Another Day

Saturday . . .

Still feeling the post-family-visit blues. The house feels empty. Blah. On top of that, I checked my tickets and learned that I must once again put aside my plans for spending $50 million. Bummer.

Anyhoo, went in for the one-week check-up on Sonwun's broken wrist yesterday. All appears to be well and he got a nice new cast. He got to choose the colour and he went with blue.

Wow, times have changed. Didn't have all that many casts as a kid, but I never got to pick the colour. (There was only one - white) And it wasn't this fibreglass stuff either. Plaster as I recall. Probably easier to sign, but these ones today are just cool!

Not that it takes the all the sting out of being banned from deeper water during the summer months. But it helps a little.

The doctor, a nice enough guy, was very, very impressed with Neomom's home-made sling. She sewed it up shortly after Sonwun's return from the hospital last week. The sling provided was just a triangular piece of gauze, sorta tied together to form, at best, a crude sling. It didn't last long.

The original

But the doctor was so impressed with Neomom's creativity, that he showed everyone he could find the ER.

Neomom at Work

And he suggested she make a few more for them to have on hand for other kids who find themselves in Sonwun's shoes. Not gonna happen, but it was a nice compliment.

Much Better

So no big plans for the day. Probably do a little garage saling (saleing?), pulling 70 pounds of children in the bike trailer. We rarely actually make a purchase, but it's good exercise and the kids seem to like poking around in other people's stuff. So it's all good.

Happy weekend!

Float like a hummingbird . . .

So, this morning, Sonwun is sporting a cast, a lovely new sling thanks to Neomom and a black eye, courtesy of Sontoo.

It hasn't been a great weekend for him.

The cast on his arm is itchy. World class itchy. Stay-awake-half-the-night-tossing-and-turning-and-kicking-and-crying itchy.

Well, the first night it was anyway. Last night he got a better night's sleep and, thusly, so did I.

Yesterday, during a ride in the bicycle trailer, Sontoo delivered a headbutt that has left Sonwun's left eye swollen and bruised. No one saw exactly what happened but, according to Sonwun, it was a headbutt. The jury is still out on whether or not it was an intentional foul.

As for the broken arm, it has somewhat limited his normal activity. Bike riding is out. Swimming is out. Soccer is out. And that means he must find new ways to put his other arm in danger. While I am touting the benefits of Wii tennis and bowling, Sonwun is trying to figure out how to use the swing the back yard with one hand. He's trying to leap from the ottoman to the couch and land in such a way as to protect his wounded wing. And he's begging to go back to the playground: the scene of the crime. (I guess he really didn't want me to cut it down.)

I guess I wouldn't want it any other way. I mean, he's not letting this arm thing get the best of him or curtail his idea of what are permissible and prudent activities. Four-year-old's shouldn't be prudent. They should be pushing the limits at all times. Plenty of time left in life for playing it safe.

Anyhoo, plan today is to head off to Paint Lake and enjoy what is supposed to be a beautiful day. We will, of course be joined by Uncle Davey, Aunt Nizzie and Grampa, who arrived for their visit last Wednesday. Two days before my daredevil busted his wrist.

No, he won't be able to swim, but I'm sure he'll find plenty of rocks to climb on, places to run at full speed and plenty of playground equipment to swing, slide, leap and climb upon.

With a broken arm and a black eye, I am just hoping he doesn't add to his list of injuries today. I don't want to have to explain every bump, bruise and abrasion on the boy to a Child and Family Services employee. They're all legit mind you, 'cause he's a normal little boy. He's got the speed and energy of a hummingbird and the grace of a rhino. It's a recipe for disaster.

So, that's my weekend and my plan for the day.

Have yourselves a great week.

Another Milestone . . .

Well, so much for swimming lessons and soccer games.

A trip to the playground yesterday evening ended with a trip to the hospital for Sonwun. And, in addition to the tooth that fell out last week, Sonwun can now add "first broken bone" to his list of milestones.

He, Aunt Nizzie, Sontoo and Neomom walked over to the school playground after supper last night, while Grampa, Uncle Dave and I stayed home. It was a relatively short trip. I was looking out the front window when I saw Neomom hustling across the lawn with Sonwun in her arms. I could see he was crying. That had to be trouble. He generally only cries for short periods of time when he gets minor injuries. The fact that he was still going strong, and was being carried, well, I knew it was something a little more serious.

Turns out my little daredevil had been pushing the limits, as is his way. He was trying to jump up off a platform and grab a wheel thingy that's probably a little more than six feet off the ground. Well, he caught just enough of it to swing his feet out from under him before he lost his grip and fell. He tried to break his fall with his left arm and, well, broke his left arm.

Fortunately, Uncle Dave is a Nurse Practitioner. He had a quick look and said that, well, yeah, it might be broken. So we loaded the boy into the van and headed for the hospital. The ER was packed. But apparently 4.5-year-olds with possible fractures do get bumped up the list and we were in in no time.

And once we found a comfortable position for the arm, he began to calm down. And, in the process, found his way to anger. He told me through his tears that this particular piece of playground equipment was "naughty" and made me promise to go and cut it down "forever!"

And while it was kinda cute, it was the only part of this process that really surprised me. I wasn't expecting this level of anger, mostly because I'd never seen it from him before. But we talked our way through it and shifted the conversation away from the fall.

We talked about the "cool pictures" the doctor would take of his arm bone and how he might even get a cast. Uncle Dave and I explained the long and proud tradition of broken bones in the family and the nurse promised him a popsicle.

By the time we were ready to head to x-ray, he was so calm and cool that I began to believe it was just a sprain. Wrong!

It was a buckle fracture of the wrist. Certainly not the worst kind of fracture, but bad enough that he will be wearing a fibreglass splint/cast combo for the next several weeks.

All in all, it took about 2 hours at the ER, which is pretty good. Last night he slept fairly well. And, as I write this at 5:20 a.m., he is still sleeping.

As for me, I am gonna make a quick run to Tim Horton's, grab an extra large and then head over to the playground with my hacksaw before the world wakes up. After all, a promise is a promise.

Have a great weekend.