Collision

I like to think that we're pretty laid-back parents in terms of letting our kids take (reasonable) risks and get some scrapes. We've come to expect regular bumps and bruises these days, as the girls learn to walk and Josiah is, well, Josiah! His recent crash into the pepper tree did require more comfort from me than the usual little owies, though. Poor guy--here's the evidence two days later (it had healed some by then and looked considerably better than the initial stripe up his face!):

Grandma McNinch, Dave, the girls, Josiah, and I were out in the front yard enjoying the sun, and Josiah was hitting the pepper tree with sticks (perhaps pretending to fight tigers). At one point I guess he meant to run at the tree and hit it extra-hard with a stick, but instead, he ran right into it--full speed into the trunk. That bark isn't soft. We all saw the collision and then he started crying. I held him for awhile, wiped up the blood and bark bits, and eventually gave him a "chocodate" (chocolate-covered date) to help cheer him up as he calmed down. (He believed this helped considerably--he told Daddy about it later in the day.) He's been telling the story of his crash since then: "Siah run into pepper tree. Cry and cry. Mama give Siah chocodate!" Even when wounded and crying, he insisted he didn't want a band-aid. I think the association of band-aids with vaccines is too strong for him or something. Anytime he gets hurt, he says urgently, "No band-aid, Mama! No band-aid!" I didn't force any band-aids on him, and the scrapes healed up very quickly on their own. About a week later he just had a pinkish spot on his forehead where the biggest scab had been. Must be nice to have young skin!