Orthotics

Since Owen had a significant delay in walking, at 3 yrs old, he has weak muscle tone and a poor gait.  Over the last few months of Physical therapy, he has improved so much.  Unfortunately, he still pronates inward, so much that the outside of his foot doesn't make contact with the floor.  After a lot of discussion with Owen's PT, we decided that foot orthotics would be a good idea. 

We had an appointment with the orthotics specialist yesterday and Owen was so excited!!  We told Owen we were getting special shoes that will help him walk better.  When his muscles get stronger, he'll be able to jump, climb and run like a superhero.  He thought that was pretty great!   Owen was first evaluated and he had a pretty long "get to know you" conversation with the orthotic specialist.

We decided to go with the SFOs.  The orthotics will go just above his ankle bone to support his skinny ankles that roll in.  The new "shoes", as Owen calls them, will slide into his tennis shoes and they will provide all the support he needs.  After we decided on the right orthotic, it was time to get casts made of his feet so they can be custom fit.  Owen asked the specialist a million questions during the process.. questions I would have never thought of.

They make a real cast of his foot and mold it as it is drying.  It was pretty cool. 

After it was almost set, but still soft enough to cut, the cast was cut off his foot.

After that was done, it was time to get down to business.  Owen had to decide what pattern/design/color he wanted on his new orthotics.  Without hesitation, he decided to go with Spiderman.  He was holding a pair that were just made for another little guy.  These ones are huge compared to the size   Owen's will be.  His are going to be lower on the ankle and way smaller.  He is so excited to get his new "comfy spiderman shoes" as he calls them. 

Speaking of PT. This morning we spent an hour doing gymnastics! I can't even describe how much Owen loves it! I need to take some videos next week since we are starting twice a week sessions. This week we tried the "big gym" rather than just the preschool section of the gym. There were so many different trampolines and surfaces that are so great for him. I raced him through the dirty, gross, foam pit again and again. We raced on the tumble tramp and built houses with mats. Owen has never worked so hard. It was awesome!!

I also wanted to post a quick update on my post on Dress Code.  Kamryn's principal and school nurse apologized to her for how things were handled.  That's all I wanted.  They are also implementing a new system where the parent is contacted in those circumstances.  The teacher that originally stopped her and took her to the nurse refused to apologize and told the principal that she was not wearing a vest and only had on a spaghetti strap tank with a bra showing.  Hmm.. she wasn't wearing a bra and she did in fact have a vest on.  I will choose to pick my battles on this one and I have emailed those that apologized and thanked them.  Problem solved.