Beautiful Magical

Yesterday, Satchel and I watched a Mr. Rogers episode in which he met Koko the gorilla (which you can also see here!). Satchel was intrigued by gorilla using sign language. He kept saying, "Koko...Koko...Koko", as if both excited and perplexed. I am happy to have shared this experience with him and that, even at his young age of two, he was able to recognize that this was quite beautiful and magical.

I've met a lot of people over the years who have never heard of Koko or the Gorilla Foundation. A lot of people don't know that, if given the opportunity, gorillas can sign and communicate. The late Michael recounted the story of his mother's death at the hands of poachers which he witnessed as a babe. This reinforces my belief that animals should be respected and loved, not murdered and eaten.

After the show we took Satchel's toy gorilla off the shelf and played with it. I told him that I have a photo of Koko somewhere and that I would find it for him. While he was napping, I located the  photo and presented it to him when he awoke. He was delighted.

In other news...my suspicion that Satch now has viral conjunctivitis was correct so we were given some goop for his eyes. (*a note to mamas...if the doc prescribes drops, ask for the ointment as I did. It's much easier and less traumatic on the tot. You can squeeze a bit on the tip of your clean finger and dab it in the corner of their eye...it will dissolve and they'll blink it in) And just when the poor chap couldn't be any more miserable...he gets stung by a bee. My husband took him for a post dinner walk and no more than 20 minutes later I heard crying. Apparently my husband mistook the bee for a rock as Satch went to pick it up. (sigh)

I looked for the telltale black dot and found one near his wrist and one near his thumb. My husband said it stung his thumb so I used one of my business cards to scrape it off. Satch wanted no part of icing it. I completely forgot about the baking soda paste which draws out the venom so I think I'm going to look for a first aid refresher course because I am forgetting some of the skills that I learned as an M.A. I looked for something to numb the wound and figured that the EMLA cream I had on hand wouldn't be a good idea since he could put the thumb in his mouth so I dabbed it with Orajel and wrapped it with an Elmo bandaid. I don't think the Orajel had much effect, but Satch found it magical so that's all that matters. The swelling and redness went away shortly after. Robert described the bee as a bumble, and yet there seemed to be a stinger. Bumble Bees, Wasps and Yellow Jackets do not have barbed stingers that stay in your skin which makes them extra nasty because they can sting multiple times. Only Honey Bees have a barbed stinger which remains in your skin, therefore the Honey Bee dies. The stinger must be removed quickly as the longer it remains in the wound, the more venom pumps in.