Sleepover!

Will, Dane and his cousins Landon & Payton. Doesn't Dane look thrilled? This past Saturday we got together to celebrate a few birthdays. I had one of those moments where, as a mother, you feel like your heart is peeled back, raw and available for the taking. Terri offered to let them all spend the night at her house after the get-together. I was packing Will's overnight bag and as I was picking out his things and I got to thinking - his cousins are 7. Quite a bit older, and in 1st grade. They are super sweet to Will but I had this moment where I was packing his toothbrush and I wondered "will they make fun of his Elmo toothbrush?" Will they think it's "baby"? And my heart literally ached just thinking about anybody making fun of my baby boy. (DISCLAIMER: L&P are SUPER nice to Will and I don't ever think they would make fun of him. But in the same breath, boys are boys, and kids are kids. Even the nicest of kids will tease.) I know it was foolish of me even to think a thought like that, but packing an overnight bag for my 3 year-old is a new thing for me. He's been spending the night with his Nana for years but with "friends"? It's a whole new territory. He's such a big boy!!!

SO, we're at the party and I'm standing there talking to my brother-in-law Rick and we're by the staircase. Will starts to come down the stairs and when he's about 1/2 way down he slips on a step. I thought at first he was just going to slide down a few of them on his back so I wasn't too worried. But then, in slow motion, he somehow turns directions and starts to tumble forward. Rick lunged forward to try to catch him. All of a sudden his face smashes. I mean SMASHES. Crunches. Splats (and that's exactly what the horrid sound was like - a splat. Unmistakable.) Onto the ceramic tile floor. His body was lying up the steps and he was face down on the tile. I raced to him and (I'm pretty sure I ripped poor Rick out of the way) I was sure his whole face was going to be torn open. I remember shouting "Oh GOD. Oh GOD." I picked him up and somehow, by the grace of God, there was no blood. Just one little drop from his nose. That was it. He got some red marks but I have no idea how he walked away from that tumble with nothing more than a couple of marks. Then of course I was thinking all night...I"m such a horrible mother. I left him there! I'm sure he's having internal bleeding in his head. I'm going to take him to the hospital tomorrow and they're going to say "so your son smashed his face and head on a hard tile floor and you did....NOTHING??" Alas, he's fine. Not so much as a goose egg. Mike said it was his big cheeks that saved him. Cushioned his fall. Lesson to be learned from this? Put a rug at the bottom of our steps. Especially as little Dane is so close to being able to navigate himself over to our steps.