Little Buddy

Kids always seem to enjoy the things you would least expect, and this post is proof of that. We take an annual spring trip to the Florida Panhandle and have blogged about one of our favorite restaurants, Stinky’s.

Mr. Handsome and I adore the crayfish pie, catfish, grits, and Jambalaya, and both our boys will happily eat grilled or fried fish. But the food is not the highlight of the experience for our sons, as it was is us. When we went this spring, Little Buddy remembered visiting the restaurant one year earlier and knew exactly what he wanted to do: feed the turtles.

In fact, he asked if we could give the turtles our leftovers. We gently explained to him that we would like to save our food to eat for lunch the following day and that the restaurant had turtle food for purchase. The minute we were done with our food, he begged to go to the boardwalk around the back of the building, where the turtles were begging to receive their meal. What a great way for the restaurant to become a favorite eatery among children!

There were smaller painted turtles and huge softshell turtles, all racing to be the first to eat the food that we dropped in the water. Ever since the trip, all Little Buddy can talk about is feeding the turtles. And all we can talk about is our delicious meal.

Well, our family has officially experienced a broken bone. Two weeks ago, Little Buddy decided to attempt to jump down from a height of one-and-a-half feet. He is usually very sure-footed, but this time, his feet didn’t catch him. He fell right on his arm.

His initial crying stopped fairly quickly, and he said it was feeling a lot better. He slept great that night. Still, he had some limitations with the range of motion of his elbow, so we decided it would be best to get an X-ray. Our doctor recommended an urgent care facility.

The experience was less than great–neither urgent nor very caring–but I was thankful to have gotten an X-ray. According to the nurse practitioner, it looked completely fine and all Little Buddy needed to do was take Motrin and Tylenol while it healed. So we went home.

About six hours later, at 3:00 in the afternoon, I received a phone call from the same nurse practitioner. She had sent the X-ray to a radiologist, and he had determined that there was a sign of an elbow fracture. She referred us to an orthopedic doctor to have a full-arm cast put on.

I hung up feeling incredibly discouraged. Little Buddy was going to be so sad, especially after being told by the NP that his arm was fine. I called all the pediatric orthopedics in the area, and none of them could see us until the next day. Since the NP had been very confident that we would need a cast, I decided it would be best to have that taken care of quickly. I packed up both kids and headed to the Vanderbilt Children’s Emergency Room.

Expecting a long wait, I was shocked to find an empty waiting room. The entire process took less than four hours, which in my opinion isn’t bad for emergency care. We had a private room, so even Littlest Buddy was happy. Mr. Handsome came straight from work and brought us dinner and encouragement.

The staff took new X-rays, which revealed that Little Buddy had a very rare type of elbow fracture. The green circle in the photo below shows where the bone chipped off, and there is also a line going partway through the bone that shows the fracture. Even the medical student who stopped by our room to look at the X-ray was stumped and admitted that this was a situation that definitely called for the trained eye of an orthopedic doctor.

The ER doctor told that we would likely need a cast but that he wanted to consult with the orthopedic specialist. She came in, examined Little Buddy, and gave her diagnosis. Since the initial pain had disappeared and the only remaining issues were that he couldn’t do a full bicep curl or fully rotate his wrist (which is a function of the elbow, not the wrist), she didn’t do a cast. We were thrilled, and so was Little Buddy.

We were told to avoid any activities that could cause him to fall and to have him wear a sling when we went out so that other people wouldn’t bother his arm. Our follow-up appointment almost two weeks later showed that his body was beginning the process of growing new bone in the area. As long as he avoids high levels of activity for another four weeks, his arm should be fully healed. We are so grateful to the Lord.

Have you ever broken a bone? I broke my arm and leg (at different times) as a child. Mr. Handsome, surprisingly, hasn’t broken anything.

