Cast No More

Eli no longer has a cast, and it is not fun for him. He freaked at the saw and the sight of his crusty, dried leg. He held onto Huts tight, but eventually let go. I imagine he spent most of the day scooting around, but maybe not. He might have forgotten and tried walking a bit. If not today, then most definitely by the weekend. I can’t see him holding out much longer than that.

Chloe

Eli has been sleeping on a mattress in the floor in our bedroom since he broke his leg. For the most part, he is a good sleeper, falling asleep at a decent time and staying asleep. Occasionally, he wakes up to go to the bathroom or find out if it is time to get up. Some nights, he is a rowdy sleeper, moving around and talking a lot. Sometimes he shouts for someone to get away. Sometimes he shoos animals away. The other night, he told Chloe to put on her skirt. I had no idea who Chloe was until Huts told me she was the character on the TV show they watch every morning. Mystery solved!

Huts snores. I jump. Eli talks. Christian sleep walks. I have no idea what Tori does in her sleep.

A Week and A Half

Eli gets his cast off after Thanksgiving weekend, and hopefully, he will be back to his independent self in no time. He has gotten really lazy these past few weeks and accustomed to ordering us around. But that is going to come to an end real soon. We are hoping he adjusts fairly easily and starts doing things for himself again. He can be downright vicious when you misunderstand his wishes!

On another note, we are putting the Christmas stuff up next week. That should really fan the flames of Batman fever. He’s got a whole wishlist of Batman stuff, and he cannot wait for Christmas. Thanksgiving means nothing to him other than Christmas coming up afterwards. The thought of that brings out the Eli grin and handwringing!

Batman

For the longest time, Eli was hooked on Disney Pixar Cars. He has quite the collection of Mater, Lightning McQueen and the gang. He even has a Cars poster and comforter. He still likes them, but recently, he has gotten hooked on superheroes. It all started with some old Super Friends videos we had gotten for Christian a long time ago. Eli watched them, and suddenly, his world expanded. Christian’s old Batman stuff became his favorites, and we have spent many days playing Batman, Robin and the Joker. He has asked for a whole Batman city for Christmas, which Santa is slowly finding. Meanwhile, he is making up all kinds of games with Batman and even has the Batman voice down. The next time you see Eli, be sure to ask him about his Batman cast and his Batman voice.

Better

Eli has made progress in his recovery.  He got his blue cast off on Monday.  He did not like it at all!  They have not changed the cast cutting machine in a long time.  It is loud and scary looking, especially for a child.  He kept scooting away from the machine so I had to hold his leg in place so the cast could be cut off.  He screamed and cried the entire time.  He had me cover his face and ears so he couldn't hear it or see it.  Eventually he got it off.  When it came off, he still wasn't happy.  His knee and ankle were stiff and his skin was dry.  He didn't like it and kept complaining that it hurt.

I carried him into the x-ray room for x-rays and the doctor said everything looked good on those.  I took him back to the room and distracted him by playing dumb about batman characters and what they did.  It worked for the most part, but he was still impatient and "in pain".

The doctor came in and wasn't able to convince him that everything would be ok.  He got a stool for his foot and only put 2 bandages on this time.  He chose black so he could be like batman.  He loves it and is able to walk on it a little bit.  He was tentative for the first few days, but now he is ready to try anything.  I think he was more comfortable with his leg bent at the knee while walking.  Now it's kinda clumsy, especially with the cast being so slippery.  He has a walking boot with a rubber sole that helps on the tile.  Most of the time he scoots around on the tile floor and makes it wherever he wants to go.  In the not too distant future Eli will be able to beat the pants off of his 83-year-old grandpa in a foot race like he did this past summer!