Alvin? Simon? Theodore?

We were just heading out the door this afternoon when Monty came inside with something in his mouth. He ran into the kitchen and we realized it was a little woodland creature. He dropped it on the floor and I identified it as a chipmunk.

After a few horrified seconds I realized it was not dead. It looked like it was close though, it was just lying there any twitching a little. Ben took the girls out to the car and I stayed behind to deal with it. I was looking for something to scoop it up with when it stopped twitching and lay completely still. I watched it for a few seconds and really thought it was dead when suddenly it jumped up and started scampering around. It was under the kitchen table and after some failed attempts at cornering it, it hid under the dishwasher.

Awesome.

We spent the late afternoon and evening at Ben's parents house.

Fiona did some splashing in the lake and we had dinner together. It was a very enjoyable time, but we were concerned about one of two possibilities. One, it dies while we're gone and we have to deal with a decomposing chipmunk trapped under the dishwasher. Or two, it gets comfortable and becomes a permanent house guest.

On our return home it seemed that scenario 2 was more likely. There was chipmunk poo on the kitchen floor and he'd helped himself to a beer from the fridge. Worst house guest ever.

While I was in the kitchen I heard some thumping sounds and then a wail and found that Fiona has tripped coming down the stairs and landed at the bottom on her head. She only fell down the last few steps, and seemed fine, but was a little upset. After some cuddles and a cookie she was happy again.

Shortly after that she was lying on the couch while Ben changed her diaper and I heard a nasty choking coughing sound. Ben sat her up and started patting her on the back. I thought at first she'd thrown up and was choking on it, but whatever was going on her face was all red and my heart started pounding. I opened her mouth to see what was going on but then she started taking some big gasping breaths and was ok again. After a few seconds she was composed enough to say one word. "Penny".

Aaaaaauuughhhhhh.

Yep, she choked on, and then swallowed, a penny. So much for all the credit I gave her for being smart.

I half-noticed it lying on the floor a few minutes earlier and am kicking myself that I didn't just pick it up then. She's pretty good about not putting stuff in her mouth but since she knows that putting coins in her mouth is absolutely forbidden she likes to do it just to annoy me. Same with earplugs. If she gets her hands on them she'll put them in her mouth, then come over to me and show me what she's doing. It's infuriating but she thinks she's hilarious.

Dr. Google told me that she should go to the ER immediately in case it's stuck in her esophagus before it corrodes her insides, so I called the nurse line and she said that if she's breathing and drinking and can swallow a little bread she is most likely fine, and to look for it in her poo. And she seems totally fine, so I'm going to go with the nurse, but will be keeping a close eye on her. And her poo. The nurse's tip was to chop it up with a knife to look for the penny. I can't wait...

So that was our evening. There's still a chipmunk hiding in the house, Fiona may or may not have a corroded esophagus by the morning, Ben is sick and has a fever and it's 10.30 and Adele is making is pretty clear that she feels like partying tonight. Things have never been better :-)