Thursday, March 14, 2013

Standing for the first time!!!

Alex has been showing more interest in wanting to stand.
this is new for him.

He'll pull himself to his knees and says
"look momma, I standing"
so sweet.

We've talked the last couple years of whether we should pursue long leg braces.
but before now, he was so happy cruising along in his wheels
and honestly his trunk hasn't been strong enough to try braces.

We were also told that the braces can be pretty heavy, cumbersome
and that a lot of kids just don't like them. 

but here's this sweet little boy
telling me he wants to stand.

So Momma calls the doctor,
we get an appointment
we say lets just give these things a try
and the doctor agrees. 

I know someday he's going to want to kill me for these pics in his diaper
but.........

I'm just proud of what a champ he is!!!
smiles the whole time he's being casted.

Fast forward one week...

Here's our boy standing on his own two feet
for the very first time!
 He holds onto his Daddy for dear life at first
he does his nervous giggle
  but he's all smiles.
He shakes his head yes when I ask him if he likes them.
Nothing prepares you for the flood of emotions you feel
when you see your child standing for the first time.

I remember feeling that way about Nicholas.
something about those firsts.

But this is one of those firsts we really weren't sure we'd have.
It makes it just that much sweeter.

People have asked if he'll eventually be able to walk with these braces.
We don't know the answer.

When we first asked for these braces for Alex,
we just wanted to help him stand upright,
be eye level with his peers,
get closer to things to play, interact.
And also for health benefits, 
get his muscles/bones stronger.

Really anything else is just gravy.

But I saw my son in those braces,
I saw his face.
I think he can do pretty much anything!
We'll continue to take this road where-ever he wants to go. 

4 comments:

Cassie said...

Love it! I remember when Caleb got his first set of HKAFO's and I saw him standing up. It was awesome! So excited for your little man :)

Jill said...

SO EXCITING!!! So sweet. I can't wait to see what happens next!!

liz kulp said...

what took you so long to write this one?? I've been checking :) :)
do you think you'll be ok without the trunk componant? which orthotist do you have there? how awesome is that?? they told you about skin checks and weaning into it i'm sure ... right? how was day 2... did he still like them?

Holli said...

Ha, ha Liz. We don't even have them home yet. They wanted to make some adjustments, they are adding a shoe lift, and some more support for his bottom. we don't think he'll need extra trunk support but we'll have to see how it goes. we go for our final fitting next week and then hopefully bring them home :)