Plastic

Zoey, you had your own frightening experience that led to a trip to the hospital. You were just a baby at the time, crawling but not yet walking. I still don’t know how it happened, but much like the carrot incident, your mom and I must have taken our eyes off you for three seconds, and in that time, you managed to get a little piece of plastic into your mouth. I think you found it underneath the fridge.

It wasn’t a big piece, and it didn’t block your breathing or anything, but it triggered a massive gag reflex we’d never seen before. That day, during lunch, every time we put food near your mouth, you started gagging uncontrollably. It was terrifying.

We rushed you to the hospital, where they ran a series of tests. But no one could figure out what was wrong. To make things even more confusing, you weren’t gagging at the hospital. It got to the point where it seemed like the doctors and nurses were starting to think we were imagining the whole thing.

But then, the strangest part happened: you figured it out.

Sitting there in the hospital, you calmly stuck your little fingers down your throat and pulled out the piece of plastic that had been lodged there.

What a relief. You even outsmarted the doctors and nurses, who had no idea what was going on.

It was another one of those experiences that reminds you just how fast things can happen.

You blink or turn your head for a second, and kids will find ways to get into things you didn’t even know were there.

If either of you ends up having kids someday, it’s something to keep in mind. Things happen in the blink of an eye. Stay as alert as you can.