rocks..yumm-o!

maybe you read the blog title and thought...what!? well my friends, let me share....today elizabeth ate a rock. yep, you read that right...she ate a rock. and by rock i mean about the diameter of a nickel...but kind of more square shaped....no pebbles for this girl. so now you are probably wondering how this came about....let me share.

we were out and about and decided to pick daddy up for a lunch date. afterwards as we were walking to the car our little rock lover (this is NOT her first rock...she LOVES to pick up rock and carry them around...she found one about a month ago that she just adored...carried it with her, asked for it as soon as she woke up in the morning and after nap time, made "rock soup" with it to share with mommy and daddy) found a rock and picked it up. i didn't think much of it, afterall she has picked up lots of rocks and never tried to eat any of them before. so we get her strapped in and head toward the grocery store. en route elizabeth pipes up from the back, saying "i eat a rock"...but honestly, i didn't think that much of it...just thought she was playing. of course, both daddy and i said, "elizabeth, don't put the rock in your mouth."...and glancing in the rearview mirror i didn't see a rock anywhere near her mouth. so i left the girls and daddy in the car while i ran in the grocery and grabbed a couple things i needed for a recipe.

when i came back to the van daddy was sitting the backseat with the girls. he had elizabeth out of her seat and seemed to be searching...i opened the door, and here is the conversation.

mike: i know what you're doing this afternoon.
me: what's that?
mike: going to the doctor. she really did eat the rock.
me: (with a bit of panic...but kind of laughing too...not really believing mike) no way...she
couldn't have swallowed that rock; it was way too big.
mike: i've looked everywhere...and she keeps telling me she ate it.
me: umm...what do we do? i know, i'll call jill (my good friend and pediatric consultant...she just
so happens to be a pediatric nurse)...she'll know.

mike continued to share the conversation he had with elizabeth while "searching" for the rock. "elizabeth, where is the rock?" "i ate it daddy." he continues asking, she continues insisting. he talks to her about how lying is disobedient. she sticks to her story. but what finally convinced him. she asked daddy if mommy was in the store buying curious george fruit snacks...seizing the opportunity (now mind you, we don't promote bribery...but some occasions necessitate creativity, right!?) he says, "sure...but elizabeth, you can't have a george fruit snack unless you give daddy the rock." what does elizabeth do...she starts spitting in mike's hand..."daddy i ate rock!" i think that is what convinced mike.

anyway...we did call my dear friend jill, interrupted her lunch, in fact; she told me not to worry too much...just to watch and see that it "passes" in 2-3 days...i won't go into the details of what watching for it entails for me (you can guess, i'm sure!). if it is too big to pass without help then we will most likely have to visit the doctor, perhaps get an x-ray to see how it is moving along, and "help" it out (whatever that means...honestly, i didn't have the heart to ask!). needless to say, when we dropped mike off at work he checked the car-seat and vicinity for anything else that could be "eaten"...

once we were home and the girls were tucked in bed for naps i did some serious searching in the van...trying to find the rock, hoping this was all some big mistake....nope...no rock to be found...anywhere. i even removed the car-seat and check in all the cracks.

lessons learned....
-don't let your two and a half year old "collect" rocks in the parking lot (or at the very least, don't let her carry those rocks)

-elizabeth can swallow far bigger things than i ever imagine...too think i was worried about silly things like grapes and hotdog chunks....sheesh!

-the eating of rocks is a good impetus for a thorough "cleaning out" of the van

-you really do have to laugh at yourself (and your children)...you'd go "bonkers" if you didn't!

needless to say, we've been laughing a lot today. so add this one to the list of moments to be shared at many a family gathering for years to come...right alongside the day that elizabeth locked me out of the house...and the night i locked her in the van....and the list goes on.....