after returning and recovering from disney (all kids coughing and with "croaky" voices if you believe carys), i realised jasper's stitches still needed to come out. this was bad news because i still needed to do a few other things.

things which my children would consider MUCH more important on the bigger scale. shopping for them and Christmas dinner for example!

i looked up the location of the place where they would take out the stitches. truthfully, it wasn't that inconvenient. but the hours were a little.

janne came over, and we chatted. the kids played quietly. i was talking about jasper and how getting his stitches out what something that had to be done that day (because the clinic will be closed over the next few days) and then an idea hit me. gently.

i turned to janne and said, "i wonder if i could remove them myself."

she nodded, "i should think so."

after she left, i thought about it a bit more. gave one last cursory glance at the clinic information but my mind was made up. i knew what i was going to do and it was time to get on with it. i found sewing scissors and i found (tweezerman, only the best for my boy) tweezers and i boiled the kettle. sterlized my instruments for five minutes.

looked around for other essentials. a clip for his hair, baby batman for comfort, and a bright light.

i drained the instruments, located my boy, pushed baby batman into his arms and sat him down under the lights. washed the area with rubbing alcohol.

picked up the scissors. (didn't ask for an assistant although there were three VERY willing assistants). plucked at the stitches which were kind of loose. this i took to be a good sign.

snip.

snip.

snip.

i think i made one more snip as well, near a knot.

i placed the scissors on the towel.

are you done? inquired jasper, sliding away from me.

not quite, little man.

now the tweezers went into action. unfortunately, i pulled some blonde strands as i removed the first stitch and so jasper had to be convinced to return to me. reminders of Christmas two days away did the trick.

the second stitch came out well, and i kept an eye on the thread disappearing just so i knew there were no remnants of thread floating around inside his head.

the third stitch was the easiest yet.

the cut is still nicely stuck together.

and voila, the stitches were out.

jasper was very appreciative and i was quite impressed as i wrapped up my tools, took them to the kitchen and cleaned up the operating/television room.

it's Christmas eve morning and all is very well! we wish the same for you and yours.