Black and Blue.

by Ashley Weeks Cart

Yesterday, Sunny had an accident.

And it wasn’t the bodily fluid kind.

She leaned on the table of her high chair, launching it from its perch and sending it squarely on her right big toe.

OWIE!!!!

It immediately turned a sickly shade of green. And proceeded to swell all day.

A kid who normally always wants to “See toes! See Sunny toes!” demanded the protection of her shoes all day. In fact, she requested that she wear them to bed.

She even has a pitiful little baby limp.

It was a long night, as she couldn’t stay comfortable because I’m sure the bugger was throbbing and aching. Any movement, or even the slightest bump, would send her into hysterics.

While situations like this are cause for much sleep deprivation and are rather trying on the parental figures, the upside of a hurt or sick child is how pitifully sweet and dependent s/he becomes. Sunny wanted to be held all night, pressed up against me, seeking comfort in our synchronized breathing and embrace. While James iced her toe in the middle of the night, she clung to my chest, and James got her giggling up a storm with a myriad of ridiculous facial expressions and silly songs.

She even requested that James make up a song about her toe to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Those are some of the happiest, most memorable moments of being together as a family. While we all knew we’d be zombies in the morning from the interrupted sleep, in the moment, it didn’t matter. It was the everyday stuff of life where love radiates most concretely.

Today, she has a fever of 103, and has been more helpless and needy than yesterday. All she has wanted to do is snuggle in our bed, reading books, watching videos on the iPhone or lying with her baby doll and monkeys while we sing to her.

To get her to nap, I had to lie with her for what felt like hours before she finally closed her eyes and relaxed.

While my To Do list is pages long, I don’t think that there is a more productive way I could have spent my afternoon.