New on the Menu: Laundry Detergent

I know kids will be kids. And a part of being kid means eating things you shouldn't and not eating the things you should. I've had friends who've had to call poison control because their kids ate soap, lotions, sunscreens etc., and I felt fortunate that I haven't had to make that call yet. But, today was my lucky day.


I was busy ironing in my bedroom and Shelby was busy playing and keeping busy. She was wearing my swimsuit (one strap was over her neck and the rest she wrapped around her, I have no idea how) and walking in and out of my bedroom, opening and shutting the door and saying "hi and goodbye" each time. We had a fun game going on. But, at some point the game took an unfortunate turn when Shelby thought it'd be fun to eat laundry detergent. Months ago Shelby tried eating laundry detergent, but when she tasted it she said "yuck." I assumed she wouldn't be going back for more.

While she's eating detergent, I'm none the wiser and I'm patiently waiting for her to pop back into the bedroom to say "hi." A few minutes of silence go by (the silence was a dead give away that she was up to something, I should have known) and then I hear Shelby trying to open the door. She struggles for a minute or so before I open the door for her and I was totally shocked at what I saw. Shelby still had my swimsuit wrapped around her, but she had foam in and all around her mouth. From the looks of it I guessed she was eating toothpaste (one of her personal favorites) so I wasn't surprised. The look on her face, however, told me this wasn't toothpaste.

When I reached down to help her I could smell the laundry detergent on her breath. I had no idea how much she ate at this point, but quickly found out when she threw up all over me. We get into the bathroom and she throws up again, but this time we get most of it in the sink. What surprised me about the throw up was that it was all obviously detergent, still in granular form. She threw up enough detergent that it made me a little nervous. How does someone eat 1/2 cup of laundry detergent?! Seriously?! I couldn't have tasted good.

Poison control told me to do all the things I would have done regardless, but it was nice to know I didn't need to do anything else. I was glad I didn't have to take Shelby to the hospital for a stomach pump or anything like that. This is what poison control told me to do.

1. Rinse her mouth out.
2. Give her a bath to rinse off the detergent that got somewhere other than in her mouth (there was a lot down her pants)
3. Get her something to drink. She refused water, but the operator told me to give her popsicles. In her words, "no one refuses a popscicle!" She's right.
4. Look for sores or blisters in her mouth. Call if you see any.
5. Watch for more vomiting and if she does vomit again to call her back.

So there you have it. Shelby turned out just fine. She didn't get any sores in her mouth and she ate popsicles for the rest of the day. I don't think Shelby will be getting into the laundry detergent again. But, just in case I moved the detergent where she can't get into it. At least not without a lot of effort.

911 and Double Vision

Calling 911 isn't something I do everyday. Actually, it's something I've never done. But, today I finally made that 3-digit call.

This afternoon my brother had come to pick me up from my dental appointment (which you'll read about it a minute). As we were leaving the parking lot we noticed a decent sized fire in the field right in front of us. We both looked at each other in amazement and I said to my brother, "I should probably call 911." And my brother said, "uh, ya. I think so. That's a huge fire." The 911 people are not very nice, by the way. And they are sticklers for having exact addresses.

So, I had a dental appointment this morning to have 3 cavities filled. This is the most amount of cavities I've ever had at one time. It's was a shock for both me and my dentist, who for the 1st time in 2 years, told me I couldn't be in the "No Cavity of the Month Club." It's been a horrible adjustment for me, but I'm pulling through.

The appointment went as good as dental appointments can go. And I can finally understand why people hate going to the dentist. It's not fun. After the appointment my dentist was explaining to me that he believes my cavities were caused during my pregnancy because I threw up so much. How awesome is that?!?! Isn't being sick for 4 months bad enough?!? Come on!

While my dentist was explaining this to me I was realizing that I was seeing 2 dentists and 2 computers and 2 sinks when there only should have been 1 of each. That was a little disconcerting so I asked my dentist if Novocaine can affect vision. Turns out it can, but in most cases the double vision and inability to focus lasts only 30 minutes or so. In severe cases the vision problems lasts until the Novocaine wears off. I was lucky enough to be in the 2nd group where the double vision lasts as long as the Novocaine. I sat in the dentist's chair for 1 hour before I finally gave up in getting my vision back and I called my brother to come save me. It was just after that when we spotted the fire. Sure made for a weird day.

Good Morning!?

Despite the sound of the fan blowing loudly in the window above my head, I woke up at 2 in the morning to the sounds of Shelby whimpering in her bedroom. It's the curse of a mother's ears, I suppose. Although my eyes weren't totally adjusted to the light, I didn't see any movement orI didn't hear anymore sounds when I checked in on her. I figured all was well. Since, I was wide awake and made my way to the office to check my e-mail. I have no idea when Shelby walked in, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed a cute little girl standing silently next to my chair.

I could only assume the heat woke her up. Her room is quite a bit hotter than mine. I felt guilty about putting her back to bed in her warm room, so I brought her back to bed with me. She lay quietly between Travis and I for quite some time, although both of us didn't fall asleep. At about 3, Shelby started giggling and clapping her hands. I had no idea what that was all about, but it was clear to me that this little girl had no immediate plans for sleeping. I ignored her noises, hoping she would give up on getting any attention and fall asleep. I couldn't have been more wrong. At some point Shelby started squirming around and talking excitedly. I was quite impressed with my patience and told her several times that it was night-time and thus time for sleep. I even sang her lullaby's and tickled her face...fool proof methods for inducing sleep. This seemed to appease the noise/wiggle worm for a few minutes, but Shelby definitely was not going to go to sleep.

At 4:30 and still no sleep for either of us, I had Travis take Shelby back to her room. I'm sure Travis woke up at some point during all of this, but he can fall back asleep so fast that I never feel bad for him. At this point, however, I am wide awake and sleep is pretty much a mute point. I'm just hoping Shelby falls asleep. It doesn't seem likely becuase Shelby is now screaming in protest from her bedroom. But, 4:45 comes around all is quiet and the I'm thinking that perhaps Shelby finally fell asleep. But, that's when I hear her banging on her door. My patience has finally left me and I march into Shelby's room and demand that she go to sleep. I knew it wouldn't work, but what else was I to do?

Since, I was going to be awake anyway, I thought it would be best if I was at least comfortable, so I brought her back to bed with me. That, of course, did not go over too well. Shelby scooted off the bed just as I plopped her down and promptly began playing with anything she could find. I let that continue for 15 minutes before I decided to get up and take Shelby downstairs to begin the day.

How is it possible for this girl to not be tired?! All I know is that it's going to be long day for the two of us.

And to make this even funnier (as if all of this was funny in the first place) I just went downstairs to check on Shelby since I left her eating breakfast and watching a movie in her highchair and guess what I found? I found her fast asleep. She has NEVER fallen asleep in her highchair before. Now, she decides to fall asleep. Good grief.