February 28, 2017 "New cables and shoes, 1st haircut"

Feb. 2- Rayden's cables broke again!! (8th time) This time the coil is broken so we are unable to fix them at home. We have come to the conclusion that the cables are now too short. Apparently Rayden has gone through a drastic growth spurt. Instead of bending at the hinge of the knee, the cable is bending at the coil. The funny thing is that he just got measured for new cables and casted for new AFO's last week! 

Feb. 4- Bob put a rush on his cables and decided to get a larger gauge in hopes that Rayden will not continue to break them over and over.

Feb. 11- A cute video to show how smart Rayden is.

Rayden has been asking us to cut his hair for a while now. It seems to be getting on his nerves. I was really worried about how he would act getting his very first haircut. We thought he would scream, cry, kick, and just throw a fit but MAN WERE WE WRONG!!!! He was absolutely perfect!! 

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

                       

Feb. 18- Rayden is now wearing his walker stoppers down to the metal!! I'm not going to complain though because that just means he must be walking a lot! Yippee!!

Feb. 19- First Finger Painting. I proudly hung the masterpiece in the kitchen.

Feb. 20- Rayden is the only child at our house so he gets a ton of attention. He loves to talk. Unfortunately he doesn't want anyone else to talk!! Here is a short video clip of how he continued to sing/hum while I was trying to tell Michael about my day. Rayden just didn't want to hear it.

Feb. 21- After only having this walker for two months, Rayden's balance is amazing. He can balance it on two wheels. We call him Evel Knievel (the professional daredevil) now. He actually says "Evel" when he does it.

Feb. 25- Although we had planned to get the new cables, AFO's and shoes at the same time, Rayden, of course, broke his cables and had to get them earlier this month. The new AFO's and shoes didn't come in as quickly so we had to go back to Wilmington. I must say, they were well worth the wait. Rayden has had numerous AFO's in the past molded by UNC orthodists and we have always had to adjust them one way or the other. (insert sticky pads, heel stoppers, cut plastic, etc.) These are the first pair he has ever had made by Atlantic Prosthetic Services in Wilmington (Mr. Bob) and they fit like a glove!!!!! I couldn't believe it. Rayden's left leg is significantly smaller than his right and we have always had to adjust for that, but not this time. They were molded perfectly to fit his feet and legs! Rayden has always had Superman AFO's but this time we decided to change it up. He got the traffic design. I really like them. His new little Surestep shoes are adorable. 

This is Rayden's first pair of 'actual' shoes. He has always just worn his AFO's with grips on the bottoms without shoes. Now that he is walking more he needs more support, not to mention how nasty his socks get when he walks outside.