Our Truly Scary Halloween

We had Halloween all planned out as part of the Peanuts gang.  Little Buddy was eager to wear his Charlie Brown costume, Little Sister was going to be dressed as the Great Pumpkin, Daddy was going to be Linus, and I was going to be Lucy.  We were nearly ready to head out to a Halloween party with Little Buddy's friends and do some trick-or-treating when Little Buddy sprinted into the kitchen and managed to pull a pot of hot coffee down on himself.  It was just as terrible as you can imagine and I'll spare you the trail of anguished thoughts that went through my head and my heart.  Suffice it to say, we did not make trick-or-treating that night.   

With second degree burns on the left side of Little Buddy's chest we were sent to the burn unit of Texas Children's Pediatrics downtown and were admitted for the night.  Daddy rode in the ambulance with Little Buddy and I drove down with Little Sister.  Uncle C, who lives close to the hospital, met us there, while Mimi and Pop-Pop went back to our house to take care of Chesney and to ready our things should we have to stay in the hospital for awhile.  

My poor, sweet boy.

  

 Finally getting some rest.  The dressing and the IV were the worst parts of the experience for him.

Spending Halloween night in the hospital with your scalded three-year-old and your newborn not even two weeks after her delivery is rough.  Really rough.  Like Momma cries her eyes out every time she looks at her boy rough.  Thankfully, the hospital is truly in tune with kids' needs.  We received excellent care and Little Buddy definitely felt better following visits from the therapy dogs, playing in the play room, lots of PBS viewing, and pancakes.  He also charmed all the hospital staff by greeting them and thanking them for everything, even the things he didn't like, such as tearfully thanking one of the nurses for his dressing change.  I have to say even I was impressed with his manners and charm under such circumstances!

Enjoying pancakes while kicking back and watching Daniel Tiger.

Feeling good enough to visit the play room and work some of the toddler energy out!

Although we did find out Little Buddy cannot handle Tylenol with codeine, it didn't seem to matter as he wasn't showing any signs of pain or discomfort, except during dressing changes.  Because of this, once Daddy and I mastered the art of dressing changes, we were cleared to leave!  It took forever, of course, to actually get released, but we were thrilled to head home on Friday evening.  We were even more thrilled that Little Buddy seemed to be feeling just like his old self.

Thank God for his smiles and giggles!

We are so thankful to be home and for him to continue his recovery.  Although he will be wearing burn dressings over the next few weeks, he is doing great and is expected to recover completely (in fact, he is now just more upset he missed trick-or-treat!)!  We are so blessed by the family and friends who have supported us over the last few days.

Counting our blessings, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma