Happy Birthday to The Banana

Sunday birthdays are always a little hard, like school day birthdays. A lot goes on during the course of the average Sunday around here, and that means all the birthday loveliness gets squeezed in around the busy. The day started out with breakfast in the bathtub when exactly half of the kidlets in residence had showered and dressed for church. Due to the fact that the shower was wet and the four of them cannot exactly easily sit down in the bathtub anymore, they elected to stand.

I will take a minute to note that Mr. TOF’s gift to his sister was wearing the suit she likes best to church on her birthday.

Breakfast was The Banana’s favorite cereal (she got a box to herself) along with THE MILK. (THE MILK is whole, organic milk from a local dairy purchased in a glass bottle. It’s amazing. And expensive, so we only get it on special occasions.)

We squeezed in present opening right before we headed out to church.

After church we came home and made Swedish pancakes and waffles served with real whipping cream, and blackberries and strawberries. The Banana had to finish a bit of homework, and we were a bit behind on practicing violin because she and I went to a concert and out for ice cream on her Birthday Eve, so we had a short violin practice. The Banana called Grandma Robbie on the telephone, I baked a birthday cake, and in no time flat it was time to head to her choir rehearsal. We took a few pictures first.

While she and Mr. TOF were singing away at choir rehearsal, I finished the birthday cake and made a pasta salad, which was what she requested for the evening meal. I wasn’t having the best baking day, and I had to make a lot of weird changes to the cake recipe, but in the end it turned out pretty, and I believe it tasted quite delicious. The blackberries were a great addition to the super rich chocolate cake.

It wasn’t long before I was rushing out the door to pick up the singers from their rehearsal. The plan was to leave choir immediately to take The Banana to the last little bit of her soccer practice, which she really wanted to attend. By the time we got to soccer, there was only about 15 minutes of the practice left, but I dropped her off and drove to the COOP grocery store with Mr. TOF to purchase our weekly supply of milk and some special lavender soda that was a birthday request. Right as I was driving back into the parking lot of the middle school, The Banana’s soccer cleat got caught in the turf on the school field, and she rolled and cracked her ankle. NOT GOOD. She couldn’t walk at all. Her friend and I helped her hop back to the car and we quickly drove home to call Dr. Peds who was at work.

The Devious Snail and I helped her to the couch, and we took off her soccer shin guard and soccer sock. Her ankle literally looked like there was an enormous, spherical tennis ball attached to it, the swelling was so immense. NOT GOOD.

Dr. Peds came home from work after he was done taking care of his patient and looked at the ankle. He said the ER would just tell us to elevate and rest it, so the plan was to go to the doctor in the morning. The Banana is one tough cookie. She was in a lot of pain and shivering and utterly miserable, but she was most worried about missing school and other activities.

YaYa really wanted us to wait for her to get home from work before we had cake. She was bringing the ice cream. Since things were so mixed up, we decided we might as well just wait. I picked her up and arrived back home after 10:00 p.m. and by then the ibuprofen had kicked in and The Banana carefully made it to the table to have some birthday cake after all.

They took some X-rays the next day, but weren’t sure if her ankle was broken or badly sprained. Today we saw the orthopedic doctor who said the ankle was broken, and that the swelling was some of the most impressive she’s ever seen. The Banana came home with another lovely cast.

Same girl (but a lot taller!). Same crutches (ratcheted all the way up!). Same injured leg (as her broken foot in third grade).

Hopefully it’s a quick recovery.