Many of you know that we plan to homeschool. This has been a joint goal of ours since we were married, as well as something that we both individually planned to do with our future children before we met. We both come from families where academics were considered very important, and we look forward to imparting that value to our children.

Little Buddy only recently turned four years old, which means he won’t start Kindergarten until August 2024. Last fall, we began doing a structured, daily school time each morning, and I am really proud of him for the progress he has made.

We started with a preschool curriculum that taught basic concepts like letter sounds and number recognition. Little Buddy finished that in a few short months and was ready to start Kindergarten reading and math in January. Because of his age, we are taking the slow and steady approach. If I had to guess, I would expect us to finish up by the end of 2023. After that, we will add additional curriculum, but for now, my primary focus is on developing his reading and math skills.

We also practice handwriting (a combination of tracing letters and words and writing some on his own). For history and science, I check out non-fiction picture books from the library. He and Mr. Handsome share a love for learning about science topics and historical figures. We also read excerpts from various children’s Bibles and learn Bible verses together.

Some people worry that homeschooled children do not have enough socialization with peers. For us, socialization has been the easiest part of homeschooling. We have been heavily involved in a community play group since Little Buddy was born, so we get together with other moms and kids of various ages multiple times a week. We also do play dates with individual families and regular meet-ups with our homeschool group, so we often have more opportunities for socialization than we can fit into the schedule.

Our winter has been mild here in Tennessee. Aside from a spell of bitter cold and two ice storms, which are common in our part of the country, the weather has been moderate. I would say that our average daytime highs have been in the low 50s. with some days reaching into the 60s and even 70s.

Knowing that it won’t be long before we are desperately trying to escape the sweltering heat of summer, we are spending as much time outside as we can. Little Buddy received a battery powered rocket from his great-grandmother for Christmas, and he loves going to the park to launch it. The battery charges for just 30 minutes and allows for about 10 launches. According to the box, it goes up to 200 feet in the air. He really enjoys watching it, and we do, too.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Mr. Handsome was sick over Christmas, but we were able to spend time with family after he recovered. One of the highlights of the season for Little Buddy was ice skating. It was his first time, and he picked it up surprisingly quickly. Daddy held onto him most of the time, but by the end, he was eager to break away and try it on his own (with help from an ice walker).

How did you celebrate the holidays?

A story from Mr. Handsome…

Little Buddy’s favorite thing about one of our Bible studies is that the family that hosts it has scooters. We had finished studying, and it was getting dark, so I told Little Buddy that we had to put the scooters away and go home. He informed me that he did not want to leave and began making a scene, thoroughly embarrassing me in front of our friends. 

As we were getting into the car, I told Little Buddy that it was not appropriate to say no to Daddy. I told him that when Daddy says it’s time to go, he needs to say yes. He responded, “I didn’t say no.” 

“Yes you did,” I replied. 

“No, Daddy. I said ‘I don’t want to go.’ I didn’t say ‘no.’”

So I thought back to the incident and realized that technically he had not said no. I couldn’t decide if I should be annoyed at him for being a smarty pants or proud at how intelligent he is for his age (not yet four years old). I’m starting to think that he’s already smarter than me, which I was hoping wouldn’t happen at least until his teenage years. 

Little Buddy is still as busy as ever but is becoming increasingly interested in learning about the world around him. A couple months ago, he randomly said to me, “When I was in the car with Daddy yesterday, he told me about something that helps you talk from far away, but I forgot what it was called.” Turns out that Mr. Handsome had told him about the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell. I was highly impressed that my three-and-a-half-year-old had remembered the conversation. 

“Can I meet Alexander Graham Bell?” he asked us. So of course we had to tell him that Bell died a long time ago and we therefore couldn’t meet him. (Coincidentally, August 2nd marks 100 years since Bell’s death.)

“I’m so sad!” Little Buddy replied with a frown. “Alexander Graham Bell is dead!” It was all we could do to hold back laughter.

