When I lost Pachisi (from whose death Harvey has spent a lifetime trying to help me heal), I ached so much and so physically, I thought my heart would simply stop beating on its own.

Dana, I'm glad the freaking out has eased.

Poor ltc, poor sj. Having a cold is no fun. But work that immune system, kid.

I get the worst mother award today. I actually fell asleep last night for a few hours while my mother stayed up and held her all night. Then this morning I put her in her little play area, but she was tired. So, when she tried to stand up she fell and gave herself a black eye.

Oh sj sweetheart, I am very sorry that you feel so bad about this. You are a very good mother. It hurts a parent's heart when their kid gets injured, and doubly so if the parent feels they could have prevented it. It is a good thing that you feel this way - it shows how much you care. A truly neglectful parent would not feel as bad about it. You did not give your kid a black eye. It just happened. Kids fall and get hurt - the only thing in life more certain than this is taxes.

Thanks, WS. She just fell asleep in my arms after crying hysterically for what feels like forever. The poor thing is so tired but the congestion is keeping her from getting good rest.

I suppose at ltc's age, a croup tent is more perilous than helpful. Poor little thing.

Ugh sj, sounds like a rough morning. I wouldn't stress too much over the black eye. Babies are like Wolverine and tomorrow it'll be mostly gone I bet. But I know the ache of watching a baby take a bad tumble and feeling horribly guilty about it. As for the congestion, it's hard because they can't really blow their nose yet. Suction balls work, and we used to fill the bathroom with steam and sit in there and just hold the baby and let the steam work on them. Kinda relaxing, in a where's my acutal sauna? kind of way.

Burrel, her eye already looks like nothing happened. I am using the nasal bulb thing and baby saline drops. Which of course ltc fights and acts like I'm trying to kill her. It's really a two person job. She's ridiculously strong for 9 months old.

Wow, see what I mean about Wolverine?

Yeah, the nasal bulbs are annoying as can be, but work. Sorry about the black eye. We had some most impressive egg size bruises on the foreheads and heads in the early days. No broken bones except one finger in basketball camp. A couple of neighbor kids broke bones on our zip line, but the parents wouldn't let me take it down because they enjoyed it so much.

Kids!

I'm glad your brother wasn't badly hurt, erika. Much calm~ma to him for dealing with the subsequent hassles.