(no subject)

[ljgeoff]

Luke is home today because he had an awful night, with pain in his knee and ankle. He's had this, on and off, since he was three or so -- pain in the middle of the night, usually in his knees and sometimes in his ankles. Sometimes massaging the joint is enough to get him back to sleep, and sometimes he needs a tylenol. He (and Sam) have hyperflexive joints, so he might be stressing them during play. Our doctor calls it "growing pains:"

The term 'growing pains' has been used for almost 200 years to refer to the often severe, generally bilateral lower-extremity nocturnal pains experienced by up to one-third of all children at some time during early childhood. No clear mechanism has yet been identified that explains these pains, but there is an increasing body of evidence indicating that several factors, individually or in combination, might be responsible for this phenomenon. These include mechanical factors, such as joint hypermobility and flat feet, decreased pain thresholds, reduced bone strength, and emotional factors involving the patient's family and other social stressors.

His joints aren't sore now, but he was up for hours, so I let him sleep in. This used to happen maybe once or twice a month, but it's been ages since the last time.

Now we're eating powdered donuts in bed. He's very funny and smart. Not too long ago, he was introduced to LOLcats, and he is ready to make some of his own -- but we can't find the camera. :(