I remember one of the first times that Joe, newly walking, really bonked his head.  I was telling my mother about it and she said, “Some days, growing up is really hard.”  Boy, is that true.  Joe has done some hard growing up over the last 72 hours, and has the bruises to prove it.

This lovely goose-egg looks better in the photo than it does in real life.  That injury was courtesy of falling forehead-first into a protruding corner in our building’s hallway.  Chris brought him into the apartment and was sheepishly smiling while Joe was sobbing… I took one look at Joe and made a horrified face, scooping him up while simultaneously reaching for a bag of frozen peas.

“What’s wrong?  He just bumped his head.” said Chris.

“Did you see his forehead?!” I asked him, then lifted the bag of frozen peas off of it, revealing the already purple knot that was swelling dead-center.

“Oh my goodness!  How did that happen?!” yelled Chris.

It happened how all of his bumps, bruises, scrapes, and near-misses have happened lately: c-u-r-i-o-s-i-t-y and running full-tilt-boogie into the wild blue yonder.

Over the last 72 hours, in addition to the bump on his head, Joe has

• Pinched his fingers in a puzzle, of all things, making them bleed
• Run into the corner of the open dishwasher door while I was loading it, hitting it with his gums… making them bleed
• Flipped himself backwards over the armrest of the couch, landing on his head
• Fallen off the toilet, banging his head on the sink, all with me standing right in front of him (and thankfully catching him before he hit the floor)
• Fallen off a bench seat in front of an old arcade game that he was “playing” with Chris, nearly landing on his head had Chris not grabbed him by the seat of his pants
• Spilled a nearly full pot of lukewarm coffee that was juuust within his reach (serving as a reminder to Chris that nothing can be left even remotely within Joe’s reach, as Joe will find a way to get to it – climb drawers, use toys as stepping stools, etc.). That one really scared me.
• Stood on top of a puzzle board with his fingers underneath it, crunching them in the process and then falling over sideways and headfirst into the wall.  Who knew puzzles could be so dangerous?!
• Taken off running across the kitchen floor, stepping onto a toy cell phone and sliding into the splits position.
• Taken off running in the park, gotten to where he was going so fast that his head had more momentum than the rest of him, then falling headfirst into the gravel and flipping onto his back.  Thankfully he was wearing a hat and this minimized most of the injuries to his forehead.
• Flipped over and landed on his back while swinging himself “Superman Style” on the swings (where he lays on his tummy and pushes himself with his legs, stretching his arms out and “flying”)

Are all 21 month olds this rambunctious and injury prone?!  It’s gotten to the point where I want to pick him up and say, “Would you please stop hurting yourself?”  That, or surround him with bubble wrap and cotton fluff.