On the mend.

SS as usual has been a brave little girl, and is on the mend. Yesterday I received a phone call from the school principal. The other child involved in the collision is a good fifty pounds heavier than SS and was running as they both rounded a corner. SS was not running, something that her teacher said on her voice mail, although she did not witness the incident. SS bounced off the kid and fell face first onto the concrete floor. That most certainly accounts for the extent of the damage. SS's dentist could not understand how colliding into another child could cause so much trauma.  That is, unless the other child rammed into SS's face wearing a football helmet. SS's teacher found her on the floor, face down and bloodied. SS stayed home today as well because right now she is terrified of returning to school.I received a text from one of the moms letting me know that the principal kept her word and talked to SS's class today. While reinforcing the dangers of running on campus, she made it clear that SS was not running, and this accident was not her fault. SS is afraid of being in trouble, and we wonder what her teacher must have said to her.

Of course there is never a good time to have your child's face rearranged, but this is really lousy timing. We are flying Sunday night to Puerto Rico, and I'm concerned that SS will be in so much discomfort.  It doesn't help that this will be my first trip alone with SS, no P to help pick up the slack. The Motrin is helping, as is all the TLC we are showering upon our brave warrior. SS won't be able to eat solids for a few more days, nor use a straw. Last Sunday Nana was suggesting milkshakes with ice cream and instant breakfast mix to put more meat on SS's bones. Little did we know we would be doing it as forced sustenance. We will also get her Pediasure to get as much nutrition into her soft, cold diet.

Her top front tooth is now sticking forward and will fall soon. SS might get a Tooth Fairy visit in Puerto Rico. The other tooth was pushed inside her gums.

The Tooth Fairy increased her rate since SS lost her tooth in such a violent manner.

SS was really hungry by dinner time yesterday. She polished a can of cold alphabet noodle soup, then had more cold noodles.

Breakfast this morning. Milkshake with whole milk, instant breakfast, and Ben and Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. Just trying to get calories in that tiny body.

SS drank her milkshake quickly and appreciated the soft brownie chunks.

Now on to our usually bare walls. A few weeks ago I told P that I would look for one or two posters in Puerto Rico to have something on the walls. Then I thought about all the pictures we have taken over the years, and while looking for something else Online, I found that Costco makes collages for a very reasonable price. It took just minutes to put them together and they were ready in a few hours. Four frames later we had some adornment on our walls, to go along with our dragon fan. It was a witch to get a decent picture of the collages, but you get the idea.

A little something we picked up in Chinatown.

The downside to the collages is that one can't choose the exact placement of the pictures, just take chances shuffling them around. After more than a dozen tries I had to give up on getting what I wanted and just went with what looked best. Once P saw the China collage his reaction reminded me why I probably waited so long to put the pictures together. Although we are elated in each and every picture, SS has that deer caught between headlights look. A sad reminder of how tumultuous that time was for our baby.

I was surprised to see how much SS remembers from our Chicago trip. Technically it should have been our Iowa for her first wedding trip. But even though we only spent two days in Chicago, those are the memories SS still talks about. The Bean, the interactive fountains, and even the Chinese sculptures exhibition. Probably the most significant trip from SS's point of view.

I might have to redo this one and the Maui collage, but it will do for now. SS was such a baby back then.

When we talked to SS about her Maui trip we taught her to pretend to snap her fingers and say "It's Maui baby!" She looked and sounded so cute and it became our trip motto. We can't wait to return to lounge around the beaches, and eat awesome seafood. And visit, yeah, of course, and visit.