X-ray

I am extremely glad that Isaac shares so well with his sister!  He is constantly making sure that she has what she needs.  If she's laying down for a nap and he thinks she needs her waterfall soother on, he's a man on a mission.  And on several occasions, I've found her asleep in her swing with a stack of small toys resting on her lap, affectionately given to her by Isaac, who sleeps with a couple of toys at night and anticipated that she would also need something to sleep with.       

best buddies

And it's no different when she's awake.  If he's playing with something, he makes certain to include her.  If he's playing cars, he gives her one as well.  If he's playing with Buzz, Gracie gets to play with Woody.  If he's playing with a ball, she has one too.  She'll be eight months old next week, so she's not yet at a point to really "play" in the same way that brother does.  But it doesn't seem to matter to our sweet little guy.  He includes her anyway. 

Cuddles for Sissy

Unfortunately, his sharing isn't always the best thing.  Sunday morning we were getting ready for church.  Matt was already gone and I was running around, looking through my piles of folded laundry (that had yet to be taken to the chest of drawers), picking out outfits for everyone when I heard Gracie cough, as if she got a little choked on something.  I've heard her cough like that before when she would stick something -- whatever the present "chew toy" is -- too far back in her mouth.  So I knelt down by her on the floor to make sure she was okay and I noticed a little round shiny object in her hand.

A dime.

Big brother had found some "pennies" (what he terms any type of coin -- although he could identify each one specifically if you ask him) on the entry table and had, I thought, put them in the piggy bank we keep to collect spare change from the end of the day.  But I guess he thought Gracie might find them just as fun to play with as he does.   

So I took the dime away from Gracie and she immediately stretched as far in front of her as she could reach to the point she was practically laying on her outstretched legs and I thought, "What is she trying to get?"

Another dime.

So I took that one away and inspected her surrounding area for any other misplaced coins.  She seemed fine, so I thought, "Oh, she's okay.  I don't think she actually swallowed anything."  But when I was talking with hubby and a dear friend from church, we all agreed I had better call the pediatrician anyway, just to be safe.  So that afternoon I called the on-call doctor and they said that as long as she wasn't having difficulty breathing or pooping, she was probably okay but I needed to call her regular pediatrician Monday morning and see if they thought it merited an x-ray.

They did.  So we headed to the local hospital and had an x-ray...which Gracie was not fond of, whatsoever.  But I was once again reminded of the benefits of a small town hospital.  Quick service.  The doctor took a look at the x-ray and didn't find a dime (or any other coin) anywhere in her little digestive tract.

Whew!  I've always heard of small kids swallowing money.  But I didn't know it can be such a big ordeal.  I thought, "They poop it out...no big deal."  I didn't know those things can possibly get turned the wrong way and cause an obstruction.

So now hubby and I joke about how the girl is already devouring money...not a good sign.  The teenage years could get expensive!

No dime!  And no makeup for Mommy.  :)