Braces

Well, It's been a long time since I've updated... We've been busy.  Summer has been a blast so far.  

Owen is doing really well.  Walking more and more every day.  He has been experimenting with putting his arms down when he walks instead of waving above his head for balance.  He walks a lot more around the house.  And seems to test the limits of his abilities a little more every day.  

For example, we went to the play place at the mall last week and Owen asked me to help him get on the bridge several times.  By the third time he could do it himself.  (click here for video) Same for getting in and out of the plaly boat at Jefferson Pointe yesterday.  He had grandma help him a few times, then he figured out how to do it on his own.  Carrie says he is "such a motor kid".  And he is.  He is so motivated to MOVE.  That determination gets him in trouble sometimes, but it will serve him well in the long run.

Here is a link to my blog with some footage I took of Owen walking in the church lobby during VBS last week: Click here

In other news... We are casting for new braces today with Carrie(hopefully).  He is outgrowing his red ones already!  And we've decided to go with a different kind of brace that might give him a chance at strengthening what little dorsiflexion he has in his ankles. 

In other words, they would allow him to bend his ankle slightly. Right now his braces are ridgid.  They give him the support he desprately needs, but don't allow him to bend.  These knew braces have the option of being sent back and made ridgid like his current AFO's, but we both feel now is the time to give it a try.

He may end up crouching more or and will likely fall more frequently at first, but our hope is that he will be able to adjust and use new muscles.  He may not have that ability, but it is worth a try.  We know he had/has a TINY (and I mean tiny) bit of ability to move his foot up and down.  And one foot can do it better than the other.  But it would be a shame if he has some funtion there and we never give him the chance to strengthen it.  (He's in his braces pretty much every waking hour.  We put them on first thing in the morning and take them off at bedtime.)

Basically, if he could use this new type of brace it would benefit his walking and this gate down the road.  It would be more natural.  (You try walking or running without ever bending your foot or ankle! Yeah, it's hard.)

Also, we have a Craniofacial Clinic day coming up this Monday, July 6. I called about 2 of his teeth that seem discolored and all around weird.  Not sure if they have cavities or are calcified or what.  They are the two that came through the bone graft I think.  I am betting these issues are cleft-related, not just poor dental care on my part.

So we will see what they say.  I hope he won't need a filling or something.  I really don't want to hold him down and have them force his mouth open and stuff.  Although, I guess I should just pray for patience and courage for him, cause he's gonna have to deal with teeth stuff a lot.  We'll see.  I imagine nothing would be done that day anyway.  Who knows! 

We'll also see Plastics, Oral Surg, and Speech while there!

Thanks as always for checking in on us!