"Owie"gator

Let me introduce you to "Owie"gator. He's a good friend of Eli's. They met on Monday after a very long, long, long, wait in the ER. Eli was so greatful to have a friend that he played hide and seek in the hospital with him for an hour. He even named him. You're probably wondering what started this friendship? Well, it all started one day when Ethan, Eli's 8-year-old brother, decided that there were too many weeds in the back yard. Using his manly sense of duty, he took it upon himself to find Dad's machete and whack a few of them down. Then, the unthinkable happened. Somehow, Ethan managed to hack his little brother instead. "I just didn't think he was that close, Mom, it was an accident," He said, pleading for his life. At first glance the damage didn't seem to be that bad. A few scratches on the face would recover really fast, I thought. But, wait, why is there blood streaming down the back of your ear, Eli?Oh no, no, no. Then, of course, there's the debate....Do I take him in...Does it really look that bad? Steve says, It's not too bad. I'm, of course, panicking. Dinner's cooking, Raechel's at ballet, the theme song of Jeopardy is playing in my head. "I'm taking him," I pronounce. "Right now."

So, four hours in the ER is a form of torture in the USA, if you didn't know already.

He's going to have some pretty good battle wounds to brag about when he gets older. "Yeah, my brother tried to hack my ear off with a machete, but it was no big deal."And now Eli has two stitches and a stuffed animal he appropriately named , "Owie"gator.