I took Anthony back to get his stitches removed yesterday. The nurses thanked me for keeping ointment on them. I wasn't aware of this beforehand, but not following that directive apparently causes a cut like that to scab over to the point that removing the sutures becomes an impossibility. We have also been told to put sunscreen on the cut any time he is outside, regardless of the weather, for a year to minimize scarring.

Anthony has a long history of hitting his head against walls and the like. I remember all of us (myself, my wife, and two small children at the time) trying to take a nap together. I had Anthony, who was perhaps four years old, lying next to me. I was lying on my side with an arm over him. Without warning, he rammed his head back, and hit me squarely in the nose. I have never been punched in the nose, but I can't imagine the pain being worse. I have since kept my distance on the occasions when I lie next to Anthony to try to get him to sleep.

He was a little younger than that when he routinely targeted a glass pane on a multimedia cabinet in our living room. Our repeated attempts to distract him were unsuccessful, and he eventually hit it hard enough that it broke. Perhaps because he was so young, the experience seemed to frighten him and he stopped for a time. A friend asked me if this latest incident will deter him for a while. Sadly, I don't think so. I sat with him in the back of our car while my wife drove to the hospital, and it is probably a good thing I did, because he did lean over several times to try to hit the window. We must now alter how we monitor him when he shows any sign of agitation if he is near glass.