The "Guilt Ridden" and The "Gimp"

Let it be known to all that I am not proud of the contents of this blog. In fact, I type with a heavy heart. But, seeing as how this blog is dedicated to the life and times of Griffin Thomas Begley a.k.a., the "Finnster" I don't see that I have any other choice.

Today Finn fell down the stairs and hurt his ankle. Early this morning Finn and I were playing on the stairs. Finn would walk up a few stairs and then we would practice turning around and coming back down on our bottoms. For some reason I thought that it was important to teach Finn how to come down the stairs safely if he is ever faced with what you might call a "worst case scenario." Well, as Finn was attempting to turn around on the second step, his foot slipped and he fell. I grabbed an arm, but he still rolled down two steps and hit the hardwood. I have no idea how it happened, but he must have rolled his leg in some weird way. He of course cried a good deal and I rocked him until he fell asleep. When he woke up I noticed that he wasn't putting any weight on his left leg. He was having a really difficult time standing up and when he would finally get up he would lift his left foot off of the floor. I finally gave his little ankle a squeeze and he screamed in agony.

I immediately called the pediatrician and we brought Finn in. The pediatrician couldn't tell us a whole lot, but overall didn't seem too concerned. She said that in babies, swelling and bruising would take several, several hours to manifest. She also told us that even if he had an infant fracture, he probably wouldn't need a cast because he isn't weight bearing yet or walking. Regardless, she wrote us an order for an X-ray and told us to go to Vanderbilt if he wasn't walking by Monday.

As always, Finn had a great time at the Pediatrician's office.

He sat and read his Thumper book for the millionth time.

On the way home Finn found a better way to feed himself. He has really had a difficult drinking from a bottle while sitting upright. I was pretty impressed to see Finn's problem solving skills.


Next we went to Kroger to do our weekly grocery shopping. Finn was really happy until we got to the check out counter. In order to keep Finn happy, I took him over to the play house sitting next to the registers. While Michael checked out, Finn and I sat in the floor and played with the playhouse.

When we got home Finn took a nap while I prepared food for our dinner at MJ's house. After about an hour I heard Finn cry so I went to check on him. What I saw broke my heart. When Finn saw me he tried his hardest to stand up. However, his little ankle would not support him and he fell backwards into the crib and bumped his head. I have never felt so bad in my life. It is so hard to see him struggle with his leg. I realize that Finn has been through much worse, but at least I didn't cause or contribute to the skull surgery. This fall, in particular, was my all my fault and I feel sick about it. I have been praying all day that Finn will feel better in the morning.

As is always the case, life goes on. After the crib incident we got Finn dressed and went to have a cookout with Mom, Greg, Aunt Em, Zac and Coop. When we got there Finn played in Coop's play room. He really liked the talking Elmo and the vibrating elephant. During dinner Finn sat in Coop's high chair and ate little pieces of french fries.

After dinner we put Finn in the new outfit that Nana and Papa got for him. Then Coop let Finn borrow his lion.

In return Finn taught Coop how to abuse over the counter pain medications. It is important to keep pain meds around while nursing a bum ankle.




I was relieved to see that Finn was really starting to act like himself again. He was crawling around all over Em's living room and made several attempts to stand up. Before, he wouldn't even attempt to move. He still has some pain, but he seems to be feeling at least somewhat better.
When we got home Finn had a bath, some cereal and some Motrin. Michael gave him a bottle while I prepared sausage balls, hashbrown casserole and red velvet bars to take to brunch at the Begley's tomorrow.