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June 11, 2003
In the next room, right now
Eli is reading Jake a Roald Dahl book (BFG). Eli had come proudly to me to tell me he had read the first chapter by himself. As we were discussing what was happening in the story, Jake asked Eli to please, please, please read it to him. Eli took on a solemn, big brotherly look and said, "Okay come on". I can't believe I now have a child old enough to not only read (he is eight), but to read out loud to his little brother!
I took Jake in on Tuesday to have his arm xrayed. I don't know what I expected - they totally minimized the fracture and so I just assumed it wasn't any big deal. When I saw the xrays yesterday, I was horrified. HIS ARM IS BROKEN! The crack runs 3/4 of the way through the neck of the radius (right under the wrist). It was very obviously not healed. They had taken the cast off in order to xray it and Jake was so happy. The doctor told us that "if he is very careful with it for the next two weeks, we can leave it off". He said that it should be left in place for 6 weeks. This not at all what we were told in the emergency room! I told him that there was no possible way Jake could be careful for two weeks and that it would just end up broken again and casted for an additional six weeks. We are talking about the boy who does spontaneous handstands in a room full of people with zero notice. This is the boy that rode his bike into a parked car because he shut his eyes while doing a "trick".
When I said the cast had to go back on, Jake said "I hate you mom". Ughh. It is fun being so popular these days. The orthopedic doctor that consulted with our family physician explained to Jake that it was not my fault but actually his fault (the ortho doc) because he was worried about Jake hurting his arm. The ortho technician who had been listening to all of this (and who had put on the splint and the cast before) told us that if we wait a few minutes, she had a surprise for us.
She put a <a href="http://www.orthopedictechreview.com/issues/mayjun02/pg38.htm">WATERPROOF CAST</a> on Jake's arm. Woohoo!!!! You should have seen the incredulous look Jake gave her. While we were waiting, she put us in a room full of anatomical skeleton models. It was like going to a science museum. We had a blast. I am sure we were interesting to listen to - Jake asked me if I knew that the boy's penis doesn't have any real bones in it. So then we discussed the difference between boy hips and girl hips (guessing whether the skeleton model was a girl or a boy - we guessed boy due to narrow hips) and the difference between a penis and a clitoris. Ya gotta love the children of labor and delivery nurses!
Busy weekend planned.
Eleonora is going to take us to <a href="http://www.studiosoft.it/CeramicsCaltagirone.htm">Caltigirone</a> on Saturday. This is a town about thirty minutes Southwest of where I live. It is world famous for <a href="http://www.lilibeo.com/ilmulino/indeng.html">pottery</a>. I told her that I loved the idea - I can go shopping for my birthday! She laughed and said her birthday is on Sunday. HAHAHAHAHAA I am exactly ten years and one day older than she is. Saturday night I have to go to a very formal military dinner called a <a href="http://home.hawaii.rr.com/kingcharles/Humor/DiningIn.htm">Dining Out</a>. I have a fancy uniform with even fancier medals to wear. I will post a picture. There are very strict etiquette rules that result in a monetary fine and public humiliation if you break - all in good fun of course. I am actually looking forward to it.
Posted by DebC at June 11, 2003 9:10 PM