Tappana Times: Fun in the Snow Fixes a Leg

January always starts out with us finishing off Christmas break. This year we went to the mountains with our friends, the Thompsons. We love going places with the Thompsons because they have all the right gear and know how to have a good time. With tubes, sleds, snow shovels, etc, we were set.

I haven't had that much fun in a LONG time.

First off, it was a joy to bring my pacific northwest children to some real snow. And it was so much closer than I realized! In only forty-five minutes, we were in a magical winter wonderland!

Second, the thrill of good sledding is a childhood must. And, sadly, my children have missed out. It was awesome watching them zoom down the hills. I missed having the fearlessness they naturally come with.

We dug routes, improved routes, reinforced turns, slicked down pathways, and tested our hills over and over again.

The Thompsons were the masterminds and we were only along for the fun of it, but boy did we love it!

Along with the fun, the kids also got to feel what it's like to get snow down your boots, or have toes so cold they ache and then burn until, finally, they go numb. There were a few tears shed, but the excitement usually helped them forget the cold limbs pretty fast.

Ammon lost his boot a couple times so his socks got wet and he was pretty uncomfortable, but it did not deter his rides down the hill.

Lydia stuck her wet hands back in her gloves which led to a lot of cold fingers. Luckily, we had the Thompson's thermos of home-made hot chocolate for a reprieve. Like I said, they were prepared. It wasn't until the trek back to the car when the cold and tired tears spilled down Lydia's cheeks unchecked.

I could have come back every day for a week to keep sledding and playing in the snow. The scenery is just so beautiful and it was just so fun. Unfortunately, Brigham, who doesn't do cold at all, had to go back to work so he wasn't available to watch our littles. And you couldn't pay me to take Kendrick and Ivy sledding. That would be the opposite of fun.

Once school got back in session, we enjoyed Lydia's end-of-winter-semester piano recital.

Lydia was hoping to play last, and when we got the schedule of performances she was scheduled as the finale. And she did amazing. I was trying not to burst my shirt buttons with pride. To hear this girl play is such a treasure. I'm so glad she loves the piano because she has skills that she can practice and hone. I had multiple comments about how the best was saved for last and how well Lydia played. I know I'm super biased as her mother, so I enjoyed hearing validation from others. It was a room full of talent that night, and Lydia was right there with them all.

It's a new year, and Ivy is also learning so many new things. She started scooting, eating new things and falling in love with veggie straws.

I came out of my room after getting ready one morning, expecting to see Ivy and Kendrick right where I had left them playing. Kendrick was still there, but I couldn't find Ivy anywhere. I searched the house thinking, How far can a baby scoot?! But in all the rooms I searched, I couldn't find her! I started calling her name pretty frantically, even though I knew she would never answer. It was like she disappeared into thin air!. On the brink of losing my cool, I stopped to think about where a nine-month-old could possibly escape to. Checking between the couch and wall, I discovered Ivy happily (and silently) playing. She could scoot herself in, but not back herself out, and she was just the right size to fit. It was her own little hideout. Behind the couch became a common area to find Ivy and I started putting pillows in the way to block her from getting stuck.

Ivy got more teeth, and she and Kendrick and I enjoyed our trio during the days.

Babies in bear suits rank among my top five favorite things, by the way.

One night, while at my parent's, Kendrick decided he didn't like Ammon being in his way on the stairs. So Kendrick pushed Ammon who then fell backward onto Kendrick's leg. Something wasn't right because Kendrick couldn't put weight on that leg.

We took Kendrick to the ER (he was terrified and made sure to tell anyone who was listening that he didn't want a shot!) and they did a few x-rays. It was pretty baffling because he could bend his leg, and move it. It didn't hurt when he just laid there, and nothing showed up on the x-rays. But when he went to put weight on it, his leg buckled and he cried with pain every time. The ER doctors were stumped. They agreed something was going on, but they didn't know what. So with a full-leg splint and a follow-up appointment scheduled with Kendrick's pediatrician, we went home.

Kendrick refused to put weight on his leg that whole week and follow up x-rays didn't do much to show anything. The splint also started to give him problems - his leg would go into painful spasms that weren't relieved until I took the splint off. After having Kendrick go without a splint for a couple days, and watching him closely, I realized that most of his issues were probably mental. I knew something had been wrong with his leg, but that it had probably healed because he was doing much better. He still refused to walk on it, but I thought it was because he was more afraid of the pain than something actually being seriously wrong. I was on a mission to turn things around.

That Monday it started snowing and Kendrick wanted to play outside in the snow with Lydia and Ammon so badly. I told Kendrick he could only play outside if he stood up. There was no way he could just go out and sit in the snow. He agreed, and after watching him stand in the snow for an hour, I knew he could handle weight on his leg. When he came back inside he tried to start crawling around again but I said, "No, remember your leg is better now. You can walk on it." And throughout the day I chanted, "Oh, your leg is better and you can walk now. That's great." His leg buckled a bit at first and he had a slight limp, but by the evening he was running around like nothing ever happened. Ha! We jumped that mental hurdle and, even better, canceled all future leg-related doctor appointments.

So the snow is good for some sledding AND for fixing a little boy's leg. Little did we know the amount of snow that would be in our lives this winter.