One Heart Attack Down, How Many to Go?

It was a morning like any other morning in the Mann household, 700 AM. He laughed he giggled and he rose from the couch like a catapulting ball...scaring his mother. :) For those that caught that reference (Cash Cow- Steve Taylor, for those that didn't), I AM able to make light of my mini heart attack this morning although for the 30 minutes that followed I was vigorously holding back tears and repeatedly having to take deep breaths.

Just like we have an evening routine we also have a morning routine. The goal is to enable Andrew to nurse before going to work and despite my current unemployment I try not to detour from the routine as much as possible.

At 7AM I could hear my son talking to himself and acting as an alarm clock to my senses. I went in, said my good morning, changed his diaper and started to ready him for the day. As we walked from his room to the living room he dropped his pacifier that had been firmly plugged in his mouth due his chipper morning chatter. Per our usual routine I propped him up in the corner of the couch so he could see and turned to retrieve his pacifier or "O'Malley" as we call it. With in a matter of 5 seconds I heard an odd thud and my son screaming. Turning my head to the couch I found that Andrew was not where I had placed him and upon further inspection I found him 2 feet from the couch on the floor on his face. (*Picture is reenactment of where Andrew landed and taken during his morning tummy time- NOT taken during actual event) All thought flew from my head and instinct flooded my actions as I immediately picked him up and began rubbing his back and attempting to soothe him. Guilt rushing at me like a tidal wave.

Once he calmed enough to nurse we continued the morning routine Andrew seeming to have completely forgotten the entire incident. He was unharmed but my nerves were on edge. For the next 30 minutes Brandon and I speculated how he may have accomplished this feat and we came up with two scenarios:

1. He leaned forward and pushed off with his legs, something we've seen him do or attempt before, placing him on the edge of the couch where he then rolled off and onto the floor.

2. He got his legs up under him and pushed off like a catapult throwing himself upward and hitting the edge of the couch and flopping on to the floor OR he cleared the couch and flipped.

Either situation does not sit well with my nerves even as Brandon jokes that he wished we could have gotten it on tape. My son's acrobatic stunt this morning gave both of us pause and a sense of worry as to what kind of child we have and what other heart stopping moments he is going to give us in the years to come. Thinking back over the numerous stories I've heard from my mother-in-law about Brandon, that seem in line with this morning, I have no doubt that I will be completely gray by the time I'm 30!