Kevin: My "Oh, SOOO Two" Year Old

Today started out as a normal day. This morning it was rather windy and rainy outside, so Kevin and I curled up on the couch. He was watching a movie and snacking on popcorn and I was reading a book. After a little while, Kevin said to me, "Nose. Oh, Mommy, nose," and started pointing at his nose. He has had a bit of a runny nose lately, so I put down my book and looked at his nose. It looked normal, only, there was something in there that didn't belong. Upon closer examination, I discovered it was a popcorn kernal!

So, once I got over my shock, I went for a tissue. I told him to blow, and it flew out into the tissue. Luckily, Kevin is very adept at blowing his nose. Phew, I thought. Disaster averted. Then, Kevin started pointing at his nose again..."Nose, Mommy. Nose!" I looked into the other nostril...yes, another popcorn kernal where it shouldn't be. Only this time it was little higher. I realized I probably hadn't helped matters when I plugged the one nostril to help him blow out the first popcorn kernal. After a few more blows of the nose, the 2nd kernal popped out. Whew! Disaster diverted! And congrats to me for not freaking out too much. I dumped out the rest of the popcorn and told him "No popcorn in your nose!"

We settled back into our movie/book mode. After a few minutes, Kevin grabbed my hand and tried to put my finger in his nose. I thought, what is with this kid and his obsession with putting things in his nose?! "Nose, mommy. Nose!" Not again! This time, I looked a little deeper into the first nostril and I saw what I thought must be another kernal...only it was WAY up in there! This begged the rhetorial question, How many popcorn kernals can a two-year old fit in his nose?!

After a thorough examination, I determined there was just the one kernal still in his nose. We then set about a more vigorous nose blowing session. Blow, blow, blow...nothing! I peeked in his nose...it hadn't moved at all! After a few more tries, I had a fleeting image of my tweezers upstairs in my bathroom drawer, but then came to my senses and decided this was a job for the professionals!

We hopped into the car, drove to Urgent Care, and signed in. I knew the nurses would love it when I told them why my son needed to be seen...she was remarkably composed when I said, "He has a popcorn kernal stuck in his nose." She even showed the appropriate amount of compassion. After a brief wait, and a sucker from the receptionist, we were called back. The nurse did a brief work-up, asked the usual questions, then told me they had another kid in yesterday with a sticker up his nose. Is there some sort of season for these things, or does it just happen all of the time?

Shortly thereafter, a pleasant looking doctor came in. He did a great job of showing Kevin his little light (and showing me the soft, bendable little instrument he was going to be shoving up my son's nose). His first attempt was made with Kevin sitting in my lap, my hand tilting Kevin's head back and the nurse holding Kevin's hands. Kevin was intrigued at first, but then quickly lost interest when the doctor shoved the little instrument up his nose. "I can't get at it from this angle," the doctor said.

So, we laid Kevin down with his head off of the examination table. My job was to hold his feet and hands, while the nurse held his head and shoulders. Once Kevin got wind of this, he was NOT interested. He squirmed and wiggled, but he never cried. Finally, he gave up, and the doctor popped that popcorn kernal out in 10 seconds flat! Hooray! Kevin sat up and we all gave him high-fives! The nurse gave him yet another sucker, as well as a sticker, and we were on our way.

Now, I have heard stories about children putting things into their noses, but I've never really understood it. Why would they do such a thing? Where were their parents? This has never happened to me before...Trevor and Ethan never showed the slightest interest in shoving anything up their noses. Only, Kevin is a rather interesting child. I'm actually not all that surprised that he would do such a thing. In fact, he has always been a little obsessed with popcorn kernals...you know, the ones at the bottom of your bowl of popcorn. I try to pick as many as I can out when I give him a bowl of popcorn, along with the admonition, "Don't eat the seeds...they're yucky!" I guess he found another thing to do with them. And I can honestly say, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried that again.

I wonder where I can get one of those flexible little plastic tool things...