all by myself...

almost 3 months after the casts came off...

Well, we had our 1st "real" follow up/progress dr's appt in Minneapolis yesterday. Everything went well and Ethan showed his stuff off to the doctor and nurses. We saw lots of smiles from everyone and the doctor was impressed with where Ethan was at. There was still some concern about Ethan's crouch and bend but...as long as we can maintain and things don't get worse, we'll be okay. We go back in January and we'll see how he's doing whereby at that time we'll discuss new braces (hopefully shorter) and other ways to keep his hamstrings stretching with his growth. Outside of the dr's appt, we have seen confidence and happiness exuding from Ethan. He has walked up and down 25 steps by simply holding the railing vs. sliding down and crawling up. He has attempted to take independent steps and keeps trying to do more and more. For the most part, Ethan's walking full time with crutches now and unless he's feeling tired (or a tad bit lazy), he opts to walk. School is going well for all the kids. They have started playing Soccer with the HOPE Inc group and they are all gearing up for Halloween with costumes already purchased and ready to go. The boys are loving football this year and ironically Ethan is drawn to Tim Tebow and religiously cheers for the Jets...and now that his legs are healed up he's getting pretty good at Tebowing too. Connor is still hung up on his MN Vikings... and me...well, despite the ridicule, I'll forever be dedicated to my Cowboys, James just cheers for whoever and Ash--well she opts to not cheer for anyone as to a 7 yr old girl Football is dumb...(her words-not mine) Ahhh...life is fun... well to wrap it up...Our challenges are far from over but they are fewer now than they were 2 years ago. We are truly thankful for all of our blessings and thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. Until later, Lisa

Back to school

Well it's been a little bit since I've updated our site...I'm not sure where our summer went but I do know this...it went unbelievably fast! School seemed to have ended last week only to start up this week...wowzers! All 3 kiddos went back to school yesterday, ironically all of them were pretty excited. Ethan continues to knock everyone's socks off...while he uses his wheelchair for longer distances, he is also using his crutches to get around a good portion of the time. In therapy, he's been walking on a treadmill,going up and down steps, standing independently and a few days ago, he took one step on his own...the pride and smile that emitted from his face was priceless... Progress is a wonderful thing.

Ethan walking with crutches for the 1st time since surgery in May

Next steps and a crown...

Well today we finally get the casts off! Ethan is excited to be free of them but a tad apprehensive about the removal as the saw always scares the witts out of him. I'm excited too as once they are off, my smelly boy is getting a serious bath!
In other news, we got a call earlier this week asking us if Ethan would be interested in being the 2012 prince for the ND Shriner's Bowl in July. Ethan giggled with delight and said yes but with 2 stipulations... 1) that he doesn't have to hold the princess's hand 2) he doesn't have to talk... Give him a crown and immediately he gets demanding...watch out Prince Harry and William...you've got competition!

Let the Fun begin

Physical therapy Tuesday and Friday for the 1st time since surgery...Ethan was a little apprehensive but he did fabulous and by the time PT left on Tuesday, he had rolled over and had tummy crawled a little distance...of course he grumbled about it hurting but he did it with a smile too. Then he did it. For most, it wouldn't be a big deal but for me it was one of those 1st moments for mom...after rolling to his back...in the middle of the floor...without ANY help or support, Ethan sat up-legs extended-hands in his lap... So we fast forward to Thursday...he did some more rolling, tummy crawling but then...we went ups level...4 point crawling stance and hang on everyone...we stood at the couch...only for a moment but he was vertical and with oh so straight legs and so tall. Again he fussed some but all with a big grin so I have a feeling I'm being worked for some sympathy...
Overall we are doing well and very excited about our next steps... Well I better wrap up...
Until later,
Lisa