On Saturday, before nap time, Connor had a really stuffy nose. I know that he sleeps better if he has a clear nose, so I grabbed the nasal aspirator. He got mad. I went ahead and put it to his nose one time, and he FLIPPED OUT. I never even got to use it. Honestly, I almost expected his head to start spinning around, Exorcist style.
He was crying so hard his face turned purple, and he was trying to fling himself out of my arms, even though I wasn't bothering his nose any more. Not wanting to drop him on Baby Lex, I kept a tight grip on him, which only incensed him further.
Anyways, after he calmed down and his face turned back to a normal color, I saw them. The dozens of new little red freckles around his eyes. Dozens of broken blood vessels. I'm sure he was so mad that he actually saw red.
And I felt pond scum. Worse, maybe.
Now that some of the guilt has subsided, I decided to go ahead and look up how long it is going to take for these little red marks to go away. They should be disappearing any day now. Hopefully.
But until then, I guess they serve as a reminder that my little two year old boy is his own person, with likes and dislikes, and he wants to be taken seriously. And that when he asks me not to touch his nose, I had better listen.
He was crying so hard his face turned purple, and he was trying to fling himself out of my arms, even though I wasn't bothering his nose any more. Not wanting to drop him on Baby Lex, I kept a tight grip on him, which only incensed him further.
Anyways, after he calmed down and his face turned back to a normal color, I saw them. The dozens of new little red freckles around his eyes. Dozens of broken blood vessels. I'm sure he was so mad that he actually saw red.
And I felt pond scum. Worse, maybe.
Now that some of the guilt has subsided, I decided to go ahead and look up how long it is going to take for these little red marks to go away. They should be disappearing any day now. Hopefully.
But until then, I guess they serve as a reminder that my little two year old boy is his own person, with likes and dislikes, and he wants to be taken seriously. And that when he asks me not to touch his nose, I had better listen.
According to Wikipedia:
A petechia (pronounced /pɨˈtiːkiə/, plural petechiae /pɨˈtiːkɪ.iː/) is a small (1-2mm) red or purple spot on the body, caused by a minor hemorrhage (broken capillary blood vessels)[1].
The most common cause of petechiae is through physical trauma such as a hard bout of coughing, vomiting or crying, which can result in facial petechiae, especially around the eyes. Petechiae in this instance are completely harmless and usually disappear within a few days.
