Back on Top!

I'm so happy to report that Kaden's almost completely back to full pre-cast mobility. After weeks of struggling and playing flat on the floor, he woke up one morning with a determined look in his eyes. I took the photo above later that night, about three weeks ago, when he picked himself up to play with a favorite old toy. The smile speaks for itself -- he was so happy and proud to be vertical again. He's been getting stronger ever since. (Well, except for a scary little bout of croup that sent us to the hospital a few days ago, but that's passing now too, thank goodness!)

He's been working very hard in speech therapy and has begun attempting to sign things like "more" and "all done." Check out how straight his back is in the cast and how straight he's sitting in that chair! Yes, casting does have a bright side.
The iPad is still his favorite possession and I hate to admit it but he got more than his fair share of iPad time when he wasn't moving around so well. Here he is playing with it in his new bean bag chair.

You can't tell from the pictures but he gets a death grip on that thing and it's almost impossible to pry it out of his hands. My skinny boy becomes the Incredible Hulk when someone tries to take away his iPad. It's really cute and funny in a we-seriously-need-to-curtail-this-iPad-use kind of way.

And how's our little girl doing?

At her recent 6 month well-baby visit to the pediatrician, she measured well above the 50th percentile for both length and weight. She's a non-stop babbler who can (and often does) say "da-da-da" all day long.
Without a doubt, my favorite Sydney quality so far is her easy smile. She's just so happy and eager to show it that just about anything anybody does can bring out a smile or, if she's really loving it, a hearty laugh. No matter how hard or gloomy the day has been, she finds the happy and makes it better.

So, that's the update. We're back on top and planning to stay.