"Um, Hi, is this Poison Control?"

"Yes, it is."
"Well, I have a little one, and he got into this vaporizer stuff."
"How old is he?"
"14 1/2 months."
"What are in the ingredients?"
"Well, it says 'active ingredient: camphor...' but the bottle reads, 'keep out of the reach of children. If swallowed, contact poison control.'"
"Oh, they'll put that label on anything!"
"I'm sorry?"
"Well, if he had more than a teaspoon, it may cause seizures. Did he have more than a teaspoon?"
"No. He stuck his finger into this little well thing on top of the humidifier, and I guess there was still some of this liquid vaporizer stuff in there. He must have licked his finger."
"Oh, he'll be fine. It's just a mouth irritant, and may cause vomitting. If he's going to throw up, he'll do it within the next hour. If he doesn't throw up by then, he's probably not going to."
"Okay, well, thank you."
"You're welcome."

Yes, that's the conversation I had last night with the lady from poison control.
I guess you kind of know the story now: we have a humidifier in Gage's room. It has a well thing on top where you can put liquid vaporizer stuff. The well part is removable, but I forgot to take it off the top of the humidifier. And, he had never messed with it before...but last night, as I was putting snowman ornaments on his tree in his room, he wasn't even 2 feet from me---he looked up at me with his tongue out, his mouth wide open, and was just hacking and spitting everywhere. He was holding his little hands out with his fingers all apart, so I got the impression that whatever was in his mouth was also on his hands. The well on this humidifier holds maybe an eigth of a teaspoon of the vaporizer stuff. The well part was still on the humidifier, so I know he didn't take it off & DRINK the liquid. Oh, it just sucked, and happened so fast, and you can't imagine the guilt you feel when this happens. I look at the situation and think "accidents happen...kids get into all kinds of stuff...." you know all the cliches. But then I think---what if it had been something fatal? What if it had been drano or something? (...actually, I don't think we even own Drano...) It's just so scary. And everyone gave me props for being so calm about the whole thing. I called, got the number to poison control, spoke with poison control, and then assured everyone that we were all okay. I just didnt want to freak out (b/c Damon was already freaking out!) & I didn't want to freak Gage out.
So, he got to brush his teeth about 3 times after that...and got water in a sippy to drink.


I give these stickers out at work for parents to have at their house...you know, responsible parenting.
Tell me why I had NONE of these at home. I had to call the hospital to get the number to poison control....Ugh. so irresponsible!


I don't know what the deal has been about this weekend---but Gage just seems to be looking at our house with a whole new set of eyes; a set of mischevious-tear-it-up-pull-it-out-seek-out-danger eyes!

We tried to baby proof our house. We were covering outlets before Gage was even born!
But...babies see things that you don't always see...
...or think about...

Like the carbon monoxide detector. It plugs in. We had in in a socket in the hallway...tucked out of the way, I thought.

So, Saturday, I was blow drying my hair, and I hear a big loud beep...I thought (you know, I had the blow-dryer going). I venture out of the bathroom into the hallway. Gage has unplugged the carbon monoxide detector.
"No, NO!" I told him, and put the carbon monoxide detector in the living room on top of the TV cabinet. Told Damon that he unplugged it & that we'd have to find it a new home. Then...went back to blow drying.

Damon came around the corner into the hallway...Gage was sitting on the floor like a little frog, sucking on the electrical outlet.

Damon FREAKED OUT, got onto Gage, and I tell you...you would have thought he would NEVER go back to an outlet from the way he was crying and carrying on after getting into trouble.
Um...not 2 minutes later he was in the bathroom & trying to unplug my hair dryer.
D: "No, Gage!"
Gage pulled his hand away...
...then put it back.
D: "NO! That's danger."
Gage pulled his hand away...
...Damon left the room...
...then Gage looked up at me, and slowly put his hand back up there.
As I started to tell him "No!", he grabbed the dryer, unplugged it, and threw the plug in part on the floor. All of this with the most mischevious grin... So, I had to swat his little hand, & tell him "No, No! That's dangerous."

I just hate disciplining him. I know he has to learn boundaries & be protected from dangerous things. And clearly, the hand swatting thing & telling him "No!" is not a deterrent.

...he's such a boy.