The Broken Arm

You don't often have a 2 year old with a broken arm (thank goodness!), so I have to do one more post about Anthony and his broken arm.  It was difficult to keep his cast dry and (mostly) clean.  This is one thing I did so he could still play in the sandbox:

Bread sack with rubber band at the top worked well.

Anthony was spoiled by his big sisters.

He got worse about taking naps, so some days I would find him like this.

Anthony and his "Hulk" arm.

Hooray, the cast is off!  Mommy and Anthony celebrated with chicken nuggets and pop.

His cast was on for a total of 4 weeks.  Did I say four loooonnng weeks?  We were all so glad when it was done.  I was also glad that the weather did not get too cold because it was hard to find any long sleeved shirts that would fit over the cast.  We were also grateful the fracture was a simple one, because it could have been so much worse.  Hopefully we will not have any more broken bones around here anytime soon!

Anthony was so brave getting the cast on and off.  Even when the nurse started sawing on his cast, he didn't even flinch.  She was impressed and said he did better than the 10 year old down the hall!  She did ask me if I wanted to keep the super-stinky cast.  I refused.  Pictures are more than enough!

Our First One!

I knew most of the month of September and the first week of October were going to be extra busy, but when I had planned the calendar, I thought that by this week, things would be settled down into more of a usual routine.  Well, two-year olds have a knack for disrupting plans.  Last Thursday morning, while we were in the middle of school, Anthony fell down the stairs.  Now, he's done that before, with little to no consequences, but this time was different.  He kept crying and crying and holding his arm.  Even after some time, he did not want to get off my lap, and he cried if I made the slightest movement.  So off we went to the Immediate Care Center, where Daddy met us.  Two hours later, we emerged with Anthony in a splint:

Daddy holding the little injured guy.

He had a fracture right above the elbow of his right arm.  Luckily, it was nondisplaced, meaning he would be able to just have it casted.

Buckling up in the carseat is a little difficult with a broken arm.

So for the next 4 days, Anthony wore the splint, while I tried to find shirts that fit him.  It got cold enough for winter coats, but the best I could do for the time being was get some of Joseph's tee shirts with wide enough sleeves.  Meanwhile, we were trying to keep him from getting too rowdy, because you know how 2 year olds fall a lot.  Here he is on Monday morning waiting at the Orthopedic clinic, and of course, standing on a chair:

When is it my turn?

 We saw the doctor, who explained that there can be serious complications with this type of fracture, and that we'd have to keep a close eye on him and his arm.  Then he got a cast.  A green cast.  His two big brothers told him he should get green to be like the Incredible Hulk.  He did well with the cast and I could tell fairly quickly that his arm felt a lot better with the cast on.  He then had to get another x-ray to make sure all was still in line like it should be.  It was, thank goodness. 


I frequently have to adjust his little sling, as in it could use adjusting every 5-10 minutes!

 It is a lot of work to have a two year old in a cast.  I am thankful it wasn't his leg or his head that got hurt. This is the first broken bone in our house.

Just about every time I look at him, his sling looks like this.

He has been getting pampered by everyone, especially the girls.  Sometimes, though, he gets mad and yells at everyone to get away from him.  He can't run around and jump off things, or swing on our swings, or climb up things like he is used to doing.  I did wrap up his arm so he could play in the sandbox, which helps a lot when he is outside.  One good thing is, he is left-handed.

The little prince in his chariot.

In four weeks, we go back to the doctor.  He'll get his cast taken off (that won't be fun!) and another
x-ray to see how things are healing.  Hopefully that will be it!