that b*tch gave my kid a bloody nose

I've been dreading Asa's first bloody injury since I saw my neighbors son after he split his lip in the tub. I mean, he didn't look terrible or even bothered but you know, the idea of seeing my baby bleed unnerved me. And then I worried, what if it's something really serious, what if he falls down the cement stairs out front or something really awful ... I mean, the worry didn't keep me up nights but you know, I fretted a bit.

And then the day came about a week and a half ago while we were out in the big backyard in our neighborhood. Asa was there in the field with a few dogs running around, all dogs he knew and had played with before. All kind, sweet dogs. All different sized dogs. There was Midnight of course, and a dog named Bear, fairly sturdy but certainly a small-medium not really bear-sized ... There was little Petey one of those sweet little Ewok looking softies who Asa loves the most, and there was Penny (don't let the name fool you, there is nothing small about her) the Irish Wolfhound, a three-legged, prosthetic leg wearing pony-sized sweetheart. Here are photos of dogs like Petey and Penny, the one with Penny has a human in it to give you an idea of the size of this dog.

We'd been there for a while and everyone was fairly mellow, Jeff was standing so close to Asa they were touching and I was about 10 feet away. And then I saw it start to happen, Penny was getting wound up, going from a slow, lumbering three-legged walk, to a clumsy, quick three-legged gallop ... I guess technically she was on four legs as she had her prosthesis on at the time. Anyway, Jeff saw it coming too and actually pulled Asa towards him with one hand as he tried to push Penny's body away from them, but that big girl just doesn't realize how huge she is ... From my angle I saw very clearly her chest rise up and smack Asa in the face as she ran by. She wasn't charging him or anything, he just was in her path and with her new gait (she only recently lost her front limb to cancer and is getting used to the prosthetic) she didn't have as much clearance as she needed.

Needless to say, Asa hit the ground and was quickly scooped up by Jeff and I. The tears were flowing, the screaming was happening and sure enough: blood. All across his cheek in a swoop that went from his nose towards his ear. My first thought was that the leg or her collar must have nicked his cheek but we quickly realized this wasn't the case. With some quickly provided first aid materials from Penny's owner Doug we dabbed at the bloody cheek and realized it was a bloody nose instead. Thank god. No wounds to get infected. No scabs. No scars. A bloody nose is child's play! I can handle a bloody nose.

Well, actually let me clarify, I might not have handled it as well as I did if it hadn't been for Amy, Penny's owner (Doug's wife) who was so remorseful and upset that her dog had hit my baby that she was nearly in tears. Seeing her so upset helped give me the calm, level head I really need to keep when things like this happen to Asa. I mean, he looks to Jeff and I to determine whether something is funny, scary, painful ... Imagine if I had burst into tears like I sort of wanted too. Instead, I smiled, used a soothing voice and dabbed away the blood from his face and Jeff's ruined shirt.

Within about 3 minutes Asa was back in the grass chasing little Petey around, while Penny sat calmly leashed and under her owner's control. So the bottom line is, it was an accident, these things happen, no harm no foul and we've successfully navigated Asa's first injury.