Apparently, they don't bounce until 7

Carina had her first trip to the ER this week. Carina had been playing with Karlie and Kristine, just sitting eating some snack in a little toddler-size chair. She turned to watch Karlie walk by and tipped over. She seemed generally OK, but more weepy than she usually gets after falling. Then she starts favoring her one arm and saying, "Neck. Hurt." The doctor's office says, "Yep, she needs an X-ray..."

Most parents probably worry about kids falling off the monkey bars and breaking something, not a chair 9 inches from the floor. Carina has a broken collarbone! And as Chris said, "Apparently, they don't bounce until 7!" She did really well in the ER, throwing the biggest fit for the bracelet. They tell us, "She'll have to have her arm strapped to her body for 3-4 weeks...Oh, and be careful, she might be off balance and tip off and re-injure her collarbone." Great. I could already see Dante tormenting her. She did fine that night with one arm in use. Thanks to Dr. P the next morning, she fashioned a bandage around her shoulders so that she has full use of both arms. (Whew.) There are 2 problems with this. One - Since she can use her arm, she is using her arm. She is quickly realizing how much it hurts to do the stuff she is used to. And when she trips, as 2 year-olds are apt to do, she braces her fall with her bad arm/shoulder. OUCH! Two - we can't wash the bandage for 3-4 weeks. EWWWW... At least we can bathe her.

It was a great lesson to tell my middle school students why they shouldn't lean back in their chairs!

The next day was Dante's CT scan appointment. While he looks like an old pro in these photos, the port access was MUCH tougher than usual. He hasn't had his port accessed since January and having been away from it all for so long, he was very anxious. It took both of us holding him down to get it done. Luckily, if he is still, it takes all of about 20 seconds. Of course, later, he told us that he didn't want his "port out."

Radiology was the usual chaos, but Amy took good care of us and.....big news...Dante did his CT scan with NO meds! Perhaps it was the game of hide-and-seek we played in the room and hallway or the light-up maracas and dancing around, but we just tried it and he did it! Wow - so much quicker and easier. We didn't hear results, so I am taking that as good news. I will post as soon as we hear something.

Over at the clinic, Dante and Daddy played a rousing game of Disney Princess Memory game. (It's pretty tough when all the cards look alike!) They took some more blood work, removed his port and we were on our way.



I just had to post this photo. This was something the two of them completely did on their own. They went and sat down right in the middle of Uncle Mike's flower bed and starting reading a book together and sharing snack, ignoring everyone around them. The majority of time, they are always playing together, laughing together, and wondering what the other one is doing. It is pretty cool to see. Now, if I could just convince Dante that Carina did in fact hurt her shoulder and shouldn't wrestle like she usually does we'll do O.K.