A few days later, while we were in the car, Little Buddy again told me that he was “sad about Graham Bell.” Then he asked me who Mr. Handsome’s grandma’s mommy is, so I took the opportunity to tell him about his great-great grandmother. “Are we going to see Alexander Graham Bell and Great-Great Grandma someday when we go to heaven?” he questioned.

Today I asked Little Buddy if he remembered what Alexander Graham Bell invented. He said, very thoughtfully, “I heard about him from Daddy. Something to help you talk…the phone!”

Hope that little saga made you smile. Happy Friday!

Oh the dilemma of toddler socks! They are a surprisingly expensive necessity that can be quite a pain. Keeping track of them is such a chore, and they are constantly getting holes or being grown out of.

A short while ago, we were at a family wedding, and my sister-in-law asked if I had any extra white dress socks that her 24-month-old son could borrow. I am ashamed, and also amused, to report that that was the first time I had considered the possibility of buying dress socks for my toddler. I have always purchased colorful socks with fun patterns and characters, and that was what I was planning on having him wear for the wedding. His dress pants would cover them anyways. But apparently some parents are so put together that they buy dress socks for their two-year-olds. Who knew?

Little Buddy happened to need new socks a couple weeks ago, so I decided to strike a compromise and buy some that are in between. Not quite dress socks, but also not the bright colors that he currently has.

So what are your opinions on toddler socks?

And if you are looking for a way to keep track of your kids’ socks in the wash, I have a solution. Buy one of those mesh laundry bags that are made for delicate items. It should be one foot by one foot, or a little smaller, and it needs to have a zipper. Keep it in your kids’ laundry basket, and put the socks directly in the mesh bag, instead of loose in the basket. Using this method, I have only lost a few socks in Little Buddy’s lifetime. Without my handy mesh, bag, I would be losing socks left and right.

From Mr. Handsome:

Do we have a paleontologist in the building? Little Buddy and I were walking by a creek and found a rock that looks like a fossil. It looks like a bone from a foot, perhaps a metatarsal bone. Could it be an ancient fossil? Maybe a dinosaur, or a gorilla, or maybe just a man with really big feet, like myself.

Maybe it’s from an extinct creature that we don’t even know about. In that case, since we discovered it we would get to name it, right? I just asked Little Buddy what he would name a dinosaur that he discovered, and he said he would call it “Washer.” I am thinking this dinosaur probably had fantastic hand washing technique.

Unfortunately, Little Buddy tried to play with the rock and broke it, but I’m still curious what it was, if anyone happens to know. Do you guys think it is a fossil? If so, what would you name the dinosaur?

From Mr. Handsome:

A couple weeks ago, Ellie was too busy to grocery shop, so she made a Walmart pickup order and asked me to retrieve it. It had been a long day, and I could sense that she would enjoy a break, so I asked Little Buddy if he wanted to come along.

He replied, “No, Daddy, I would rather stay with Mommy.” I tried to convince him how much fun it would be, but he was clearly not interested. Really wanting to give Ellie a break, I resorted to bribery. “Maybe we can stop for ice cream after going to Walmart,” I whispered in his ear.

That did the trick, and he jumped into the truck, shouting “Let’s go, let’s go!” After picking up the groceries, we stopped at Sonic. (I know, I’m so classy.) Little Buddy got his own kid-sized hot fudge Sundae. It was a beautiful spring evening, and we ate our ice cream at a table outside. As I was soaking in the moment with my son, he started getting cold. “Mommy would have brought me a sweatshirt,” he stated. I knew he was right, as Mommy is always prepared.

When we returned home, Little Buddy ran inside to tell Mommy about his adventures and his ice cream sundae. “It sounds like you had fun,” replied Ellie. I smiled and waited for Little Buddy to say how much he loves Daddy. Instead, he stated, matter-of-factly, “Well, I would have rather stayed home with you, Mommy.”

I guess I learned my lesson, bribes don’t work on my son, which I suppose is a good thing.