Snippets of Summer

We started out the week on Monday by signing up for the summer reading program at the local library. The kids can earn small prizes for reading and do fun craft activities at the library.

Back from the library with their bag of goodies

On Tuesday, Raina lost her front tooth. How cute is that?

I went grocery shopping on Wednesday with Raina, Remy and Ollie (Jackson was out of town with Barry). I've found the best way to shop when I have the little boys with me:

Apparently, I can't get both boys . . .

. . . to look at me at the same time!

Tuesday and Thursday the kids have swimming lessons. Swim caps are required at our pool:

Jackson and Raina are on their own, and then I take Remy and Ollie in for Aqua Tots. One of their favorite things to do is sit on the edge of the pool and jump to me. Except on Thursday, I had just caught Remy when Ollie jumped in before I was ready to catch him. My heart skipped a beat, I let go of Remy to grab Ollie, then grabbed Remy again, and it was all over in a second or two. Neither boy was upset or choking on the water, but it was a little scary for those seconds.
It wasn't the worst part of the day, though. We changed out of our swimming suits after lessons and were just about ready to leave when I heard Remy start crying. His finger got stuck in the locker room door, and he was bleeding all over the place. Thankfully another mom I know called the EMT, took care of Ollie for me, gave me a rag to hold on the bleeding finger, and was a calm presence in the chaos. Barry was home and got to the school in a few minutes, just as the EMT arrived. She wrapped his finger up with gauze and suggested we take him to the local clinic where they would be able to x-ray and assess the damage.
The x-ray showed a small fracture on the very tip of the finger, and because it was an open fracture (skin was broken), they sent us on to Duluth where they're better equipped to handle young children.So I left the other kids home with Barry and took off with Remy. At the ER, the doctor said his fingernail was only hanging on by about 10% and would need to be removed completely. The side of his finger was also cut pretty deeply. He had stitches there and along the nail bed where the nail ripped off. They had to numb his finger with lidocaine (injection) and the nurses did a great job distracting him with stickers, a popsicle, bubbles, and a glove blown up to look like a turkey. Remy entertained them by saying, "Mom, get me out of here," and when we were ready to go and he had all his treats in hand, he said, "It's my lucky day!"
I have to keep his finger bandaged and try to keep it clean and dry. Stitches will be removed next week Friday. It only seems to bother him when I have to change the dressing.
It was a tough afternoon, and I'm so glad he's handling it so well.
Jackson had his first baseball game, also on Thursday so I couldn't watch, but his team won and Jackson had a couple hits and also scored two runs for his team.

Ollie is as busy as ever. On this day, he tried to climb into the cabinet.