Battle of Wounded Knee

At some point today, either when she was jumping from the coffee table to the couch, or when she was jumping from the bottom stair into the foyer OR as she was clambering around on the dining room chairs, Evelyn managed to twist her knee. I swear one minute she was fine and then the next minute she was limping, the limp was un-accompanied by any whining or crying so I realized that she must be hurt (yes, she's that perverse). A quick exam revealed nothing more than a twisted knee/muscle sort of thing but she was limping and there was a little swelling. I felt the situation called for some rest and an ace wrap. First of all, rest, right, she would sit still long enough for it to start to feel better, then she would be up and about and limping again in no time. Second of all, her leg is so tiny that the ace wrap went from thigh to ankle! Well, after the initial ice pack and then some struggle with trying to keep her down (with Billy on a close medical watch), I decided it was time for some art work. That would keep her still, busy but still.It worked!

We ended up having a great night together, just chit chatting and drawing. She was talking the whole time about Halloween, Christmas, our upcoming trip to Savannah, mosquitoes,Billy, her Baby, her Panda, Pony, Papa, the Coast Guard... she pretty much kept me in stitches. I was a bit amazed at the art work she came up with too. I will say though that the session did begin with a comprehensive organizational overhaul of the supplies, that done, she was ready to roll. Out of the gate we had your garden variety scribbling and major color blocking, then it was on to bigger and better things. She noticed that I was doodling some witches, she wanted to do that too, but was despondent over not knowing how to do it. I broke it down for her in simple shapes and terms, she watched intently and then she was off. She drew several witches tonight and they were all cute and original. We had a witch with crazy eyes, a witch wearing gloves (in case it gets cold) and even a witch with a belly button. There were also some self portraits and some me and Les. This is all amazing to me because as hard as I have tried, I thought that she would never get interested in drawing.

I was sorry to see bedtime come tonight. There was one final ice pack, motrin and then off to bed for her. I realized at one point tonight that all of the sudden we are back on track, and have been for a couple of days. I love nights/days like today but you know? I have found that the tough times are okay too. It all adds up to being family and being a Mom and having a smart, sassy toddler.