Luke's First Stitch

After the parade, the plan was to go to my parents house for a swim. A text on the way to the parade changed our agenda a bit when we heard our friends were heading to Lake Mead for the afternoon. Boulder City is pretty close to Lake Mead, and the boys have never seen the Lake, so we thought it would be fun to stop by.

Being a last minute decision, we were not ready prepared for Lake conditions. Luckily my car is a mess and we were able to pull out some shorts and boxers for the boys to swim in, along with a single towel the three of them could share. Roxy was an issue (this puppy stuff is so hard, trying to figure out how to keep from locking her up all day while we are doing stuff -but that is another post) but her leash was on, so no big deal.


Lake Mead was beautiful. So beautiful that I honestly felt ashamed for never bringing the boys there before. In my mind it was really rocky, tons of river rock lining the beach so shoes would need to be worn. And if you were walking in the water and managed to get a spot that wasn't rocky, the muck would suck your foot in and you could lose your shoe.

I think the water loss at Lake Mead alleviated those problems. The beach was mostly sand, with an occasional sharp rock. It was not beach sand, but it was in no way mucky. It was pretty great, a huge and welcome surprise.


The boys saw their friends in the water and just couldn't wait to get in. Roxy got in full puppy mode and literally frolicked in the waves -jumping up and over them while the boys laughed at her. The moment was so perfect, I ran back to get my camera. I had to capture this moment. AND THEN...

As I came back from our blanket with the camera in hand, Don yelled that Luke was hurt. His little foot had been cut and it was bleeding pretty freely. Even with pressure applied, the bleeding was not slowing down. We noticed a park ranger walking up, and knowing they were going to let us know Roxy was an issue, we were just glad that maybe we could get some first aid help.


By time Luke's foot was cleaned off and bandaged, it was time for us to go. With a goodbye to our friends, we were off to Nana and Pops house.

Within five minutes of walking at Nan's house, Luke's foot started bleeding again. Off to the quick care Don, Luke and I went.

As we drove up to the office, Luke asked in this little voice if they were going to cut off his toe. Don assured him that would not be the case, and in we went. He was scared, but it was so obvious he was trying to be brave.


Lucas generally has a hard time at the Doctors office. He has always struggled with it until they got their first H1N1 shot and he realized afterwards that the shot didn't hurt that bad. When we went for the second shot, the STUPID nurse working there jammed the needle so hard in Jaxon's arm (and 4 yr old Jax was sitting so calm, he even offered to get his first) that it set all three back to being terrified of pain from Doctors. At Luke's 5 year check ups, I had to literally pull Luke out from under a chair in the office and pry the chair legs out of his hands. That traumatized ME.

Anyhow, Luke was trying to keep himself together while the Dr looked at it. He was not sobbing, but crying just enough so he would have to wipe tears from his eyes while he asked questions. He laid on the table to get strapped down all by himself (like he demanded!) while they did the stitch.


We had our camera, so Luke's mind was occupied by the images on the camera card while he got the first shot (he felt it, but we quickly distracted him). He looked through pictures, and even took a few of his own while laying there. Soon, his stitch was done (he took a picture of it,too) and then we treated Luke to an ice cream cone.

Luke is very focused. Not easily distracted ever. Today was another opportunity for us to be able to see what kind of person Lucas is becoming. From thinking his toe may have to be cut off, to hearing he needed a stitch in his toe -and not understanding either of those or what they entail. He never threw a fit, never freaked out -even though he was so obviously scared. He is FIVE and talked through his fear without losing his composure while his little tears crept out.

I am so proud of him.