Raylon Harr's two-story fall and subsequent skull fracture didn't lessen his love of flying dinosaurs.

Shortly after the 3-year-old underwent emergency brain surgery on Thursday, he was paging through a picture book and accurately identifying the pterodactyls, his grandmother said.

"It's absolutely a miracle," Shawna Harr said.

Raylon was with his family as his mother, who is a housekeeper, and his father cleaned a vacant apartment near Redwood Road and 1200 North.

The window was opened to air out the apartment, and Raylon and his 2-year-old brother were playing with toys, Harr said.

Raylon's parents estimated they were out of the room for less than 45 seconds, Harr said.

In that time, Raylon pushed the screen out of the window, which was less than two feet off the floor, and he fell to the sidewalk below, Harr said. He was hospitalized in critical condition and has had surgeries to reconstruct his skull and remove a blood clot from his brain, Harr said.

"He has good days and bad days," Harr said. "He wears out so fast. He's in a lot of pain. He'll cry that his head hurts."

Immediately after the surgery, swelling impaired his vision, Harr said.

"He woke up and cried because it was dark and he couldn't open his eyes," she said.

Raylon remains hospitalized and will be recovering for weeks, Harr said. The family has opened an account at Wells Fargo Bank in Raylon's name.

"It's a slow process, and it's going to be a very expensive process," Harr said.

Raylon's father, Stephen Harr, served a year in an Army artillery unit in Iraq and returned last spring, Harr said. Since then he has worked as a server at a Red Lobster restaurant.

"Our family does what we can for each other," Shawna Harr said. "However, the bills associated with this accident will be more than what we can take care of alone."