Bushwalking with Cailey and Jessica

My pirates playing in an ocean of leaves

The head wound

I know that these sorts of injuries are just part of childhood, but even so I don't think I'll ever forget the sound of Elliot's head smacking against the bricks when he fell from the handrail he was swinging on. And geesh, there was a lot of blood. 

Paul and I were so thankful for the kindness of the two nurses who were also having breakfast at the Dome that morning and came running over to help. It gave Paul time to ride his bicycle home to get the car while they calmly and professionally checked that Elliot was okay, cleaned up his head, and let us know that we'd need to take El to the ER because it was a pretty deep gash.

And we were so proud of our two boys. Oliver was at his brother's side in a flash, asking if he needed an ice pack (Ollie loves ice packs!!) and telling him that it was going to be okay. And Elliot was so so brave. It was evident that he was in pain and pretty scared, but he calmed himself down and just dealt with it all.

In the emergency room, Elliot kept himself busy with the ipad while the doctor put two staples into his head to hold the cut back together. Sure there were some tears, but the nurses were amazed how he handled it better than some full-grown men.

Elliot's Cross-Country Carnival

I love this little superstar. He finished 10th out of all the Year 1 boys in the Clifton Hills Cross Country race even after he stopped to pick up another boy's shoe that had been left behind. Mostly I'm just wowed that he ran a whole kilometre without walking a bit and with that gorgeous smile on his face the whole time.