Cavell Update

We made an unconscious decision to spare our reading public from the horrors of Cavell's face for a while.  It may have been out of sensitivity or it may have been because I got put in charge of the update and just never got around to actually doing the work.

Meanwhile, Cavell has continued his slow but miraculous healing process.  The swelling has gone down on his forehead but is still present.  The bruising has gradually worked it's way down his face, but still leaves a shadow.  Below is a series of photographs we took over the last month as he progressed.

Once the black bruising left his face, the red seems so much more violent.  While Cavell was in this condition, I took him and the rest of the brood to watch Stacy finish her half marathon.  At one point during our wait, it started raining, leaving puddles of water on the ground.  Cavell, being a boy, decided he needed to jump in the puddles.  Cavell, being a 3 year old boy is a little clumsy and he skinned his knee.  So there I am, in the rain with three kids wearing shorts and t-shirts.  Lex is crying because it suddenly got cold and wet.  Alayna is crying because she is done waiting for mom and wants to go home.  Cavell, my obviously abused son, is jumping in puddles, soaking wet, with copious amounts of blood running down his leg.  I have no idea how we didn't get picked up by the cops.

Satisfied with himself

That blood red eye was pretty disturbing

Aren't they cute?

The two scabs in the middle of his forehead remind me of a snake bite.

OK, which one is cuter?  Tough decision, right?

When the deep red coloring started to fade, we were left with this dirty, shadowy, mix of colors.  People knew that something painful had happened, but really didn't get the full effect at this point.

It just started to look like he had a really dirty face.

By Thanksgiving, the bruising had finally faded enough that it just looks like he has dark bags under his eyes.  As pale as his skin is already, he looks a bit overworked, malnourished, and in dire need of a nap. 

Of course, through it all,Cavell has remained his positive and upbeat self.  Part of that is due to his total lack of understanding of just how much he could have milked this opportunity, and part of it is just the kind of kid he is.