What do your kids do when they visit their grandparents? Go outside on the swing? Play board games? Ride their bikes? My girls plot and plan new ways to give their mama a heart attack!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Evans C/O 2010
My little brother graduated Evans High School yesterday! I'm so proud of him. He got College Prep with distinction, Technical Prep, National Vocational Technical Honor Society and Beta seals on his diploma! Way to go Benjamin!
Here are some pics.
Here are some pics.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Casting
Today went well. Everyone at the office was super sweet and LJ enjoyed the whole experience. They marked some areas on his legs and feet with a blue pen (probably his favorite part of the whole thing) and then put a sock over his leg. Then Ms. Jackie started wrapping his legs up. She did one at a time. It didn't take but a couple minutes for it to dry and she cut it off. He was a champ...he sat very still and only asked 100 questions. hehe
Here are some pics of our casting adventure.
Waiting in the car before the appointment. We got there almost 30 minutes early!
LJ just being LJ while we waited on Ms. Jackie to come in and cast him.
Sitting in Daddy's lap after Ms. Jackie made her blue marks. This pic shows the sock on his foot and the plastic tube is put under there so no slips of the knife are made when cutting the cast off.
This is after the first wrap. The stretchy wrap helps position his foot like they want it.
This the the second wrap. This wrap isn't stretchy and it helps it all dry solid and in place for the mold.
Cutting it off. Really high tech here with the box cutter.
This is what the mold looked like. I didn't get a pic of both of them...they're the same..you get the idea.
You can see the pic of different prints in the background. Those are the girly option. The boy options were awful. Trains and planes, american flags and some horrid camo print (that I'm not sure could even be defined as camo). We went with clear to make them less noticeable and we let LJ pick the color straps he wanted. He chose blue straps. You can see the AFO in the background too. This is what his will look like (minus the ugly print). We go back on June 9 to get them.
Here are some pics of our casting adventure.
Waiting in the car before the appointment. We got there almost 30 minutes early!
LJ just being LJ while we waited on Ms. Jackie to come in and cast him.
Sitting in Daddy's lap after Ms. Jackie made her blue marks. This pic shows the sock on his foot and the plastic tube is put under there so no slips of the knife are made when cutting the cast off.
This is after the first wrap. The stretchy wrap helps position his foot like they want it.
This the the second wrap. This wrap isn't stretchy and it helps it all dry solid and in place for the mold.
Cutting it off. Really high tech here with the box cutter.
This is what the mold looked like. I didn't get a pic of both of them...they're the same..you get the idea.
You can see the pic of different prints in the background. Those are the girly option. The boy options were awful. Trains and planes, american flags and some horrid camo print (that I'm not sure could even be defined as camo). We went with clear to make them less noticeable and we let LJ pick the color straps he wanted. He chose blue straps. You can see the AFO in the background too. This is what his will look like (minus the ugly print). We go back on June 9 to get them.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
AFOs
What are AFOs? Ankle-Foot Orthotics. LJ started seeing a physical therapy (in addition to speech and occupational therapies). At our second visit, the PT recommended AFOs for his legs. I was happy to hear that we're progressing to treatment that will fix his legs while he's still young. Joe is worried that people will pick on him so he's not so keen on the idea. I keep telling him that 4 years olds are a little young for picking on kids. Maybe I'm just naive but I don't think they will. I told Joe we'll tell LJ they're superhero legs...they make him run faster...or something goofy like that. We'll really talk them up and say how cool they are so he won't feel like there is something wrong with him.
The PT sent me this 4 page work up of her notes. Most of it I don't understand. Basically it explains that his range of motion is limited. His Achilles tendon is shortened because of his toe-walking and his calf muscles are very tight. His left leg is worse than his right leg. Maybe I'll sit down with dictionary.com and go through the letter looking up every other word so I can understand exactly what it says. LOL Or maybe I'll just ask my sister-in-law...she's an OT, she may know the terminology.
Our appointment for the casting process is tomorrow at 10am. I've showed LJ videos and pictures of other kids having their feel/legs cast. He doesn't seem worried about it or scared at all. He saw one picture of a girl writing all over hers while they were drying so he got excited. I think I'll pack a Sharpie marker just in case they let him write on it. :) They'll cast his foot, wait for it to dry, and then cut the cast off. Then they'll use that to make the AFO. We return on June 9 for delivery of the orthotic. They'll make adjustments if needed and then we'll see the PT for our regular visit.
