Jump Highers

We went to see Mr. Alan today to get our new orthotics.  They looked huge!  I guess that happens when you get them made once a year.

This first picture is of the top view.  You can't see the letters, but they say dafo.

This picture is of the bottom of the left foot.  You can see that the back 3/4 of the insert his molded in a hard plastic.  The white part is where Mr. Alan has customized it for Ayden Jane giving it extra support to keep her from pronating.

This last one is of the right foot.  You can see Mr. Alan had a lot of work to do on this one.

Mr. Alan also checked her knee and agrees there is a lot of laxity and poor tracking of her knee cap.  He measured Ayden Jane's knee for a knee brace.  AJ was so excited because she got to pick the color, purple of course.  I am excited to see the changes in her run over the course of the next month or so.  Even watching her on the swing tonight she was internally rotating that right leg something awful.

I am so thankful we have Mrs. Jen and Mr. Alan taking great care of her.  As new things pop up they handle them before they ever become big things.  AWESOME.

OT

When Ayden Jane was little her fine motor skills were good.  She could pick up even tiny things, she could twist and move things however they needed to go and she could even do a pretty good job of making the signs she needed at the time.  We basically just had PT with Jen who is also covered much of AJ's OT needs at the time in the area of sensory needs.

Through Ayden Jane's 3 yr old preschool year we started to see a divide in her OT skills compared with her peers.  Cutting was frustrating, holding a pencil even remotely correctly was hard, making the shapes she wanted to when drawing?  Impossible.  All this made AJ mostly just avoid these activities or at the least work on them for very short periods.  Enter an OT evaluation which led to her receiving OT from Mrs. Stella at the end of last school year.

I am excited that recently Ayden Jane has had more of an interest in being able to do these things.  I haven't pushed as I know we will be back in school soon and she will begin to work with Mrs. S again, but I have to admit I am really excited!  I guess I know that if AJ wants to do something bad enough she will make it happen.  Once the basic patterns are laid she will build on them over time.

Here's to the excitement of a new school year!

Crazy Right Side

Soooo much to catch up on with Ayden Jane.  For tonight, straightening out the right side.

Over the summer of barefoot fun, we have noticed some trouble with Ayden Jane's legs/posture.  She spent the summer out of her orthotics and did great at first.  We have made the trip to Mr. Alan to get her new inserts made and Jen was checking things out closely last Wed.  Basically, she feels that the right leg is internally rotating at the hip and AJ has gradually caused it to go far enough to change the track her patella is taking over her knee.  Great.

She had her stand in her old orthotics, taped up her leg, did some exercises... and started to turn on the muscles AJ has apparently been avoiding.  Ayden Jane's entire posture changed!  The shoulders were straight, the belly pulled back in, her hips were in a good position, her feet looked straight.  Wow.  I continue to be amazed how Jen can find the one thing that causes a host of posture issues!

The result?  On Monday when we take AJ to see Mr. Alan and get her new orthotics, he will check her out, measure her and make her a little knee brace for 'training'.  Jen thinks that she will not need it long and she will start taping her on Wed. before it ever comes, but she wants to protect those little knees from future issues.  I am looking forward to seeing the more athletic look to Ayden Jane's run return.

AJ has also had some very intermittent right eye strabismus.  We will see the eye doctor on Sept. 10.  I have no idea if there is any issue with her vision or if there is much you can do with something so intermittent.

The whole right side things is just so odd.  Since Ayden Jane was tiny and Jen started working with her, it was her left side that was always behind the right.  I guess she loves to keep us guessing!

Kayla Turns 19

Yes, as Ayden Jane prepares for 4 yr. old preschool, we are celebrating Kayla's 19th birthday!

It is hard to explain, but last year as we celebrated her birthday, she was preparing for her first year in college and still seemed as much a high school student as a college student.  I guess, it is that she seemed still more a kid than an adult.  As we pause today to wish Kayla a happy 19th, I have to admit that she is totally a college student and more an adult than a kid.  Those words hurt my heart and make so very proud all at the same time.

Kayla is filled with passion and compassion.  She has big plans and I have no doubt she will find an incredible path.  I enjoy hearing about the people and places that hold her heart and mind now.  I look forward to watching and listening as she continues to follow God's plan for her life.  It is such an exciting time.  The world is wide open.

I couldn't quite finish and post this on her birthday...  Looking at old pictures and things.  A life time and an instant all in one.  I just love this picture.  Mostly because it is pretty much how I remember her being when she was little. All smiles and always holding "Kayla baby".

Crazy Couch Kids

They're sort of fuzzy, but here's a couple fun pics from an average day.  Ayden Jane is always wrestling on someone!

This picture is of Ayden Jane's newest self imposed challenge.  She wants to start rollerskating.  So far we are sticking to the carpet (today was day 1).  It is an awful picture, but she is so stinkin' cute that it all evens out.

Adenoid Update

Well, we are now 5 days post adenoid removal.  Ayden Jane is doing great.  We have had some unexpected  things this week, but it is Ayden Jane so that is not surprising!

First up, fluid reduction.  I have been amazed at the amount of fluid that has come out of this kid.  For the first couple of nights we are talking 2 full pull-ups and getting up right away to go again in the morning.  That seems to have stopped and I don't see a big difference on the outside.

Next up?  Hearing.  I had no idea that Ayden Jane was not hearing very well.  I really thought that a lot of her asking us to repeat things was because she could not focus well.  This week has shown me that she just didn't hear us.  I don't think I have had to repeat myself all week!

Energy.  She has soooo much.  I can only guess that somehow the removal of the adenoids has her breathing better at night maybe plus the reduction of fluid/inflammation and the result is like getting a bump in gh.  She has outlasted her usual self at the beach and is amazingly able to fight sleep at this point.  (yes, there is good and bad in that!)  By this morning after such a crazy day of activity yesterday and staying up until nearly 10, I was joking that I wanted to ask Dr. White to but them back in!

I am looking forward to things leveling out in the next week and seeing what the true results will be.

National Champ

Well, here he is.  One happy boy!  I have a couple of great pictures of the whole team, but for blog use I think this covers it.  Noah is holding a National Championship trophy he helped win!  He had an amazing week with some amazing kids with unbelievable stories who embarked on an impossible mission and actually saw it come true.

Honestly, this could be the next feel good family film.  So awesome that Noah could be a part of it.  So proud of my boy for taking his talents, both on the soccer field and with people, and jumping into the unknown.  He headed on a trip to Chicago to play with kids he had never met who were from totally different backgrounds and were quite the underdogs.  A band of inner city kids from several different countries (Argentina, Mexico, Columbia, Somalia, Vietnam just to name a few) joined through and inner city ministry and a love of God and using soccer as a path to honor Him.

Congratulations Noah!