Broken Arm

Wednesday, Malcolm fell on the playground at school and broke his arm.  I'm not entirely sure what happened because I wasn't there, and he has given me two different stories.  As best I can tell, one tire was propping another tire up at an angle, and he was standing on the angled one and fell off.  A few different adults either saw him fall or saw him right after, and no one though it was a big enough fall to seriously hurt himself.  He must have landed just right, because he has had several more spectacular falls where he was not hurt at all.

It happened on a day when another mom brings him home, so she rounded up the kids and brought him right home.  He was still crying when she dropped him off and it was an odd sounding cry for him.  I figured he was just scared, tired, and hungry, so I got him some milk and cookies to distract him and get some food in him.  It was sort of funny to watch, because he really wanted those cookies, but he couldn't stop crying and eventually just quit eating them. I called Kevin and he came home early to stay with Dorothy while Malcolm and I headed to the doctor to get checked out. The doctor checked his arm and sent us across the street to the hospital to get his arm x-rayed.

Of all the things we did, he really seemed to enjoy getting the x-rays.

He was very good and followed all the directions the lady doing the x-rays gave him.  She was really nice and he took to her very quickly.  He even asked for her before we left the hospital, and we happened to see her, so he was happy.

We waited while his x-rays were examined, then the doctor confirmed that his arm was indeed broken and that I would need to call the next morning to get a cast put on it. We had done a lot of waiting (thank goodness for games on the ipad to distract him) and it was after dinner time by the time we left the hospital. I let Malcolm choose anywhere local that he wanted to go for dinner and he chose Panera. There was a Dairy Queen just a few doors down from Panera, and he asked if we could stop for ice cream, so we walked over after dinner and he got a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate. I could tell he still wasn't feeling real great when he got toward the end of his cone and said he was done and didn't want to finish it. Poor little guy.

Working on his ice cream.  The arm in the air is the broken one.

The orthopedist was able to squeeze us in the next morning at 9:15, so we headed over there to get a cast put on his arm. This time I had Dorothy with me and she was very good waiting. Malcolm got to pick the color he wanted for his cast from a wide selection. They had lots of solid colors, but they also had a few prints. He chose a dinosaur print, which I have to admit is pretty cute, and very "him." After Malcolm had his cast on, Dorothy held up her left arm and told the guy, "I one too." She did not get a cast, but I promised her that I would wrap her arm with gauze if she wanted when we got home. By the time we got home, she had forgotten about it, so I never did it.

Malcolm was a little scared getting the cast on, and seems a little embarrassed about the whole thing. He did like that the doctor showed him a picture of the arm bones and circled where he broke his arm on the drawing. Malcolm got to keep it and took it to school to show his friends, and he was a little excited about that part.

He was very embarrassed and did not want to show off his cast.

He was curious though, and wanted to check it out.

He was still feeling a little shy and asked if I could stay at school with him for a little bit. By the time we got there, they were having their circle time and went outside not long after that. I don't think he really needed me, but Dorothy and I stayed while the kids were on the playground, and left when they went in to have lunch. She had a blast playing with the big girls at school, and it was great to let her run around a bit, since she had spent the entire morning sitting and waiting for her brother.

The big girls liked having Dorothy visit.

I am unclear on the game they were playing, but Dorothy was the center of attention.

Malcolm has a buckle fracture and will have to wear the cast for 3-4 weeks. We will go back in two weeks to have the arm checked, and I think he will get a new cast then. Luckily, it should be off in time for his birthday, which he was a little worried about.