Little stinker broke his wrist

Well, it finally happened. Our first broken bone. It happened at tennis lessons. The kids had all just finished stretching, so they were running their lap around the court. An older girl tried to pass Owen at a corner and pushed him in the process. Down he went. He ended up with a chunk of skin gone from the bridge of his nose and a scraped up knee. I had Russ go to the clubhouse to fill a ziplock with ice for Owen's nose. We had no clue about the arm. Owen usually bounces right back when he falls down, but when he wouldn't stop crying we finally clued in that something was really wrong. At that point I felt stupid for icing his face instead of the arm. Once we got Owen to identify where his arm hurt, I immediately started icing it. That's when we left early to go to the ER, but first we had to stop at home because we didn't have Owen's medical card with us. By the time we were actually on our way to the hospital, Owen was sound asleep in the back seat. I kept checking his arm and his wrist was only slightly swollen. So there we sat in the car not knowing what to do. We finally called our on-call pediatrician. He told us if Owen was comfortable and his arm wasn't looking disfigured, he could see him in the morning and send us for x-rays. If the result was a broken bone, then he would refer us to a orthopedic doctor to set and cast the arm. He suggested we wrap it in an ace bandage for the night and give him some ibuprofen for the pain. Since Owen was sleeping comfortably, we chose to do that.

The next day was a busy doctor day! We had the wrist wrapped in a splint and sling at the pediatrician's office, followed by the x-rays and ending with a cast at the orthopedic doctor. He was so brave at each appointment, too. He didn't cry once, even when the doctors poked at his wrist. Luckily, Owen slowed down a bit and was pretty gentle with his arm most of the day. It was obvious that he was doing his best not to bump it. Once the cast was on, though, all bets were off. He was banging the cast on a table at Cookie's Drive In saying, "See? It doesn't hurt!" 4-6 weeks of that. Thankfully we payed the extra money to have a waterproof cast put on. Now he can take a shower and still go swimming. He's got to be able to do something since tennis, bikes, and scooters are out until he regains his grip...well tennis and bikes anyway. He's already decided there is no way he's giving up the scooter. :)

Breaking News! Blog being updated!

Instead of writing a mini novel to catch you all up on our lives, here is the semi-quick run down:

• The school year began and ended successfully. Brandon finally found a best friend and became far more social that he's ever been. He did well academically and even excelled in math. He had a wonderful teacher. Mr. Myers was so great, I have a hard time believing we will ever run into a better teacher. It was very difficult to say good-bye to him.
• Dylan participated in a pilot Early Kindergarten program at a local school. It is a 2-yr kindergarten program for kids who are old enough for kindergarten, but just aren't ready academically or socially. Dylan just bloomed under Mrs. Lehman's love and guidance. We had our doubts that Dylan would learn anything at all, but his teacher's Waldorf teaching method really worked for him. Dylan is ready for kindergarten and is a very confident kid now. Dylan even found himself a best friend, as well.
• I did quite a bit of volunteering at both schools this year. While I often didn't have the time to spare, I was glad that I was able to help in the classroom and get to know all the kids, as well as the teachers.
• This was Dylan's year of introduction to organized sports. So far he's loved everything he's tried: soccer, t-ball, swimming and tennis. He is very talented and learns quickly. He gets so excited that you often see him bouncing up and down because he can't contain himself. It's pretty darned cute.
• Brandon is continuing to play baseball, and has started swimming and tennis as well. While he enjoys himself, he's more interested in the social aspect of each sport more than anything else. For him, winning is a bonus, not a goal.
• Owen has joined swim team with his brothers. Practices started May 2nd, and he is finally kicking, using his arms and trying to breathe. Hoping he will actually try to do all that in the next swim meet, rather than hang onto his helper hitching a ride to the other end of the pool. He has also started taking tennis lessons with his brothers. He does surprisingly well for being only 4 years old.
• Russ eased himself into coaching baseball this year. He really wanted to be a helper at practices, but somehow ended up being one of the coaches. While he knows little about the baseball, he knew enough to keep practices going and help out on the field during games. He enjoyed himself, and Brandon just loved having his dad being that involved in his sport. It took much more out of Russ than he thought, so he's not so sure he wants to do that again next year.
• We joined a swim and tennis club so all the boys could participate on swim team. We are so happy with that decision. The boys are learning water safety and having fun in the process. Although, they are not happy having to get up so early for swim meets. Brandon's best friend, Tommy, is also a member and on swim team, so we'll be seeing a lot of him and his family this summer. Good thing all the boys get along and we really like his parents.
• Speaking of this new family we are friends with, we are finding that we are spending quite a bit of time together doing things we don't typically do, like going to the drive-in, hitting balls at the driving range (kids too), having dinner together and going out for frozen treats.
• The boys have discovered the public library in McKinley Park. They each have their own library cards and get so excited to find new books or movies they can borrow. Brandon had a very hard time with his reading comprehension this last year, so I have high hopes that this ability to control what he takes home will spark his interest in reading at home more.
• Russ & I celebrated our 10 year anniversary this year. We'd been planning for years to go back to where we got married, but it just didn't work out. Instead we tried to make it special by doing things we don't normally do together, so we went out to a late breakfast and played some tennis. After a long nap, we went out for a sushi dinner. Our mom's were kind enough to keep the kids a couple of nights, so we didn't have to worry about school drop offs or pick ups or baseball practices.
• The boys have been asking to go to the beach for many months now. Diane made that possible for them last month. We took them out of school for a few days so they could play and build forts on the beach and hang out at the Boardwalk. They got their fix and so did we.
• Because the boys are just learning to swim, they can only participate in home meets and they swim with a coach during their "race". Their very first swim meet was in the pouring rain. I swore they were going to have such a bad experience that they would never want to come back again. I was dead wrong. Despite shivering and being miserably cold out of the water, they loved the swimming and the hanging out with friends between races. Looks like we will be involved with swim team for many years to come.
• I created a yearbook for Brandon's 2nd grade class. I worked on it for 2 solid days. Once I saw the finished product, I was so happy that I worked as meticulously as I did. The printed version turned out better than I thought it would. I would love to do it again next year...well, only if I'm able to work on it throughout the year. That 2 day cramming just about killed me.
• The last week of school was a crazy busy time. Brandon and Dylan's classes had so many special events that we were not able to attend all of them. Between Russ & I we did our best to rearrange our work schedules so we could be there for as many as we could. The boys ended the year with a bang and can't wait for school to start all over again. They both admitted they are going to miss their friends this summer, but they are looking forward to sleeping in.
• Brandon had his first sleepover at his best friend's house. He says he and T stayed up so late, they went to sleep when the sun came up. I seriously doubt that, but I'm sure it felt that late to him. He really enjoyed himself and can't wait to have his friend stay with us.

Ok, that was a mini novel, but there was a lot to be said I guess. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up this writing over the summer...