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My 8-month-old daughter (Bear) is in Pediatric ICU in Tucson, AZ. She was accidentally pushed off of a Little Tykes slide in our backyard (by my two-year-old) and fell head-first onto a concrete slab. She’s got a fracture in her skull and is currently being observed by smart medical people.

But since she apparently didn’t get the memo that when you fall from four feet onto concrete and crack your skull, you’re supposed to be in pain and miserable and stuff. She’s acting as if she never had an accident. There’s no swelling, and she is her normal, happy, cheerful self. Last night she slept for a solid 5 and a half hours. My wife and I, on the other hand, can’t say the same.

Update: 

I wanted to make an entry here while both the wife and baby are sleeping.  Here’s the skinny on what happened.  All four of my children were playing on one of those Little Tykes-type slide/fort things similar to what you see here. 

Only ours has four walls instead of three, and makes a cool little fort underneath the top platform.  Well, from what I hear (I was at work when it happened) Bear was reaching for something that Monkey was playing with, or Bear was in a spot that Monkey wanted to be in, or something, and Monkey pushed Bear out of the way.  The fact that there wasn’t a spot for Bear to sit on in the place where she was pushed didn’t seem to enter into Monkey’s mind.  Mainly because Monkey is only two years old.  So the laws of physics took over at that point and immediately drew Bear down to the ground, which was about three or four feet distant.  And so it goes, being that Bear landed on her head, we have the resulting head injury.

Thus, we are here.  Bear and Wifey both got a helecopter ride from Sierra Vista to Tucson, and both spent the night at the hospital.  From what I hear, the little recliner/bed that my wife slept on isn’t so comfy.  On the other hand, the nice big, soft bed my baby got to sleep in provided a good five and a half hours of sleep for the little one.  I slept at the home of a close relative (my mom’s) and also did not sleep well.  It’s going to be a fun drive home, today.

Speaking of which, we have been given the clearance to go home by the neurologist.  We’re waiting for the final word from the pediatrician.  Until then, both Wifey and Bear are napping.  I’m at the Ronald McDonald room in the hospital, using their FREE Internet access.

It should be noted that while I am trying to maintain a sense of humor and not making thigns very serious on this blog entry, it is not lost on me the very seriousness of the issue at hand.  This could have been a lot worse than it is.  It could have been very tragic.  I believe that the hand of God is at work here.

Before the flight to Tucson, our Bishop came by and assisted me in giving my daughter a Preisthood blessing.  In that blessing, the Lord promised that Bear would heal completely and have no visible signs of the injury.  The promise was also that, as the Lord saw fit, she would have no memory of the accident, hold no malice towards anyone regarding it, and live a normal life.  I see these things already at work in my daughter.  She is her normal, bouncy, happy self.  Her smile is as huge as ever.  She is lively, cheeful, and exploding with energy.  She eats normally, sleeps well, and has no immediate side effects from the injury.  The Lord has provided whatever pain killers He has, because she shows no sign of physical discomfort.  The words was when the doctor touched the inury itself.  She simply pushed his hand away.  No wincing, flinching or anything.  There is no bruising or outward signs of an injury.

The Lord is definitely at work on her.  She will pull through this with no problems, and be all the stronger for it.  I know this.