Trucking along

Jack is doing well. He's working hard at therapy and showing improvements everyday. One thing we've noticed is that his gait is so much better after he's been stretched/massaged. He gets really tight and his limp worsens. So, we've been trying to do as much stretching and massaging as we can. I will say he's enjoying that :)

Here's a video of him walking today, it's a remarkable improvement!

Here's a couple of pictures from the Dells. As you can see, the boys had the time of their lives! They kept asking if we could move there. We had the park to ourselves and the boys and I did the water slides until my arms were so sore I couldn't carry Jack up the stairs to get to the top of the slide!

GREATEST invention ever. A baby swing suspended over the water. She loved it!

The boys started horseback riding lessons a few weeks ago. They love it. Their instructor said they were doing a great job, apparently horseback riding is a lot of work. They love it so much, they don't realize that part!

Max riding Red.

Jack, riding Red.

That's it for now! Will keep you posted!

We have a brace! And shoes!

After five trips to the orthotist (in six days) we finally have a brace and shoes that work. Not great, but they're functional.

The biggest challenge right now is Jack's knee is slightly contractured (bent) and his foot is slightly in plantar flexion (pointed). He's basically forced to walk slightly tip-toed on a bent knee. The therapists all agreed they did not want a brace/shoe combo that would flatten his foot out, that prevents the stretching that he needs in order to correct the problem. Unfortunately, it hurts for him to walk....which is a huge disapointment for all of us. We are hoping and praying that those mucles, tendons, and ligaments stretch soon! The PTs told us they hoped by the spring everything will be resolved....I can't bear to think of months of this, so I'm hoping by Christmas! I was worried that Jack would be disapointed that he needed a lift, but by the time we got everything figured out he was so tired of being at the orthotist's office that he didn't care what we were leaving with...he just wanted to leave! He is very frustrated with the discomfort and the limping (the limp is really bad, worse than before the lengthening). He told me yesterday when he grows up he's going to invent something that makes people flexible and muscles stretch. I think after all this kid has gone through, he just may grow and create world peace. We can hope, right? :)

Here's the shoe and brace.

And here's a video of him walking. We're going to to take weekly videos so that when this is all over we can watch the progression of his gait.

So that's where we are for now. A lot of hard work in the future, but he'll do it. The hardest part is behind us, I keep telling myself. We're looking forward to this weekend. Jon has a conference in the Wisconsin Dells and the kids and I are tagging along. We're looking forward to the Kalahari water park slides and Jack claims he'll be in the hot tub most of the time. What a nut.

Sneakers...coming soon!!

Jack is doing well. He is walking and running (and playing soccer!) on his leg. How he is doing that with that ridiculous brace is beyond me, but he's doing it. We've been strapping a sandal onto the brace and he's doing the best he can on it. Tomorrow we get to pick up his NEW FUNCTIONAL brace!!!!! We are all so excited. We're planning on sneaker shopping this weekend and then we have to go back to the orthotist with the brace and sneaker next week to see what's the best way to add a lift (onto the brace or onto the sneaker). So hopefully by this time next week, he's in a fully functional brace/sneaker combo!

The infection has healed. It was a real nasty one, and we were thrilled to see it gone. At aqua therapy on Monday, Jack was able to go into the hot tub (after 5 long months of watching the other kids wistfully). It was definitely the highlight of his week! Therapy is going well, it's a little challenging right now because the brace is so non-functional, but he really resists walking without it on. Nicki (the PT) has been doing lots of new stretching to address the muscle tightness in his calf muscle and his hips. Hopefully she can get those muscles loosened up and the contracture/tightness in his knee will go away.

The real exciting news around here is that the boys start horseback riding lessons today! We've debated putting Jack in therapeutic horseback riding for years. We recently revisited that idea and decided that he's in so much therapy already, let's do regular horseback riding lessons! We found a place that starts at age 4, so Max gets to go as well. They are so excited, I can't wait to watch them!

Here's some recent pictures. This was the first day he wore pants. He was so excited about looking like he had 2 equal-lengthed legs.

Cooperating for me.

Not cooperating for me.

Amelia started walking a few days after Jack had his cast off and he started walking. This is so funny because we've been saying since June that it was a contest between them who would walk first. I think it was very sweet of her to let her big brother win :)

She's also an ace at climbing. I'm thrilled about that.

And that's it for now. I know our updates aren't nearly as exciting as they used to be, so I appreciate you still checking in with us!