Best Screamer in Class!

This past Sunday evening, Aiden and I went to watch Ariel, Travis and Robert play softball. They play in a league on a team for Ariel's work and it's a weekly thing. I used to enjoy going. I would sit outside, drink a beer and eat a pretzel while they played their one-hour game. Things just aren't the same with Aiden. I've actually decided that I'm going to stop going, unless I have a friend to go with. Otherwise it is entirely too stressful for me to enjoy any of it.

Aiden is a toddler who only learned to walk six months ago. It is this shiny, new thing that he is still perfecting. Which means there is no way to get him to just sit in one spot while we watch the game. Sometimes I can get him to stay in a certain area, but I still have to follow him around so I can catch him when he falls down the concrete stairs or cover his head when a rogue softball flies our way.

On top of this, I have to keep an eye on my purse and Aiden's diaper bag. That doesn't leave room for much game watching. This last trip was a doozie. We had FOUR balls hit within feet of where we were standing. Two were pop-ups from a game and two were from a team that was practicing throwing the ball back and forth. None of them hit us thankfully, but it was a close call each time.

Then, in the last five minutes of the game, Aiden was running and fell. He wasn't able to get his hands in front of himself in time to fully catch himself, so he whacked his forehead REALLY HARD on the concrete sidewalk. There was an audible thud and a delayed cry while he inhaled the maximum amount of air his lungs would allow before letting it out in a horrific scream. Ugh. It was heart wrenching.

There was no blood. That was good, but at first I couldn't tell where he had hit himself. Honestly, it wasn't until the next evening when he came home from daycare with a bruise blossomed on his forehead that I realized he'd hit his head and not his nose. I was stressed out from all the chasing and trying to get Aiden to eat the crappy food they serve there and keeping an eye on our stuff. I'm not going back again unless I have someone to help me. Or if it's a championship game.

Tuesday, Aiden came home from daycare with a goose egg where his forehead was bruised. Turns out, he fell down again and hit his forehead on the floor. I don't know if it was a really hard hit again, or if it swelled up easily because it was already damaged. Either way, it's a sad sight. Now every time he taps his forehead on something, severe sobbing ensues. This morning he was trying to fit through a door that wasn't open all the way and his forehead rubbed the door jamb. Just rubbing it resulted in a good cry. Poor guy.

The last week was pretty rough again with Aiden. The molars that had been trying to work their way through his gums finally broke all the way through. There were weeks with just the points of each molar coming out of his gums. Thankfully, there is no longer little patches of tissue in the middle of each tooth. YUCK. Since yesterday, he seems to be in a much better mood because of it.

His teachers did inform us yesterday that Aiden is the loudest kid in the class. He yells the loudest when they are outside and he cries the loudest when he is hurt or mad. He seems to have developed this horribly high-pitched keening. Gah. It's the worst when I'm holding him. Ahhh, parenthood!