had played a few rounds of this game, my daughter somehow took the proverbial "left turn at Alberquerque" and headed across the room at a right angle from her original course. I watched as though in slow motion as she stumbled and then fell face first to the floor, smacking her forehead--hard--on the leg of our computer chair. Oh the crying! I felt SOOO terrible! The resulting purple bruise that bloomed between her eyebrows just about ripped my heart out.

She seemed to be fine, other than the enormous goose egg bruise on her forehead and later on she went down for a nap. She woke up, and then seemed to be a bit sleepier than usual. Worried, my husband and I decided it would be wise to take her to the doctor to make sure everything was ok. She had a Level One concussion.

Apparently there are three levels of concussions. Level Three is marked by the victim being knocked unconscious for 5 minutes or more. It's very severe. Level two is marked by a period of unconsciousness for less than 5 minutes, and is less serious, but still needs to be watched closely. Level one basically means, and I'm quoting the doctor here: "She got hit in the head, but everything is normal and she's just fine. A kid could take a Lego to the head and be considered a Level One concussion." As silly as this description may sound, I was pretty relieved to hear it. I'm a real worrier, especially when it comes to my kids.

My daughter is doing quite well today, and the bruise on her forehead is actually kind of shaped like a heart. It still looks painful though, the poor little thing seems to have inherited my ridiculous talent for personal injuries. Hopefully she'll grow out of it.