Tongues, beans and first words

The day after Thanksgiving we went to La Jolla Shores for a stroll on the beach.  We walked down the beach a ways and then decided to let the kids play at the playground.  It was a beautiful sunny day.  Coulson was crawling around, loving every minute of his freedom in the grass and sand.  He was crawling along the edge of the cement curb that drops down into the sand that surrounds the jungle gym and I was standing right there ready to catch him if needed.  He crawled up to Cody and then started to slide down the curb feet first like he was supposed to but Cody let him fall a little so he would learn...on his way down he smacked his chin into the cement and bit his tongue.  We were both shocked at the severity of the cut and I nearly tossed my cookies.  We started to panic and ran to the car to rush him to the ER because no lifeguard was willing or available to help. Grr.  We took him to the ER but then went home after a phone call with a friend who is a pediatrician.  The bleeding stopped fairly quickly but he was extremely whiny and clingy the rest of the day, poor thing.  I held him all afternoon and evening and gave him apple sauce and yogurt the next few days.  My sister had the same experience with her son so her words comforted us as well as my pediatrician friend.  At church the following Sunday my friend said it was the worst tongue wound she had ever seen....gasp....I took him to the Dr the next day.  In the 24 hours between church and the Dr visit his tongue and lip seemed to miraculously heal up...no more swelling or bruising.  She said it looked like it was healing just fine and to just keep watching it.  I was thankful to hear that.

 Now almost 4 weeks later it looks great.  They say the tongue heals fast and I can attest to that (even though those 3 days right after it happened seemed to last forever.)

Sadly these are the only other pictures I have from the past month....

 I made Brazilian-style beans and rice and they devoured all of it.  I have never seen them eat anything so voraciously.  I just had to document the moment.

 They were literally shoveling it into their mouths by the handfuls and licked their bowls clean.  I was so happy they ate so well since most nights it is a struggle.

 Eliza has been saying the funniest things lately...she has an incredible memory and will talk about things that happened months ago and she will start out with "'Member..."  The other morning I was freaking out about some spilled milk and she told me to chill out.  And it was totally appropriate and well-deserved.  And then a few days later I was trying on this ruffly shirt I bought online and she was watching me and looking at the ruffles and then said with a big smile, "You look like a horse."  And it was true, the ruffles looked like a horse's mane.  She still loves books and still outlasts us...we cannot quench her thirst for books, ever.  She talks so well and speaks in long, complex sentences, it amazes me. 

And for the boy- he is just so freakin' cute sometimes, I can hardly stand it.  He loves a good game of peek-a-boo and will play with anyone who is willing.  Cody told me that on Sunday while he was holding him he kept looking at the men sitting beside them trying to play peek-a-boo and when no one would play he just kept trying until he caught someone's eye.  I think he has said his first words too!  A little while ago he and Eliza were playing and he said something that sounded like "Liza" or "Yiza" and then just last week he was looking at a book and said "ball" or "bau".  It was so cute.  And in the past few days he has started saying "uh-oh".