Reid...and the constant getting into what he shouldn’t

Last year, while at Julie’s, Reid told Julie there was a bead in his poop, as he was sitting on the potty. I’m sure Julie was puzzled because first of all, why would a two year old think there was a bead in his poop (even if he swallowed one, why would he think there would be one in his poop??). But sure enough, there was something there. Julie, God love her, dug it out and kept it for me so I could see what it was. It wasn’t a bead. It was actually one of those decorative pebbles that people use to put in vases and such. So after some probing, I found out that he must have gotten into something at Dad & Beth’s that had those pebbles in it (which actually turned out to be a magnetic pebble). “Bead” out. Crisis averted.

Earlier this year Reid told me he had a hanger in his ear. I looked at him and said “Hanger, what do you mean by hanger?” He just stood there looking at me and said “Hanger in my ear”. I thought he was pretty full of it because obviously, he didn’t have a hanger in his ear. So I asked him which ear, he pointed to his left, I bent his head over sideways and there was a screw, perfectly placed sideways far enough down that there was no way I could pull it out with my fingers. I looked up at Rod, he ran and got the tweezers, and Reid just stood there calm as can be. Rod pulled the screw out, with no objections from Reid. After it was all over, I thought “Wow what a photo that would have made.” I mean it was placed perfectly sideways, just laying there waiting for the right moment to slip down in and be lost. “Hanger” out. Crisis averted.

So yesterday, as we were sitting in the dining room, Reid was playing with Gauge’s magnetix. One of those toys that a three year old shouldn't have (and an eleven year old brother should know to not leave laying around). Small pieces, small balls. So I heard something in Reid’s mouth (I have this weird sense of hearing that I can hear something even in the next room and know exactly what the kids have gotten into. I know...weird) and as I asked him what he had in his mouth, he said “I choke”. I freaked. I could tell there was something in his throat. He could breathe. He could talk, but it looked like he was trying to swallow a pill that was stuck in his throat. In just a few seconds, he swallowed it completely. Then I freaked more. He told me what he had swallowed, a small metal ball. I already pretty much knew that’s what it was by the sound it made in his mouth. I think this time, Rod freaked too (which isn’t good because I am the one who freaks out, he is the one who keeps us calm). He was about to grab him and run to the emergency room. Since Reid was no longer choking I asked Rod to wait and I called the nurse at our doctor’s office. After I talked to her, I was relieved. She said it would probably pass through him in the next three days, but I would need to make sure he had no abdominal pain or vomiting. And the ball would need to make it’s way out in the next three days or I would have to call the doctor. So, for the next three days I have poop duty. Yippee for me!