That's Gonna Leave a Mark

It was a great evening. Hot, but not too hot to handle. Especially since we were hanging out with our friends, Kurt & Karen, at their new kinda-country home. A few acres of grass and some trees can help a lot with the summer heat. We'd taken turns riding the tractor. We'd eaten a scrumptious dinner of barbecued ribs, grilled tri-tip, and homemade potato salad. The kiddos had been excused and were having fun with the doggies and watching a little TV. The big people were waiting on the coffee. And then...thump! SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAM!


Lila screaming...that's nothing new. Lila laying face down on the floor kicking...a fairly regular occurrence. Roll Lila over...Lila covered in blood? Well, this is new. A closer look...big bloody gash on lip, dangling tooth. Gotta go!!!

We dashed off to the emergency room because it was pretty obvious the lip was going to need stitches. We tried calling the dentist on the way, but of course we couldn't find the number. We called a friend, but she couldn't find it either. Now I know what you're thinking...call 411! Well, pediatric dentist's aren't always known by their full names, Genius! Ours is "Dr. Lisi" -- but that's short for something...something a traumatized mother can't possibly remember. But praise be to Dr. Lisi! She actually has a 411 listing under, of all things "Dr. Lisi"! And she answers the phone at 9:45 on a Sunday night! Love her! (By the way, her full name is Dr. Elisabeth Rowold-Garciamendez -- try remembering that one when your little girl is screaming and bleeding all over the backseat!) But I digress....

The staff at Centennial Medical Center were great. They put us in the Kid Room which is blue and painted with sea creatures. The big "Shamus" on the wall next to the bed were a big comfort to Lila. The doctor stitched her lip (4 stitches) and tried to reposition the tooth. And sent us on our way.


We were at Dr. Lisi's office before they opened on Monday. A quick look determined that the tooth had to go. But the procedure had to be done under anaesthesia so we would have to come back the next day. We booked an appointment for Tuesday morning. Once Lila was under, it was easier to make a more thorough evaluation. Both front teeth would have to be extracted. Additionally, Delila had broken the maxillary bone and the health of the permanent teeth would be a "wait and see" kind of thing. Heartbreaking news to say the least -- in spite of the fact that Lila seems to be carrying on a family tradition. (I knocked a baby tooth out on a friend's head a little ahead of schedule, I broke a front tooth in a bike wreck at age 7 and broke the other front tooth on the arm of a chair when I was 14. My grandmother knocked her front teeth out in a playground incident.)

So, Ladybug's got a toothless grin. When she saw her teeth in the little pink box Dr. Lisi gave us she asked me, "I put them back in now, Mommy?" And now when needs to jump on the sofa, she takes all the cushions off and stacks them up against the coffee table, "so I don't knock teeth anyMORE!" (She says these things with such enthusiasm it's impossible not to smile...and cringe at the same time.) The missing teeth don't really seem to bother her. She stopped sucking her thumb for a while - which I was hoping would be the silver lining to this parenting nightmare - but I saw her taking the thumb for a test drive yesterday. She was very excited that it, "doesn't hurt my boo-boo anyMORE!" I guess I'll have to look for some other silver lining.

And just how did this whole thing happen? I'm not exactly sure. According to Jake -- who was the only one to witness it -- Lila was trying to jump onto the couch. She slid off or miscalculated and hit the coffee table on the way down. And there you have it...the childhood injury from which there is no full recovery. The one that leaves a mark.