There is a Fracture

 Two weeks ago, Caleb made his way home from skate-boarding holding his injured elbow. He had fallen right on it, causing his arm to temporarily feel numb and then having a lot of pain. I was not particularly sympathetic and told him it would get better and to tough it out. So in the morning when it still hurt quite a lot, he went to see his PCP, who sent him to get x-rays, and called to let him know it was broken and gave him an appointment to the orthopedic clinic. I got out of my call early in order to accompany him and document it for posterity.

He has a radial neck fracture, which is not displaced. So he only has to wear a splint, that he can remove to shower. And he wears a sling to support the arm.

At first I thought it was pretty funny, but then I realized that it makes it impossible to help with even little things (like washing the bottles) so it means a lot more work for me. He has adjusted his work schedule to try to make things easier with Little Bird and we have had some friends help out with her a couple of afternoons.

But now that it has been a couple weeks he has gotten better at using his left arm and figuring out alternative ways to do things. The biggest challenge has been taking care of Little Bird. He figured out the right way to prop the pillows to let him feed her. She has even learned to roll over onto his hand when he goes to pick her up. She learns so fast.

10/2/2012 Update:  Caleb went to his 2.5 week follow up and they told him that he no longer needs to wear the splint. The fracture is not healed yet but with this kind of fracture he needs to start moving it so it doesn't get contracted. Already he cannot straighten his arm completely, but hopefully with some work, it will get better. He is not supposed to do any lifting, but he can do simple tasks. He goes back in a few more weeks to get rechecked.

Honey Harvest Festival

Yesterday we decided to check out the Honey Harvest Festival at the Tinker Homestead in Henrietta. It was a fun, easy activity to do with Caleb's broken arm. It was tiny by festival standards but it was still more crowded that I would have expected. They have several hives there and that day they were harvesting the honey. We watched them using the knife to melt the wax and spinning the  honey out of the combs. They also had samples there of a bunch of different foods made with honey. We bought a jar of honey to try out at home.

They had displays explaining how honey is made and also what different wasps, hornets, and bees look like. Caleb liked the bees behind the glass best. He didn't want to get too close to the hives, for fear of being stung. But Little Bird was brave for the picture (the weather was actually pretty cool and I didn't even see any bees flying around outside while we were there).

Everywhere we went Little Bird was getting all the attention. She is such a good little girl--so happy and calm and cheesing it up for the strangers.

 In the barn they were crushing apples to make fresh pressed apple cider. It would have been fun to try some of the fresh stuff but the samples they were giving out looked like it was the Wegmans stuff. Maybe there is a liability issue with giving out unpasturized cider?

At the end we listened to a fun string group The Golden Eagles, with a fiddle, mandolin, bass, guitar and some sort of flute. They sang old folk songs and were a lot of fun to listen too . I really like one called "A Place in the Choir."

We will have to go back sometime for the tour of the farmhouse, farm, and gardens.

Five Months

Little Bird is five months old! By our best efforts to weigh and measure her this month, she is now 16 pounds 8 ounces and 27.25 inches long. In the past few days she is starting to be able to sit up on her own briefly (while leaning forward). She is as smiley as ever and it is so fun when we can get her to giggle.

She has gotten very good at grabbing her feet and often pulls them up into her mouth to suck on. Little Bird has definately mastered rolling from back to front (although she always seems to go the same way) and she is getting better at going from front to back. But sometimes she doesn't want to put in the effort and will just fuss and fuss until we turn her back over.

She is working on some new teeth and so drool is constantly pouring out. And she tries to chew on everything she can get her hands on, even her shoes. A couple days ago her third tooth popped through. Not one that you would expect, it is her top left lateral incisor. As it comes through more, soon she will have a little fang. I expect there are few more teeth that will be following soon.

Little Bird also got a fun bouncing, play area. She loves standing in it, twisting around to see what is in the different areas. Her shirts get soaked when she is in there because she is leaning forward for all the drool to drip right onto her chest, so a bib is usually play attire.

She gets pretty focused and intense when she is trying to accomplish something (like getting the toy to her mouth).

Little Bird has also graduated from her sleeping gowns, to footy pajamas. She was just getting too long and her legs were always sticking out. She still gets a snug swaddle when it is bedtime but during naps, her legs are loose as we try to move her towards no swaddling eventually.

She eats cereal most nights, although mostly I think she tries to absorb it through her chest and hands. But she is getting better ate eating it off the spoon. She is also trying to help hold her bottle. She reaches out for it and pulls it towards her mouth, but she doesn't quite get the bottom up enough to tip the formula into the nipple. Soon she will be feeding herself.

She is a joy and so much fun. What a cutie.

Labor Day

Labor Day we headed to the ward picnic. There were so many people there and it seems that everyone had a good time. The best game they had was where the bishop was sitting in a lawn chair with his two counselors in chairs about 5 feet in front of him. The primary kids took turns throwing water balloons at him while the counselors tried to "protect him" by using tennis rackets to swat the balloons. Then at the end, all the kids charged them at once with their balloons, insuring everyone got wet.We didn't stay too long because it was hot for Little Bird and Caleb was working that day. But he had brought his Blackberry along so he could answer emails as needed.

Lockport

Yesterday we drove over to Lockport, where they have the highest elevation change on the Erie Canal. There used to be a series of 5 locks but now there are just two and it changes in height 50 feet.

They have a tour of the underground man made cave there. it was created to use water from the Erie Canal to provide hydro-mechanical power to three factories a hundred years ago. To get into the cave we climbed up through one of the huge old pipes.

Because it is man made and fairly recent, it lacks the typical cave features (stalagtites, etc). But there were a few in the beginning stages of development. At the end of the cave, there was a short underground boat ride. They packed about 27 of us into a little boat and we rode in the almost darkness down to the beginning of the cave.

Little Bird slept through most of the tour but woke up just in time for the boat ride and to be dripped on by water from the ceiling. She was very curious trying to look around in the dim surroundings.

Little Bird is loving making her roaring sound. It is so cute and funny. If I can ever get a video to upload, I will share it with you. She is liking the sound of her voice more and more. When we put her down for naps, sometimes she will lay in there making different noises for 10 or 15 minutes before she falls asleep. So much fun.