Birthdays, Blood and Boo Boo Doctors...

It’s official! We have two two-year olds. Astral and Defy celebrated their second birthday earlier this month. They really seemed to enjoy receiving and opening presents for the first time and would scream WOW as they opened each one. I taught them the happy birthday song for Lucas’ big 30th birthday at the end of February, so they were excited to have it sung in their honor a week later.

free the horsies!

Astral and Defy decided to make their first month as two year olds very memorable for mommy and daddy. The boys were playing on a kiddie slide we have inside and they decided to push it across the room toward the treadmill for reasons unknown (actually because they are total dangerous thrill seekers and I’m pretty sure they were going to jump from one apparatus to the other). I was a couple of feet away, ready to get the boys from atop the slide when Defy fell and hit the back of his head on the bottom corner of the treadmill. I immediately scooped him up, as I cupped his head in my hand, I felt the most awful feeling of wetness. When I looked at my hand it was covered in blood! He was screaming and crying, and I became hysterical. In a panic I screamed for Lucas to call 911. I had no clue what the damage was, but I reacted like it was the worst case scenario; you just can’t take chances with head injuries. I wrapped his head in a clean white towel (bad choice in color) which also ended up covered in blood. The ambulance was here in a matter of minutes, and I ran out to meet them carrying a bloody little Defy.

By the time we got into the ambulance D had completely stopped crying. The emergency workers quickly examined his head, and to my relief informed me that it was just a small scrape. Apparently head and face injuries tend to bleed a lot but are not always all that serious. My heart was still beating faster than ever, I could barely believe what they were saying. Here was my sweet little baby who had a just hit his head, was covered in head blood, and now according to EMTs, was completely fine! I was just so happy that he was okay, but still in total shock. They advised me that I should follow up with the doctor even though it was such a small abrasion. Since it was after 6pm they suggested we go to the ER, just in case. There, the ER doctor cleaned the area and put a tiny dot of antibiotic ointment on it. Thankfully he didn't have a concussion and no stitches, no shots, no radiation exams, no blood work, no follow up or aftercare necessary. She said it was smart to bring him in despite the all-clear from the EMTs. You just can’t chance it. She asked Defy if he liked popsicles. I told her that he's never had one (at least not the kind they would’ve provided) and that he loves fruit. She laughed and asked if I had any fruit with me, jokingly exclaiming that “this is a hospital we don’t have healthy things like that”. Of course I had three mandarins, a banana and an apple in my purse (this is how vegan moms roll). She wanted him to eat the fruit before we left and then 30 minutes later we were free to go.

As first time parents we are often extra cautious, but accidents do and will happen. I have learned a lot from this experience. If a similar situation occurs in the future, I will try to take a second to breathe and assess the situation before totally freaking out. I was too frightened and panicked to examine Defy’s head closely, but even if I had I would have probably still gone to the ER, just maybe not via ambulance. We can laugh about the ridiculous situation now, but at the time it was far from amusing. It was really touching to see how much empathy Astral showed for his injured brother. He seemed very concerned, and before we left in a rush, he handed Defy his favorite little plush turtle friend to bring along for the ride. Hopefully this is learning experience for EVERYONE. The boys have been discussing the “boo boo doctor” often since, so they have not forgotten. And of course the slide has been put away until further notice (forever).

The spring weather has been super beautiful (slightly eerie) for most of the month, Astral and Defy would live outside if we let them. They love digging in the dirt, picking wild flowers, playing in leaves and exploring/examining trees and their bark. The boys often prefer collecting sticks, burying themselves in leaves or climbing on stones and fallen logs over playing on playground equipment. It’s a rare occasion that we are able to come inside without directing them straight to the bath tub.

DnA had their two year old check-up, where they totally impressed the pediatrician with their speech, size and agility (she said so herself). They are sometimes reserved in unfamiliar environments, but for some reason they were happy to answer questions and show off their distinct personalities this go around at the doctor’s office. They both weighed in at 30lbs (Astral was a couple ounces heavier) and Astral came in at 37 inches tall and Defy was 36 ¼ inches. Astral and Defy are both in the 90-95th percentile for height and the pediatrician said that from charting their growth so far they will both be well over 6 feet tall! That’s much taller than both mommy and daddy! We have some tall genes on both sides of our family so it makes perfect sense. Their weights are both in the 75-90th percentile. These statistics don’t matter much to us (as long as our boys are healthy, we are happy), but I wanted to post the figures as proof that vegan children are not - as some sensationalistic anti-vegans would like you to believe - necessarily skinny, weak, unable to grow/thrive, or cognitively or physically deficient in any way. Never let anyone tell you that it isn’t possible to raise healthy vegan children…

all photos are of Astral & Defy at 24 months