Sad but cute!

On Friday I was getting ready for our Stake Primary activity that was the next morning, so I stopped by my parent's house in Pleasant Grove to grab a few things. Cooper had been a little bit fussy when we got there, but then quickly got down on the ground and starting scooting around and pulling himself up to things. He found a nesting doll he wanted to play with so I set him in the living room floor with it and continued talking with my mom in the kitchen, which is right next to the living room. The next thing I know I see Cooper trying to stand up on the floor right below the stairs that go upstairs and then sit back down pretty hard and started crying. I was pretty sure that Ian and Isaac had just run upstairs, so I figured maybe he was upset that they were gone. He knows how to crawl up the stairs, so I assumed he was just frustrated. It was time for him to eat, which he did so reluctantly, still a little bit fussy. After feeding him he was still crying and we could not figure out what was wrong with him! My mom took him outside for a few minutes, then for some reason I ended up sitting back down with him in front of the steps where he had started crying in the first place. He was still really upset, and I wondered if maybe he was constipated (he gets really upset sometimes when he is pooping!) or tired or teething...but this seemed different. I was holding him and seeing if he would stand up when I realized that he would not put any weight on his left leg! My mom (who is an RN) felt his lower leg and he did not like that at all. So we wrapped it up with an ace bandage and decided to watch him for a little bit and see what he did, since we could not figure out what had happened that would have hurt him...but he still continued to baby it, being careful while scooting and when he did pull himself up to standing, he was wobbly because he couldn't figure out how to stand with just one leg (He looked like a flamingo! It was kind of funny).
So Cooper and I headed for the BYU Health Center. Cooper was really in good spirits most of the time (luckily he slept for a few minutes on the ride there, since of course it was naptime by then). He smiled and waved to all the people there and was friendly with the doctor. He really didn't like the x-ray or when the doctor touched his leg. From the x-ray it looked like everything was okay. But when the doctor zoomed in she said there were two places she wondered about, but that the radiologist would have to look at them on Monday (ya love how these things always happen on the weekend...). She said it looked like a "buckle"; to me it looked like a small chip had come out of his leg in two places, about an inch about his ankle. So she said to keep it wrapped, give him Tylenol and bring him back on Monday to see the orthopedic specialist.

Cooper did pretty well all weekend. He was fussy (but also is teething; almost has his 7th and 8th tooth already!) but we kept him on the Ibuprofen and Tylenol, so we made it through. On Monday we saw the specialist (who had NO personality whatsoever! I made a joke and was met with silence. Nice.) who said that the radiologist read the x-ray as normal (weird) but that he thought it didn't look quite right and Cooper was definitely still sensitive there when the doctor messed with it. The doctor called it a toddler fracture. Children's bones are so elastic still that they usually are pretty resilient, so the doctor said he would have had to fall pretty hard for this to happen (still not sure how that happened...!) It is a simple fracture so it's not broken through or anything, but the cast should keep it stabilized so it could heal more easily and that if Cooper fell again or was played with too rough by his older brother (not that that ever happens!) he wouldn't injure it more.

Cooper didn't even seem to notice the cast at first. He was really good while they put it on and was more interested in his seatbelt in his car seat after we got in the car to leave, than the cast. Since then he plays with it some, but otherwise is playing and scooting around like normal. I've had couple people tell me that it's so sad to see him with the cast, but that it's also kind of cute. I have to agree. He will have it on for 3 weeks, which isn't too bad. The doctor said oftentimes little guys will scoot right out of it, so if we can keep it on at least 2 weeks, that would be good. We'll go back to the doctor in 3 weeks. The hardest part right now is sponge bathing him since it can't get wet. Mostly it's sad because Cooper LOVES baths so much and has been so cute splashing and playing in the water lately. So that is our most exciting news this week!
Still moving around--no problem! He was completely fascinated with Chris' tax book. More than Chris is, I'm sure.