Little Crash has earned his nickname this week...

We were at a young friend's birthday party at our local aquatic centre when Cole slipped pulling himself out of the pool. His right eyelid broke his fall. Yeowtch! Poor little dude got quite a fright, and we are so very lucky that the concrete edging hit exactly where it did and not lower over his eyeball or just above on his brow bone. not so lucky was my decision to take white towels that day - not so much from a laundry perspective, but more because the blood was just so obvious to everyone, especially to Cole. As it was, the gash was about 3/4 of an inch. He stayed on my lap with an ice pack for a while - adamant he was not leaving to go anywhere until the party was finished! - and actually asked to get back in the pool for the last 10 minutes.

As soon as the party was finished, he, Imogen and I paid a visit to the A&E clinic where Cole was treated and we managed to avoid stitches (yay!) thanks to the miracle of purple glue and some well placed steri strips. [and fyi for those of you who find yourself with a child about to be the recipient of some purple glue - it stings as it lands on the skin. Really stings. It's just for a moment, but enough to make a small boy squeal and wince and get all his eyelashes stuck in the glue if the nurse doesn't forewarn you. Sometimes, a headlock is a sign of love.] Since then, our Little Crash (he's thrilled to have *earned* that nickname - his dad is known to many as Crash Campbell, for some very good (very high impact!) reasons!) has been healing really well, with few complaints about the wound stinging or being generally uncomfortable. He also hasn't had anywhere near the black eyes I was expecting.

And then this morning he took a tumble at Montessori, and whacked his cheek and chin on the edge of a concrete block. So the right side of his face is quite the picture - bandaged eyelid, swollen cheek (both inside and out), a few scrapes and nice heart graze under his chin. Poor little dude. As you can see from these pics though, it's not affecting his cheeky humour or love of life unduly. And his teachers even offered to chip in for a full head helmet and padded bodysuit!