ZBL started at Preschool Family, the same preschool where SPL started,with the same teacher too :-), on September 6.  Despite his initial dislike of getting into his carseat, he transitioned well into school.  I had to laugh when he quickly found the brooms (SPL had a similar obsession at 14 months :-).  And he had a great time, especially with the markers, as he hadn’t played with them before.

What I hadn’t anticipated was his being “wobbly” while seated on a backless bench for snack (partially due to his being tired as he was still napping 2X per day and class is from 9:30 am - 11:00 am).  I was standing somewhat close by but not close enough to catch him and he fell backwards and bonked the back of  his head.  The surface was blacktop, not soft top, and I heard the thump and my stomach clenched and I felt a wave of fear and nausea.  My memories are all in slo-mo after that.  I remember Z’s face and his eyes and the look on his face – as if he “wasn’t there.”  (what I think now happened was that this was his first breath holding spell and the look on his face was him holding his breath – but I can’t know this for certain).  His expression scared me and I thought I should take him to the ER to have him checked, even though he cried right away after his fall (which is a good sign).  Thankfully another dad volunteered to drive me and Z in our van to the closest medical center and John met us there.  

I sat in the back seat and tried to help Z stay awake on the drive.  He cried and cried and I sang to him.  He really wanted to sleep as he was super tired and no doubt scared so it was hard to keep him awake.

John met us at the ER and they saw us quickly to give Z a check up.  He was getting back to normal and his eyes looked normal so I wasn’t as scared.  We got a room within 20 mins and saw and ER pediatrician.  By the time the doctor came into our room, ZBL was walking around curiously checking everything out – typical Z!  Back to normal :-).  Nothing was wrong with him in the end so I was relieved.  Turns out a fall of 1 foot or so isn’t likely to do any damage.  They are more concerned about falls 2X the height of the child or more (so off the changing table or off a table).

So all’s well that ends well.  John and I laughed too that we first went to the ER with SPL in October of 2006 so Z “beat” his brother by a month or so.  

Grateful to our Preschool Family friends for all the support and encouragement even though we’d just met :-).   

Fingers crossed this is our last ER visit.