(Tyler here)

It has been a big struggle putting Hudson to bed lately. We'll normally start at around 8:00 or shortly after with the brushing of teeth, reading a story, saying a prayer, and then 1-2 hours of the boy tiptoeing out of his room and down the hall only to be placed back in bed (and repeat). Sometimes there will be a scolding thrown into the mix, sometimes the threatening of/taking away of blankie or the car he's holding, and every now and then a mini tantrum as well (often from Hudson, occasionally from Mom or Dad).

Last night at 10:30, one of those tantrums included Hudson sitting up in his bed, and throwing himself backwards and bashing the back of his head on his headboard. He's done this a few times before, but I knew right away that this time the impact was quite a bit harder (as evidenced by his abnormally shrill scream). As soon as I picked him up to hold him I felt that his head was wet and sure enough it was bleeding profusely. It didn't last very long at all, and neither did the boy crying. As soon as he saw the blood on my cheek and neck he immediately stopped crying and gave me a very concerned look stating, "Daddy Ouchie? Daddy Bleeding!"

I washed him up a bit and checked the damage to find a gaping wound, not bleeding too bad but certainly looked worthy of stitches. Stefanie was at work with the car so I called Grandma Gayle who came to our rescue and took us to the Mission Emergency Room.

The boy was in amazing spirits the entire time, and entertained a packed ER waiting room with his shenanigans. It took about half an hour to have the nurse assess Hudson, and as she was cleaning his hair the tears started to flow again. As soon as she was finished, Hudson looked up at her with tears in his eyes, still whimpering and sadly said, "Thank-you..." It was quite a heartwarming moment.

As the nurse was questioning us about what happened, Hudson exclaimed, "Boy accident!" shortly after which I prepared myself to be cuffed and dragged away for further questioning (how many 2-year-olds know how to perfectly enunciate "accident" without having just been force fed a story). The nurse seemed impressed however, and proceeded to remark, "You are a very handsome boy with your blue eyes and blonde hair." Hudson looked at her and said, "Ooh, Thank You Doctor!"

The nurse figured that Hudson would definitely need stitches, so she bandaged him up and we went back to waiting his turn to see the Doctor.

Shortly after this, Stefanie showed up on her way home from work. We continued to wait and wait until they told us that it would be another hour or so until the Doctor even had time to start seeing anybody (we were 4th or 5th in line). With this news we headed out to Abbotsford and checked him in there. Hudson spent the next 45 minutes making friends with the baby beside us and then making eyes at the twenty-something young lady behind us (that's my boy...)

We were called into a room of our own and spent an additional sleepy hour waiting to see the Doctor (it was around 2:30 at this time). Hudson spent this time alternating shoulders of Mom or Dad, but never actually closing his eyes. He grew tired of this eventually and drearily wandered around the room, before naturally tripping over his own feet in his sleep-deprived state and bashing his forehead on the front of the hospital bed. I certainly expected to pick Hudson up and discover a matching laceration to the one on the back of his head, but surprisingly it was just a bruise and a mini goose egg (nothing out of the ordinary).

The Doctor recommended not stitching it up, as the bleeding had stopped and it was not worth traumatizing the boy to save him from a good and proper scar at the back of his head. We finally got home and to bed around 3:45, and naturally Hudson was awake and raring to go at the crack of 9:00. What a trooper.