Cribsheet: Bumps in the night

The other night all was calm, all was bright (for about 5 minutes). Just got home, about to make dinner, my husband was at work, and I was washing up Vivian in the bathroom. I heard Ben walk down the hall to the stairs. The next thing I heard made my heart stop. A stumble, a loud THUNK, and a wail.

I flew down the stairs to see what was the matter. I saw the biggest black goose egg on his forehead that I have ever seen. The mother of all goose eggs. How did that appear so quickly?

He had tripped on the stairs and flew head-first into the corner of the kitchen wall. He stopped crying pretty quickly. Usually we treat the average bump with a "boo boo monkey" cold pack and some kisses it to make it better. But no, this one was in a whole other category of bumps. This one was alarming; it could've had its own area code.

I looked at his eyes. Big black pupils. That's not good. We all bundled up and headed immediately to urgent care.

The doctor walked in and joked, "So, buddy, are you trying to do your best imitation of a unicorn?" His humor was lost on me at that moment. Freaked-out mom -- not a good audience. He checked Ben's eyes, asked questions. His main concern was that Ben didn't lose consciousness. The doctor checked his balance and had him hop on one foot. Then Ben started bouncing and running around the exam room.

"OK, well, it's good to see he's not lethargic," the doctor said. Then he looked me in the eye. "He's going to be fine. You were right to get this checked out. His pupils were dilated because of the adrenaline. Luckily it's just a hematoma. Just to warn you, the blood is going to drain down his face. Don't be alarmed, but he'll get some black eyes. It's going to look worse before it gets better."

Indeed, my little porcelain-skinned boy is now a technicolor sight to behold. He will surely be the most vibrant boy in the preschool Christmas pageant this week, with his eyes striped with red, green, yellow, black and blue. It absolutely hurts to look at him. In all of our 2009 Christmas photos, he'll look like a prizefighter. It will always be "the year Ben fell down the stairs."