How to be popular

All you have to do (at least, if you're in second grade) is break your arm, get a cast, and let everyone sign it. For two days in a row now, we've had neighborhood girls knocking on our door wanting to tell Jackson how sorry they are that he broke his arm, and, of course, wanting to sign his cast.

Jackson broke his right arm when he fell down at recess a couple of days ago. He was soooo brave and tough about the whole thing. I probably wouldn't have taken him right in to see the doctor if I hadn't noticed his forearm sagging a bit strangely, because he didn't complain AT ALL. When the doctor examined his arm before taking x-rays, he asked Jackson to show him where it hurt, and Jackson pointed to where the doctor was holding his arm; the break was no where near there. Befor visiting the doctor, he calmly waited a couple of hours at home, ate lunch, did his homewrk with his left hand, and (see picture) enjoyed his time waiting at the doctor's office because he got to read.

Here he is waiting to get the x-ray. When I got out the camera, he said, "Do I have to smile?" Heh-heh. He was a good sport. He didn't even complain when the x-ray tech made him move his arm around to different angles for the shot. Did this NOT hurt or something??

Apparently, the break was a bit too much for our family practice doctor to handle, so he sent us next door to the orthopedic clinic to see a member of our former bishopric, Dr. Sumko.

On the left is the first set of x-rays. Even I can see THIS broken bone! On the right is the second set of x-rays, taken after the cast was put on. The doctor put the cast on, then molded the cast and set the bone at the same time. Ouch! He asked Jackson if he wanted a shot first so it wouldn't hurt so much, but Jackson declined. And he didn't even flinch when the doctor set the bone!!!! He must be super-human. Perhaps you can see in the second set of films that the bone didn't get set quite all the way. So we had to take off the first cast and try again.
This time when I got out the camera, Jackson decided he WANTED to smile for me. The thing is, while Jackson is smiling for the camera, the doctor is TOTURING Jackson by pressing on his break to set it (for the second time). Jackson hardly seems to notice pain, I guess. Here's the strange part. You know those little saws they use to cut off the cast? When the doctor used that on the first cast, Jackson fell apart and all but screamed in agony. But as far as I can tell, the saw never even touched his skin.

So here is cute Jackson with his new pal whose name is Slim. Slim matches the cast and likes to eat candy from doctors' offices.

And Jordan just keeps saying, "I wish I had a cast!"