Slightly Traumatic

We had such a wonderful trip to Colorado. It was a much-needed vacation and great family time. We only had the slightest hiccup at the end of the trip...

As we were closing up the cabin and just minutes away from leaving, JD tripped on the top stair and smacked his head on the top stair, where the hardwood floors meet the carpet. He actually dealt with it just fine, only a few tears.

I, on the other hand, was beside myself. As I watched the goose-egg growing on his forehead, I just about cried. My poor little guy!

Even though it looks so much better now (two days later), I still can't bring myself to take a picture.

Also - growing up in Texas and going to summer camp most of my young life, I know that there are a few certainties about the summer. There will be mosquito bites, chigger bites, ant bites and probably some poison ivy rashes and sunburns, here and there. It just comes with the territory.

Well, I was pretty good about protecting my little guy in Colorado. I sprayed him with family safe OFF whenever I saw the biting flies or mosquitoes buzzing around. I rubbed him down with sunscreen and plunked on his sunhat if we were ever outside.

But I forgot about another threat.

After a LONG drive on home on Saturday/Saturday night, we all slept in on Sunday morning (even JD). As we prepared to get some food, I wet JD's bedhead down and noticed something funny. It looked like a scab on his head. I thought - Great he cut the back of his head somehow during his stair trip-up.

Then I looked closer. It was a TICK!! Yuck!!! I just about lost it!! Visions of Lyme disease started dancing in my head. My skin was crawling!

I picked him up and brought him into the bathroom for my doctor on hand to inspect (my husband, the paramedic). Jon thought the same thing - just a scab. I told him to look closer and sure enough we both agreed that it was a tick.

Jon did the necessary surgery required, while I soothed our confused and upset kiddo. It was still alive, so I trapped it in a ziplock bag. (They tell you to do this in case the kid starts showing symptoms of Lyme disease).

I became a bug expert in a matter of seconds as I scanned the internet to see if our tick was indeed a Lyme disease tick. Google images is so helpful, don't you think??

According to several reputable medical websites, our tick is just a common dog tick, not known for any sort of disease. Hooray!

But I'm keeping an eye on JD, just in case...