My baby's in a cast

Rachel broke the Drew/Lisa record for a cast-less life.

On Saturday morning she complained that her left knee hurt, but as is usual with me (and the way I was brought up), I minimized her distress. We didn't even give her any Tylenol. She and Drew went to tumbling class and swimming and the farmer's market while I stayed home and did some freelance writing. When they got back Drew said she'd had trouble with tumbling but it didn't register with me; she went down for a nap and I went for a walk with my good friend Julie.

When we got back Rachel was curled against Drew's shoulder, holding her stuffed puppy Spot and looking sad. He said they'd gone to the playground nearby and she couldn't play because her knee was still bothering her. More Tylenol, dinner and then Drew and I left her with my tenant Craig and his girlfriend, Brenna, who had generously offered to babysit Rachel for free while we had a night to ourselves. Before we left I told Rachel we would have a playdate with her friend Lila at the "playplace," which is a great indoor play park that just opened in the Pearl District. "I think in the morning my knee will be better," she said.

Well, it wasn't. Rachel got upset when I told her to walk from the toilet to the toilet-paper dispenser (two steps) and I winced when I saw her knee give out. ("I'm telling Daddy that you made me walk," she said accusingly; Drew has been carrying her everywhere since Saturday). We canceled the playdate and Drew took Rachel to the urgent care clinic while I worked at home. They got back about 45 minutes ago. Bottom line: The doctors took X-rays but couldn't find anything wrong. They told Drew that in kids there is a lot of undeveloped "stuff" around their knees, like soft tissue or ligaments, that can get messed up. (There was no swelling or bruising around the knee). So they put her in a cast that largely immobilizes her leg. We can't get it wet, so that means sponge baths for the next few days. We'll bring her back on Wednesday and hopefully the cast will get cut off and she'll be feeling better. Drew will head to Seattle tomorrow unless daycare won't take her; then we'll have to switch off which tays to take off.

"I can't tell you how impressed I was that Rachel did what the doctors said," Drew said. "When she lay down on the X-ray table, she was really still." Drew said she got to see the X-ray photos of her knee ("that's my KNEE!" she said delightedly) and was otherwise remarkably cheerful. (It helped that we're reading the Madeline books and Drew told Rachel that she was like Madeline, who had to go to the doctor for her appendix).

When they got home Rachel was hungry so we hovered over her with challah and chicken. She went down quite willingly for a nap and after Drew got out of her bedroom he had this to say:

"Other kids could use this as an opportunity to really freak out; 'I've got this big thing on my leg, I don't get to go out and play,' but she's remarkably cooperative about it all," he noted before heading to the grocery store.

It's her mommy who's freaking out. I hate the thought of my baby in a cast. I know she'll get well, and everything will be fine, and her great attitude helps, but something in me just wants to cry.