great-grandma – Rebecca Cuneo Keenan

The Sofa Bed of DEATH (or Minor Bruising)

The two bigger kids were playing in one of the upstairs bedrooms, the one that used to be “Claire’s room,” but now houses all of the toys. Baby Mary and I were chatting with my grandmother in the living room of the house that she has lived in for 55 years or so and the house that she still manages to keep in pristine condition all by herself at 80+ years of age. Unfortunately the impeccable housekeeping trait seems to have skipped a couple generations and been replaced with compulsive web surfing instead. Genetics, why hath you forsaken me?!

So there we were chatting it up when I heard the first scream. Kids scream, right? That’s what they do. So I ignored it. The second scream caught my attention, but I still kept talking. But that third scream. There was no mistaking the urgency and the pain in that third scream.

I sprinted up the stairs, baby in arms, and found Colum kneeling in front of the sofa bed, screaming and screaming. I plopped Mary on the floor and raced over to find his middle fingertip caught in the hinge. It seemed like both lifting the bed up or folding it back down would just squeeze his finger even worse.

In no time at all my grandmother was squeezing hand soap onto the hinge and I rubbed it all around his finger. Still, he screamed. I tried to pry the hinges further apart with my own fingers, I tried to ease his finger down and out and nothing was working. I started to flirt with the idea of losing it because what on earth do we do?! I am his mother, how can I not just make this better?!

Just then, his finger slid out. Thank goodness for over 80 years of wisdom and liquid hand soap. Thank goodness.

Between tears and ice and nursing hungry, screaming babies we found out that he was just trying to unfold the bed. His finger was bruised and a bit swollen, but he’ll be fine. And he’ll never, ever do that again.

But, holy shit. I forgot that as kids get older they just find more new and exciting ways to hurt themselves and scare the crap out of their parents. *blinking* It’s never going to end, is it?

Hey guys, remember February? No? Well, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. It’s time for the monthly photo recap. Now two weeks late!

Irene was taking her first-ever dance lesson, a creative movement class, at a local community centre. Oddly (since there’s nothing but kids where we live) there was only one other little girl enrolled in this session. And if that little girl isn’t there?

Irene also went skating on real skates (as opposed to bob skates) for the first time last month. I’m actually pretty bummed that we only got out on the ice with her once this year. I’m sticking to the new baby excuse … That’s good for a few months, right?

We had a lovely visit with my grandmother. You see that kitchen table? It’s over 50 years old and my dad and his five siblings were all bathed on it every morning as babies. God, I love that table.

And sometimes even a Scarborough strip mall can look kind of beautiful.

Story time!

There was even snow one day this winter! Seriously, it was the least winter-y Toronto winter I can remember. We only got to use the new Christmas sled once, but at least both my chins were there for it. Gah! Don’t look!

I borrowed a Bumbo chair from a friend (thanks Elle!) and Mary is enjoying the new perspective.

Mary and I went to the mall one Friday afternoon and enjoyed some quality time together. It was wonderful.

Dinner out with three young kids is usually burgers, but sometimes pizza. This was burgers.

Peer interaction is so important. Mary with Emma Willer’s little Charlie.

Irene continues to push the frontiers of fashion.

I’m trying to get Mary acclimatized to her playpen so I’ll be able to keep her safe from her big sibs. Hey! Wait a minute!

This is Colum’s first published photo and my only real workout these days.

Pizza Day at Colum’s school means pizza lunch for us girls, too. Mmmm. Vesuvios.

My baby brother with two of my babies. Aw.

We got hit with a nasty gastro bug at the very end of the month. Colum and Ed were the first victims and Irene followed suit a week later, missing The Lorax premiere. Poor thing.

The days of Mary lying on her back and playing in her baby gym for twenty minutes at a time are over. Alas. She’s been able to roll over for a couple months, but only just started doing it every single time you put her down. Then she gets stuck, of course, and starts crying. So we tried something new.

Fancy shoes out for a walk.

Check me out, Mom! I might even give you two minutes before I start screaming today.

Nah.