Elsie, our little stunt girl

From about the first day Elsie started walking, we said she was going to be a stunt woman and/or break something, as she would climb on and jump off just about everything. Well, last week, on Friday, March 25th she proved us right on one account. She climbed on to the top of the back of the couch, only to fall over head first onto our hard wood floors. She kept crying and complaining that her neck hurt and later her shoulder, but she was able to turn her head in all four directions, so we figured it was just a pulled muscle. The next day she was still complaining, so I told Wayne I wanted to take her to urgent care just to rule out any major injuries, even though I still didn't think it was much of anything. The doctor did think something was wrong and decided to order x-rays for her, which showed that she had broken her collar bone! Boy, did I feel like the worst mom ever. We were referred to an Orthopedic Surgeon and I just kept thinking of all the worst possible things. One, that she was going to have to have surgery to repair the bones. I was super glad to find out that she only has to wear a sling for the next 4-6 weeks and that the collar bone is the most common broken bone in children. Keeping our little stunt girl calm and off of things has proven to be quite the challenge for her parents. We are constantly on her tail telling her to get off of things. Oy! You would never know she had been crying in pain not too long before this picture was taken. Guess it is true, Lollipops are the magic cure all!

The day after seeing the Orthopedic Surgeon, Elsie was once again injured. This time she was standing on top of a toy drum, only to slip off and slam her face into the back corner of our couch. What is up with our couches? This time she hit her tooth, pushing is back some and into her tongue. The tongue has a large hole in it, along with a couple of lacerations. This time I freaked out a bit and called a couple of friends who work in the dental field to ask about the tooth and what we should do (I didn't know about the tongue yet). They said to watch for a bubble to form or for any color changes in the tooth. If that happened, to call the dentist.

Then, about an hour later, Elsie lets me know her tongue hurts and that is when I see the hole and two flaps. Oh my, here we go again! I call my mom at her bible study to ask her opinion and to have her ask one of her friends there, who also happens to be a doctor, what I should do. Their answer (and Google) was nothing could be done. Luckily, by the next day and after some baby orajel, Elsie was back to her old self once again.

Of course, she still hadn't learned her lesson about falling and getting hurt, because this is what I saw after coming out of the kitchen. Elsie in her sling, with a swollen mouth and skating across the living room floor! I have a feeling, she and I will be seeing the doctor alot before her 18th birthday.