Nutty Natty

I guess there comes a time in every two year old's life when they discover the joy of putting things into the holes in their bodies. You know, fingers in mouth, nose, ears...bums. Toys in mouth, spaghetti in nose...small unidentifiable objects laying around the house in the mouth, ears and nose...is my kid the only one?

Up until this point, Natalie has generally done well with exploring things with her mouth. We've never been the parents to immediately grab something that was headed for her mouth that had just fallen on the floor. Binky's rarely were washed off after they plummeted from her mouth and she never really knew about the two little holes in her nose, or what they could hold (besides buggers and fingers) until, well, yesterday.

Children learn by exploration, experimentation and uninterrupted play. So when Chris sat down with Natty to eat soy nuts (14g of protein in just 1/4cup!) and watch Lady and the Tramp (a new favorite), he didn't think twice about the possibilities that child was thinking up about that little morsel of crunchtiy joy. I was away Saturday morning, on my way to enjoy a much anticipated dance class. Just as I arrived at the studio, I got a phone call. It was Natty crying in the background and Chris telling me that she had shoved a soy nut up her nose. How do you get those things out, he asked? I got back in the car. (Joys of being a one car family.) On the way home I called a few friends and got some input on what to do. Do I go to a clinic- are there any clinics open on a Saturday? Can I suction the thing out with a bulb syringe? What if we push it up higher into her sinuses and the docs have to put her out to retrieve it?! All the while, I was laughing at this little predicament that our two year old had gotten herself into. We decided to just take her into the Emergency Room where they would most likely have all the tools they'd need to get it out safely and quickly.

When I walked in the house, Natalie looked at me and said, "Peanut in my nose! Uh-oh!" She continued to tell me that we were going to see Dr. Jacques (our D.C.) and that she wouldn't cry at the doctor's office. "No crying at Dr. Jacques!" We explained that it was okay to cry if she was scared or if it hurt, and that we were going to see a new doctor. She was on board. We got to the E.R. and Chris did an amazing job at talking her through everything the nurses did before they did it and keeping her calm. She just kept saying, "Peanut in nose!" and "Nuts go in the mouth." She was super cute...so much so that I just kept our camera rolling and got some good video. I won't post the actual procedure because it was a little traumatic for her (and me), what with being bound like a burrito while the Dr. shoved a tool up her nose, I'd be freaking out too! Dr. Mike did a great job and the soy nut was retrieved without much incident. Natalie now knows that nuts DO NOT go in the her nose, or anything else for that matter. She's a fast learner...its just too bad that this little learning experience will cost us a pretty penny!

On a side note, while in the E.R. room, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for hospitals and the doctors who have the know-how to help people in distress. Our circumstance was nothing life threatening by any means, but as we were leaving, I could hear a baby crying and felt both sad and relieved that it was in a place where he could be helped to overcome whatever ailments were affecting him. Western Medicine is pretty advanced and I am grateful that I have access to some of the top doctors and nurses in the country where I live. I of course will use them last resort, but it's comforting to know they are there.





*Upon watching this video again, my mother-heart breaks at how brave she was trying to be- and WAS. Here I am laughing at her and she's choking back tears. I feel a little guilty being that I was the one behind the camera the whole time instead of being protecting her and helping her feel like everything was okay. Chris came through for that role. He really is the best daddy a little scared girl could ask for. I'll do better next time.