A trip to the ER - all is well

I never knew that playing with sidewalk chalk could result in a trip to the ER but that's exactly what happened last night. The boys wanted to go back outside after dinner once it was a tad bit cooler so I suggested sidewalk chalk on the driveway. Both boys went out in pants only - no shirt & no shoes. We were almost ready to go back in (I had actually set a timer on my phone to count down the last five minutes) when Alex started yelling & crying. At first I didn't know what happened but either he or Zachary told me that his foot was bleeding and boy was it! He somehow managed to slice open the end of his big toe close to where the nail grows. He had already caused this toe to bleed last week when he pulled a cracked piece of nail down to the quick. This time it was dripping with blood. It was hard to see very well since his feet and legs were practically black with all the chalk dust so I carried him inside to the bathroom and tried to wash it off a bit and get a better look at it. I'm never a good judge of cuts but I thought it looked deep and decided that we should head to the ER just in case it needed a couple of stitches. As bad as it may be I made both boys jump in the shower to try to wash off a little of the chalk dust. Alex cried the whole time. (For the record he is a VERY good cryer & always has been.) By the time I got the boys in clothes Alex had already stopped crying and bleeding for the most part. Thankfully the ER wasn't busy and we got in pretty fast. The doctor had to soak Alex's foot first so that she could get a better look at the cut. In the end she decided that it didn't need any stitches after all. So, it was a waste of time I guess but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

The injury.

Today Alex is hopping around trying not to use that foot at all despite me telling him that it would be easier to just walk on the heel of that foot. If he slips on our concrete floors from all the hopping another ER trip could be in our future!

**Updated** Here is Alex's toe tonight before bed. (6-15-11) I think it's even uglier today.