Megan's Big Adventure

We got a call from St. Louis Gym Centre last night at 6:15—as soon as I saw the number pop up I knew it was bad news. "Megan is doing okay, and her coaches are with her," said the woman calling, "but we think she has broken her arm."

When I got to the gym, Megan was sitting with one of her coaches and a guy who apparently helps out sometimes; they had made a crude splint out of a Seventeen magazine and some Ace bandages (a kind of gymnastics MacGuyver trick, I guess. Also, after flipping through the magazine a little in the ER, I hope that's the closest she ever gets to Seventeen).

Aside from the occasional whimper or wince, Megan was pretty stoic about the trip to the ER and checking in. When the ER doctor came in and took the makeshift splint off, this is what we saw:

Wow. The doctor looked at me and said, "I can't believe this child isn't screaming." Agreed. And same goes for her dad.

So, they decided to put in an IV line so they could give her some medicine for pain and have it in in case they needed to put her to sleep to set the arm. Though she hated having the IV put in, which she ranked up there with the actual breaking of the arm, she was pretty proud of it once it was set.

 As you can see, she was still managing to smile with a broken arm.

She had a 35 degree break in both bones in her forearm, right in the middle. The doctors called it a "green split," like when you break a green branch and it splits but doesn't separate. That was lucky, since it meant she didn't need surgery for a plate or rod to set the bones back in place.

After the pediatric orthopedist set the arm and put it in a temporary cast, we waited for Megan to wake up. When she did, she saw double for a little while—at one point, she said, "Whoa—daddy, you have four ears and four eyes and two noses and two mouths!" And when I started to explain it was part of the medicine, she said, "It's like you're talking out of your chin! This is crazy!" and then she went back to sleep for a little bit.

Finally, after a popsicle and some paperwork, she was ready to go—it was 11:30. Notice that she's still managing to smile.

The ER doctor told her that she wished that all the children who came in with broken bones could see how brave Megan had been. Agreed.

Halloween, 2010

A few weeks late, but at least it's still 2010.

Words!

James has really started signing and communicating lately—you kind of have to know what to look for, or how to prompt him, but it's clear that he's starting to get the idea of words. His receptive language has always been ahead of his expressive language, but his picture system of making choices about foods and activities and the Learning Program pictures (though we're erratic about doing it) seem to be bearing fruit.

Below is an embedded file of James's words—for now, I'm having a hard time attaching the .pdf file. You can magnify the text using the controls. It's a little clumsy I think, but it will work for now.

And you can add to the list the sign for "baby," which he did for the first time this afternoon when we were doing the Learning Program cards—he was very excited. The sign for "baby" is to cradle an imaginary baby in your arms and rock them back and forth; James joined his fingers and swung his arms back and forth.

Four!

James is 4 today! I'm barely slipping this post in—it's been a crazy day. But I did see James for his birthday eggs. After that—parent-teacher conferences from 2-5 then 6-8, then up to the Prep News, where we've got a full 12-page issue this week. As I type this, we have four pages finished. (For those who haven't found it, by the way, the link is here.)

I had a longer post in mind, but here's the outline: just before James's first birthday, he started sitting up on his own, and Julie got him to eat cake; just before his third birthday last year, he started walking; in the weeks leading up to his birthday this year, he has started communicating much more regularly with signing and a picture system that allows him to make choices about things like food, toys, etc. More specifics to follow.

Happy birthday little buddy!