Near Miss

Last week Noah wanted to earn some Play Station time, so I told him he could help me go across the road and gather the trash. The trash was kind of smelly, so I decided to just throw it in the back of our truck, which we keep over there, instead of putting it in the back of my van. As I drove up to our drive to drop it off, the puppy was there barking and jumping and it hit me that the smelly trash bags might attract some scavengers. So instead of stopping at the end of the drive, I pulled up to the cement in front of the garage and ran in to get some twist ties. I told Noah I would be right back and left the truck running.

I bopped into the living room to check on Ben who was sleeping, went back to the kitchen to grab a couple of twist ties, and headed for the door. Just as I put my hand on the back door knob and there was a big noise that sounded like pop cans being crushed.

I opened the door and was surprised to see the truck in the garage. Noah was behind the wheel with eyes as big as saucers. The truck was still moving forward slightly. Lucking he was not tall enough to actually reach the gas, so he was just idling forward and all the stuff at the front of the garage, like the refrigerator, a old table, cases of pop, garden tools, the gas grill, etc. stopped his forward movement. I was able to jump in and stop it from doing any more damage. Luckily only the old table and one case of pop were destroyed in Noah's first driving experience.

Now, I know I should never have left Noah alone in a running vehicle. However, with working on the other house, and stopping at one place or the other for just a second to grab something I forgot, I have been doing it a lot lately, and Noah had never even made a move to try to get in the front seat. But my brother and family were back the first couple weeks of July and he was teaching the kids how to drive a 4 wheeler, and Noah must have wanted to keep up his driving skills. He claims that he did not mean to put it in gear, and accidentally pulled down on the gear shift while trying to climb in the front seat to pretend to drive. But I am not sure how he could have done that and still stepped on the brake to get it in gear.

Noah knew he was in big trouble, but it did not hit him until he realized that lost Play station time instead of earning it. Then the tears started to roll.

We are just so greatful that he was not hurt and no real property damage occurred. Noah definatley had his guardian angel with him that day as there were so many things that could have gone wrong. Like the propane tank on the grill and the air bag that could have deployed. We just thank God that he is OK. And as a bonus, I don't think he will try driving again for a long, long time.

Happy Birthday Noah and other updates

The Birthday Boy.

Friday the 10th we celebrated Noah's 7 Birthday by going to the Flying Wheels Fun Center in Elmwood. We had a blast. I was especially glad that Ben got to go around a few times in his stroller, because that meant I had something to hold on to, so I did not fall down. Noah was one of the winners of the air guitar contest, and really enjoyed doing the limbo. But the highlight of the night was when everyone took off their skated and played dodge ball. Noah and John were right out there with the high school kids catching and throwing balls. They loved it.
Below are some pictures and there are a few more picutres on the Elmwood Website this week. You can see them by clicking here. They are about half way down the page and unfortunatley Julie had to get me in with a cute picture of Ben.

We also got the thyroid tests back for Ben. All three tests were within normal levels. Yeah. Hopefully we won't have to do that one again for a while.

We also got to go to Cedar Creek this weekend to celebrate my Uncle's 65th birthday. My brother and family were still here and all the cousins had fun playing with their extended family.



John playing the air guitar.


Noah rocking out.


Are we going to play the dice game or do air guitars?


Ben having fun at the roller rink too.

Blood Draw Update

I took baby Ben to the hospital last week to get his blood re-drawn. After getting checked in and waiting, the lady at the lab came out and asked very nicely if it would be OK if she just did a finger poke.

Are you kidding me? I am sure I stared at her blankly as the steam was coming out of my ears for a moment.

I said that would be just fine, but asked her to please double check to make sure she would get enough blood from a finger poke for the TSH test. I had been told at Children's that the TSH test required more blood, so a finger poke would not be sufficient. She came back and said that a finger poke would be fine.

She got two small vials out of the first finger she poked, and only after she poked and squeezed the second finger did Ben start with the scrunchie face. There was maybe 30 seconds of crying this time, and at no time did he stop breathing.

I feel so bad now for not insisting on a finger poke in the first place. It is definately not a mistake I will make again in the future.

Sorry Ben! Mommy is still learing how to be a good advocate for you.