Graphic Injury Caught On Film!

We went to Seattle this weekend for a friends wedding. It was the girls first airplane trip (more on this in a later post).

While at the hotel, the girls had a great time playing in the room.

Over the past two weeks, the amount of time they play together has increased dramatically. Rather than just play NEXT to each other, the girls now chase each other around, share/fight for toys, and generally laugh at each other's silliness.

So in the hotel, they were playing "you chase me, I chase you" (a game they think they invented), when I decided to snap my camera to capture this joyous moment of their infancy.

Let me set the scene for you:

Just as I snapped the photo, Caroline had caught Katherine from behind, and was in the process of pulling her backward by her shirt.

Now mind you, they play this game ALL THE TIME. They are so small, that pulling each other usually results in them falling into each other in a small but harmless heap, both of them laughing hysterically.

They do it at home on HARDWOOD FLOOR and never get hurt.

But this time, as Daddy snapped the photo, as Caroline tugged Katherine back onto her, Katherine's head met Caroline's mouth.

Katherine has a hard head.

Hard head met soft gums.

Soft gums started bleeding.

Quickly.

Profusely.

Laughter turned to crying very quickly.

We rushed over to Caroline. Mouth full of blood.

Her first significant "bleeding" injury.

We rinsed out her mouth, gave her some water, then juice.

Happily, within ten minutes, the girls were back to laughing and playing, "you chase me, I chase you" as if nothing bad had happened.

Daddy went to find a beer.

But later, remembering the photo I took just prior to the injury, I looked at the photo:

First Sports Injury.
(click on photo for larger view)

If you look real closely (or zoom in on Caroline's mouth if you can), you can see the blood.

(By the way, in case you noticed that Katherine is also crying, she was fine. She started crying because Caroline started crying.)

This photo is something of a rarity, I think.

I mean, what parent is going to take the time to take a picture of their child while they are bleeding? No one would, that's nuts.

The only way you get a picture like this is if you snap the camera as the incident occurs.

This kind of action photo is rare indeed.

I'm thinking of sending the photograph to Sports Illustrated.