SIERRA STARTED SCHOOL!

So a few weeks ago I started a blog post on how Sierra was about to start school (see below) but life got busy and I never finished it. So anyway she's been in school for a few weeks and it's been pretty great. She's very happy, loves going and has met a lot of new friends. There were a few hiccups though: Some kid said "I don't like you" to her (and I got a lot of good / vulgar feedback about it on Facebook) and an after-school person gave her a non-vegan cupcake even though it's clearly listed on allergy sheets. Besides those two little things it's been a lovely experience and I'm enjoying her daily updates about what she's doing, getting to hear about all her new friends and I am looking forward to watching her grow throughout the year.

Will post more about my little kindergartener soon! -Craig


PS. I will probably post a blog entry on the 'i don't like you thing' at some point. Got a lot of solid feedback on how to deal with it, read a lot of great stuff online etc and figure I might as well pull it all together for a "How we dealt with it" post. Later this week maybe!

PSS. Feel free to leave a comment about your back to school experiences / If you've ever had to deal with / explain to your child why someone would tell them they don't like them. #Feelings

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In about 2 weeks Sierra starts school and it's all I can think about. I've seen photos from friends with kids who have already started going back and the instagrams full of screaming and tears makes me pretty nervous of how Sierra is going to react on her first day.

She says she's excited and can't wait but that may change when the time to actually go inside and be left by your parents comes.
 

Sierra's 1st Stitches a.k.a. Friday night at the E.R.

While at work today I got a phone call along with the picture message below from our daycare provider. She told me Sierra had tried to climb a book shelf to reach a doll, had fallen down and hit her head on the corner of the shelf leaving a deep cut. Sierra didn't even cry, she just walked over to Gabby and said "I hurt my head". What a trooper!! Gabby said we may have to take her to the doctor but wasn't sure. I called up our primary doctor and explained the cut as best as I could based on the photo and she suggested we go to an ER as there were no appointments left today and it sounded like she may need stitches or bonding.

Once we picked Sierra up we called our insurance company, explained what happened and headed right out to the ER based on where they said to go. Our, apparently incompetent, insurance provider told us TWO hospitals that were in our network and that we should go to so we headed to the first one who upon walking in told us "Oh we don't take children...". So we headed to the second one who upon walking in told us "Oh we don't take children...". At this point it was getting late so we just went to the Boston Children's Hospital across the street where we've been before and had an amazing experience at. Voted the #1 pediatric hospital in the nation! Now I just really hope they accept our insurance... 

Here we are waiting to be admitted.

Getting weighed, blood pressure taken, etc. Also here is a higher quality version of the cut.

After we had all the standard hospital tests we got into the room and watched the Fox and The Hound for a bit while rubbing a numbing agent on the wound every 3 minutes for about 30 minutes. Next the nurses came in for the actual procedure which started with cleaning the wound with a water shooter (I don't think thats the medical term). She actually laughed uncontrollably during that part saying it tickled but I think that mystery nasal spray had a bit to do with it. After being cleaned and numbed around the wound the nurse stitched her up and bandaged her and it was over. SHE WAS A CHAMP. She didn't cry, flinch or anything and we couldn't be happier or more proud!

Although i wanted to, I did not take any photos during the actual procedure but here is one of her shortly after it on the left. The one on the right is 30 minutes later enjoying some vegan ice cream as a reward for being such a good listener to the nurses and doctors. Overall it was not how I expected to spend my Friday night but it was a new learning experience for all of us and I'm so proud of Sierra for being so tough throughout the whole process. Shes sleeping now and I'm about to do the same... Goodnight everyone! -Craig