Then the fun comes....shoe shopping. (Where's the running like mad away from the insanity smiley?) Shoe shop with LJ is already a difficult task. Not we'll not only be accommodating his fat foot, but also the AFO. I just hope we'll be able to find regular shoes in a size larger and not have to look at orthotic shoes. They are okay but they LOOK like orthotic shoes in my opinion. LJ prefers Sketchers! Hehe I swear that kid can spot Sketchers a mile away. When did my 4 year old learn brand preference? Silly boy.
I'll update tomorrow with some pictures. Joe thinks I'm crazy but I told him I wanted to take some photos of the casting process. He said it's not something to remember and I tried to explain (once again) that unless someone tells LJ that this is a bad thing, then he'll never know any different. He'll just know it's something that'll help him walk better...and he'll be glad for it. When I said something about LJ being "special needs" Joe quickly piped up and said "LJ isn't special needs" to which I responded that yes, he was special needs. Any person with a special need is a special needs person. Which makes all 3 of my children fit that category. LJ with sensory processing disorder, Trinity with ADHD and asthma and Alyssa with asthma. And I said again that unless we make him think that means something is WRONG with him, then he'll never know he's any different than other kids. Heck, most people already blow off this SPD stuff and say "He's just being a boy"
Off to give my crazy man a bath and get him ready for bed. I've got a bag packed for him to keep him busy during our (at least) 1 hr. appointment tomorrow. I hope he finds this all cool and exciting but we'll have the "busy bag" just in case he gets bored.
The PT sent me this 4 page work up of her notes. Most of it I don't understand. Basically it explains that his range of motion is limited. His Achilles tendon is shortened because of his toe-walking and his calf muscles are very tight. His left leg is worse than his right leg. Maybe I'll sit down with dictionary.com and go through the letter looking up every other word so I can understand exactly what it says. LOL Or maybe I'll just ask my sister-in-law...she's an OT, she may know the terminology.
Our appointment for the casting process is tomorrow at 10am. I've showed LJ videos and pictures of other kids having their feel/legs cast. He doesn't seem worried about it or scared at all. He saw one picture of a girl writing all over hers while they were drying so he got excited. I think I'll pack a Sharpie marker just in case they let him write on it. :) They'll cast his foot, wait for it to dry, and then cut the cast off. Then they'll use that to make the AFO. We return on June 9 for delivery of the orthotic. They'll make adjustments if needed and then we'll see the PT for our regular visit.
Then the fun comes....shoe shopping. (Where's the running like mad away from the insanity smiley?) Shoe shop with LJ is already a difficult task. Not we'll not only be accommodating his fat foot, but also the AFO. I just hope we'll be able to find regular shoes in a size larger and not have to look at orthotic shoes. They are okay but they LOOK like orthotic shoes in my opinion. LJ prefers Sketchers! Hehe I swear that kid can spot Sketchers a mile away. When did my 4 year old learn brand preference? Silly boy.
I'll update tomorrow with some pictures. Joe thinks I'm crazy but I told him I wanted to take some photos of the casting process. He said it's not something to remember and I tried to explain (once again) that unless someone tells LJ that this is a bad thing, then he'll never know any different. He'll just know it's something that'll help him walk better...and he'll be glad for it. When I said something about LJ being "special needs" Joe quickly piped up and said "LJ isn't special needs" to which I responded that yes, he was special needs. Any person with a special need is a special needs person. Which makes all 3 of my children fit that category. LJ with sensory processing disorder, Trinity with ADHD and asthma and Alyssa with asthma. And I said again that unless we make him think that means something is WRONG with him, then he'll never know he's any different than other kids. Heck, most people already blow off this SPD stuff and say "He's just being a boy"
Off to give my crazy man a bath and get him ready for bed. I've got a bag packed for him to keep him busy during our (at least) 1 hr. appointment tomorrow. I hope he finds this all cool and exciting but we'll have the "busy bag" just in case he gets bored.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Mother's Day
Nana and the kids
Granny and the kids
The kids playing on the golfcart
And my mother's day gifts from the girls
From Trinity
From Alyssa
From both girls together
Granny and the kids
The kids playing on the golfcart
And my mother's day gifts from the girls
From Trinity
From Alyssa
From both girls together
Happy Mother's Day
I woke up to gifts and flowers from the girls. It was very sweet. I even got breakfast in bed (well, the couch).
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