Toddler Fracture

I don't know why it took a whole week, three doctors, two x-ray sessions, and a visit to the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, but we finally have a diagnosis! Kaleb has what they call a toddler fracture in his leg. Basically how the Orthopedic doctor explained it to me was that toddler's bones are like clay in a sense. Instead of breaking or splitting, they just bend and deform, and that's what happened. He said the most common type of injury for this age group happens on the slide. He also explained to me why toddlers don't get sprains (very rarely it does happen, but not in our case). Apparently the muscles and ligaments are stronger than the bones at this age, so the bone will bend before a muscle will pull or tear. Soooo.... with the diagnosis comes the treatment, right? Nope, doctor said it would heal itself and we didn't need to do anything. His exact words were, "The leg will heal the same whether I put a cast on it or a band-aid on it!" The only reason he puts casts on any kids with this same injury is when the day-cares won't allow them back in school without protection. Kaleb will start school in two and a half weeks, but he should at least be walking by then. Doc said that typically, he should start walking 7-10 days after the injury, limp for a couple of days to a couple of weeks, and then be back to normal at 3-4 weeks out. We are now at 7 days out and Kaleb can stand up on his own and yesterday even limped a couple of steps while holding on to the wagon and ottomon. He's a tough and very strong-willed little boy, so even though you can tell it's still sore, but we're hopeful for a quick and full recovery very soon!

Kaleb's Foot/Leg Injury

Last Thursday morning while up in Granbury to visit baby Jaxon, we took Kaleb to the park in DeCordova to play on the playground. Everything was going great and Kaleb was having a blast, until.... Kaleb wanted to go down the slide on Mama's lap. We started to slide and Kaleb's left foot got caught between my leg and the slide and twisted back somehow. He started screaming! We held him and check him out for a couple of minutes and he wouldn't calm down. We took him back to the house to ice it down and figure out what we were going to do. He wouldn't bear any weight on it at all. After he sat on my lap for an hour, we decided that was not Kaleb at all and we needed to get him to a doctor. So we loaded up in the car to head to the urgent care clinic...
the foot... We went to an urgent care clinic and started signing in when the receptionist saw we had insurance and suggested we go next door to Dr. Lee who would take our insurance. It was a good move! Dr. Lee and his nurses loved Kaleb! Here he is in the room waiting to see the doctor...

It's crazy that at his age already, Kaleb can tell you how he got hurt!

So we saw the doctor, he examined Kaleb's foot, and he told us it was very unlikely a broken bone because there was no swelling or bruising. But just to be safe, we got some x-rays done. Here's Kaleb eating his lollipop from Dr. Lee while waiting to get the x-rays done.

and here it is... Nothing was found to be broken based on the films we had done.

So we got some lunch and headed home with a very grumpy, tired baby...

After his nap, Kaleb still would not bear any weight on his foot, so we had to find other ways to occupy his time...

Look at these two fishes! They had a blast! (Kaleb stayed off the slide)

So, figuring we were in the clear and Kaleb just had a sprain to recover from, Kevin and I went ahead on our trip to New Braunfels for the weekend. We figured it may be easier for Mimi to take care of Kaleb since she wouldn't have to chase him around everywhere! Well, Mr. Kaleb became very bossy! He will scream for you to pick him and just point in a direction he likes and yell "That way!" That's all day long. So although Mimi didn't have to chase him, she had to follow his orders and carry around this 30 pounder all day! Thanks Mimi for the weekend! So I headed back up to Granbury on Sunday night and we went out to eat at Babe's. Here he is (still not walking)...

Then Sunday night we took him to feed the ducks...

Dr. Lee had told us that if we didn't see improvement by Monday to follow up with our Pediatrician, Dr. M, so that's what we did. I called Monday morning to get some information and the Doctor said that she wanted to see him. We went in Monday afternoon and Dr. M was definitely concerned and said that not bearing weight on one leg for four days was very unusual. She suggested we get x-rays further up the leg to see if there was something we didn't catch on the first ones. So, we left there and went to get more x-rays! We're becoming pros at this already! Here's the leg... everything looks fine!

But everything is not fine. Kaleb has not walked in six days and if you know Kaleb at all, there's no way he could fake it this long! Every once in a while he will attempt to put some weight on it and you can just hear the pain in his cry. Dr. M finally called this evening and referred us to a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon who we are going to see at 8am. We're relieved to see a specialist, scared not knowing what is going on, and upset about all the pain and frustration he's experiencing! I've googled and searched everywhere to see what others say, and a lot of what I read say that toddler fractures aren't often caught in x-rays until a couple of weeks later. Hopefully we will get some solid answers or at least some way to help him tomorrow!

Welcome Jaxon Kale Bernat!

Uncle Kasey and Aunt Katie are now the proud parents of little Jaxon who was born on Monday, July 20, 2009 at 12:33pm. He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.

You can see more pictures at http://kaseyandkatie.blogspot.com/ .

a little crabby...

This story actually begins a couple of weeks ago when we took Kaleb on his first crabbing trip down in Orange. I kept telling him about the crabs and that they pinch and showing him how the crabs pinch. He was scared to death of the first real crab he saw. Would have nothing to do with them. It actually surprised us since he's not scared of much at all. So, tonight we went out to eat at Red Lobster. Kevin got a seafood platter with lobster and crab. Kaleb wasn't paying much attention until I showed him the crab claw on Kevins plate. He freaked out!

the past few weeks...

We've been pretty busy over the past few weeks around here. At the end of June we spent some time working around the house a little to get it ready to sell. Here's Kaleb helping out with the mulch... He put those gloves on all by himself!
Our realtor came to take pictures on Friday, June 26th, and we decided to go ahead and put it on the market that day. We figured we'd show the house for a couple of months and just see what would happen. Little did we know, we would get an offer on it three hours later for full asking price! We've signed a contract, but the buyer is still in her option period, so nothing is done until it's done. (but it's pretty much done!)

You can check out the listing here...
http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=69570316&backButton=Y&Address=1347%20Gardenia%20Dr

After getting that shocking news, we decided to take a little family trip down to Orange, TX. I took both of my boys crabbing for the first time! No pictures either! :( We were just too busy pulling in those crabs. After crabbing, Kaleb decided to help Grandpa David mow the yard! He did not want to get off. When Grandpa David came in the house later to get some lunch, Kaleb grabbed his hand, pulled on him, and told him "go!" He was ready to go again!
Fourth of July weekend, we headed up to Lake Granbury! On the way up there, Kaleb was introduced to headphones! Mama's heard "wheels" (Wheels on the Bus) a few too many times.

Here's Kaleb and Dada at the lake house playing "ashes" (Ring around the Rosie) in the swimming pool...

then taking a ride on the jet ski...

Kevin and I took a little ride on the boat as well...

Kevin wakeboarding...

Brandy kneeboarding...

Saturday night, we went into downtown Granbury to watch the fireworks. Here's Kaleb playing in the truck waiting for the show...

We headed home Sunday and have had a busy week once again with swim lessons and The Little Gym. Kaleb has loved his swim lessons and has been the showoff in his class. Takes after his Mommy I guess! Loves to jump in, go under, kick his feet, and reach, reach, reach! We don't have much planned the next few weeks. Besides moving if this sale goes through!