Leea and her broken elbow

While going through our photos today, I found these of Leea with her broken elbow back on Sunday Jan 6 of this year. That morning around 7am she had climbed onto the piano bench in an attempt to get some tissues that she could have easily gotten from the floor. From our bed we heard a crash and then crying. I was eager to pick her up and comfort her, but Lincoln insisted on examining her on the floor first. He couldn't tell whether something was broken for sure, but he knew something wasn't right with her arm by the way she was holding it. They went to the ER and came back with the diagnosis of a broken elbow (or as Lincoln points out, a "nondisplaced nonangulated supracondylar fracture of the humerus"). She said she had fallen directly on her elbow. OUCH!!! It was hard to see anything on Leea's X-rays, but the orthopedist and the radiologist did confirm it looked like a fracture. It was a rough Sunday morning for her, but in a way it was a special experience for her and Lincoln to be together for all the hospital stuff, and she still loves the soft black teddy bear they gave her there.

The whole 5 weeks the splint was on, Leea was being such a great girl. In fact she's always been a toughy, but this time she really proved it. There was very little complaining and she didn't need any medication. We even got the hang of getting dressed fast.

That very same day was Leea's first day in Primary at church, and she also had her very first day of preschool the following day. I thought those distractions from her pain could only be good for her, plus there are always plenty of teachers at her preschool to take care of her.

The ER doctor had told Leea and Lincoln that the treatment for her arm would mainly be the splint and "ice cream," and she may have thought she really needed to eat ice cream so her arm could feel or heal better, but at the very least she picked up on a sly way to get a treat. One evening she insisted on another helping of ice cream, saying calmly and cleverly, "Mom, my elbow is still hurting - I need more ice cream." I figured that one out pretty fast.

In the photo below, Leea is trying to open the fridge with her left arm. It wouldn't open right away, so she tried to open it from a different angle and got caught up in her own body.

Leea had to learn to do everything with her left arm/hand. At the end of the 5 weeks she had mastered eating, coloring, etc. with both hands equally. She actually kept using her left hand for a while. After getting the splint off she couldn't bend her elbow all the way, but that has gradually resolved. We're grateful she recovered quickly from her injury and did so well throughout it all. Good job Leea, what a brave girl you are!

Star of the Week!

Every year the kids get to be the "star of the week" at preschool. It was Luca's turn last week. Since Luca was born in Germany I gave a little talk about Germany the first day and brought some traditional items the kids got to look at. Luca wore his favorite German soccer jersey, which unfortunately is getting too small. I'm happy how much he and Leea like Germany and keep asking when we get to visit next.

The next day was probably one of the best days ever for Luca: His crazybusy dad got off work for 1/2 hour (big thanks to his attending) to join us for a FUN show-and-tell and jam session. Luca loves to play the mandolin while Lincoln plays the guitar. It's one of their favorite things to do, when time allows. They like to get really creative and sing everything from church to preschool songs together.

Lincoln also enjoyed telling about his work in the hospital and sharing some health tips with the youngsters, encouraging them to eat their veggies, drink plenty of water, exercise daily and to stay away from cigarette smoke. He let them listen to their heart but later realized that his stethoscope bell was reversed. The kids heard their heart beat anyway! ;)

Here's a little video of some of their singing & playing together.


Good job on the performances! I love you, Luca & Lincoln! :)

The Parsley Dance

Our kids love to eat veggies and fruits, as well as some unusual healthy things. One of their latest favorites thanks to Lincoln is fresh parsley. If they spy a bag of parsley lying around, they ask to eat it right away. They especially like the crunchy stem. I'm really happy about this, since parsley is so beneficial. When Lincoln used to live in Ukraine, he'd buy bunches and bunches of parsley and eat it raw with most meals, just like the natives. Back when we were dating, we were separated for 3 months. I was still working as a nanny in Pittsburgh and he was working in Germany and Ukraine. When we finally met again, I gave him a bunch of parsley as a welcome present. Sort of like a bouquet of flowers. He really liked it and munched it all up on the way home.

I'm happy that we as parents can help the kids to make good diet choices.

Check out the kids' parsley dance video.

Our new rental home in Spokane, WA

We are so excited to have finally found and committed to a nice cute house that's large enough for our family and in a super location. We'll be within walking distance of not only the hospitals Lincoln will work in, but also a supermarket, a fantastic natural foods store (Huckleberry's), and two wonderful parks with playgrounds and beautiful gardens (Cannon Hill & Manito Parks). Even the downtown museums etc. are only 2 miles away. The house has 4+ bedrooms, a finished basement, tons of storage and a wonderful backyard. I'm especially excited about the updated kitchen and hardwood floors. The landlords are great to deal with, we ended up with a good price, and the neighborhood is very safe and quiet. What more can I ask for?