HoboBaby

It’s official, I repeat, it’s official.  Summer is in fact coming to a close.  Kevin is back at work and school is now in session, as evidenced by the swarms of children that flooded the ER the last few weeks.  Note to parents everywhere – unless your child is less than 28 days old or has a chronic health condition that predisposes them to severe side effects of common illnesses the following symptoms DO NOT (usually) warrant a trip to the ER*: fever, runny nose, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea or the all time fave “he just don’ look right”.

Now, while we’re on the topic of what NOT to bring them to the EMERGENCY room for let’s talk about a few things TO bring them in for.

• If your kid is wheezing all damn day and breathing 50 breaths per minute and says to you, “I can’t breathe good”, BRING THEM TO THE ER.  Don’t wait until the middle of the night and then ask for a work excuse for the next day.
• If your kid has fallen off their bike and can’t move an appendage because A BONE is sticking out, don’t wait for your cousin’s best friend’s step brother’s niece to come pick you up and bring you to the hospital.  Call an ambulance to BRING THEM TO THE ER.
• If your baby falls off the bed/trunk of the car/out of your arms/from a spaceship and hits the ground in any fashion, specifically if it involves a bump that appears on the head, BRING THEM TO THE ER.

Well, that took a direction I hadn’t intended.  I think I might touch back on this topic later… but back to the subject at hand.  It’s mid-September, the sun is barely peeking through at 7am and swiftly falling beyond the horizon at 8pm.  Summer is going bye bye.

Unfortunately I live in Texas, and summer going bye-bye does not necessarily mean fall is right around the corner.  As a matter of fact it means nothing.  Most of my memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas involve shorts, flip flops, trips to the park and threats of death if we screaming kids dared to come indoors before the football game was over.

Today was unbelievably beautiful though, a day so perfect in temperature that I opened all the windows in the house while I cleaned and the air conditioner still never kicked on.  When we came home after dinner the house smelled… clean, fresh, spectacular.  It made me miss Chicago.  Luckily I have pictures like this: to remind me that no matter how beautiful fall is, winter always follows.  And I don’t miss Chicago in the winter.

So I bid you adieu, Summer 2009.  You were so very good to us, and filled our days with:

dancing
singing
Guitar Hero
learning to run
running
reading
dancing
eating
hiding
kissing
hugging
sleeping
dancing
not sleeping
traveling
and, did I mention the dancing?

I hope I can safely assume that our fall/winter season summer-with-slightly-cooler-temperatures-and-sometimes-rain season won’t look too different.  Because honestly, who could ever get enough of this:

*This is not medical advice.  Clearly if you think your child needs medical attention please seek it.  If it turns out your kid just has a cold and you feel stupid for coming to the ER don’t worry about it.  It happens.  And just so you know we will never, ever laugh at you in front of your face.  We always wait for you to leave.  Joking.  Mostly.