1st Broken Bone

A couple weeks after Ryan turned 3 he was about to go upstairs, by himself, and I said, "Be careful." He responded with, "Why do you say that."  "Because I want you to be careful on the stairs."  "Why?"

Fast forward 3 minutes.  I'm sitting on the sofa at the bottom of the stairs and I hear it.  Ryan falling from the top of the stairs.  And worse, I watched him, unable to do anything.  I yelled for Chris as I went to Ryan.  He said Mama and started crying.  For a brief moment my training kicked in and I thought about not moving him.  Then my instincts kicked in and I asked what hurts, "my arm", and then I scooped him up.  He clung to me as Chris assessed his arm.

A few minutes later he sat on my lap saying nothing hurt while I held his boo boo bunny (a cold stuffed critter meant to ice ouchies) on his arm and watched Clifford the Big Red Dog.  Afterwards Chris reassessed the arm and determined it was likely broken.  Fortunately, Nonna was there to stay with the sleeping twins while the 3 of us headed out to an urgent ortho clinic.

Simple radial fracture.  While a splint was being applied Ryan was a champ.  No seriously, he was like a little adult.  The tech continuously commented on how well behaved and accommodating he was.

Four days later, after any possible swelling, he was casted.  Again he was a champ.  He, with a little encouragement, chose an orange cast.  And thank goodness for water proof casts!

The cast doesn't slow him down a bit.  It's as if it isn't even there.  However, a 3 year old and a heavy cast is a recipe for little brother injuries.  He simply doesn't realize he has to be gentler.   Luckily everyone has escaped anything major.

Speaking of escaping anything major, I'm well aware Ryan's injury could have been much worse.  A broken arm, while inconvenient, is so very minor.  We are very thankful.