Shoes, Orthotics and a Big Give

We picked up Owen's new foot orthotics on Thursday!  Initially, he loved them and thought they were awesome!  Then we put them in his shoes and he hated them.  His foot straps into the ortho, and then it slides into his new shoes.  He wouldn't walk and just said "Take them off please... they are itchy and sweaty!"  Apparently, they are going to take some serious getting used to.  The whole point of the orthotics is to raise his arch a bit and they offer a little more ankle support. They won't work if he refuses to stand in them though.

 Any tricks or advice from seasoned SFO moms.. I'm all ears?

We went back to Stride Rite on Thursday evening, so Owen could try on different shoes.  I thought maybe if we bought different shoes that he really wanted, he would wear them.  The only shoes in the store that he had his eye on were these light up Darth Vader shoes!  HE LOVES THEM!  The problem?  We tried a bunch of sizes and widths and those darn foot orthotics do not fit in these Vader shoes.  Bummer.

He begged and begged for the Vader shoes, so I bought them in a 9 1/2, his real shoe size.  I told him he has to wear these when we go anywhere.  He pinky swore and we walked out of Stride Rite less a small fortune and we still have the foot orthotic issue. 

The good news is that he has been wearing his new shoes anytime we leave the house.  I know... isn't this "normal"?  Owen is a boy after my own heart and would prefer to be barefoot 24/7.  I only wear shoes when I absolutely have to and I wear flip flops 99% of the time.  For Owen to wear his new shoes is huge progress.  We will slowly work our way into the orthotics.  Who knows.. maybe the Darth Vader shoes will solve his ankle rolling issues, he's walking so much better in them already!

We had another relaxing weekend.  I bought all the fabric for Kamryn's Halloween costume and Carson spent time creating her armor yesterday. It is finally coming together.

Owen has changed his mind three times.. but Owen's latest, and final, costume went on sale for $8!!!!  You'd better believe I called to get a price adjustment.  He is SO ready for Halloween! 

My kids were finally able to start the countdown calendar to Disney!  We're really 47 days away, but Owen stuck Filmore and the Sarge on the wrong Mickey head.   

On Saturday morning my kids were so excited to get more MICKEY MAIL!!  This Big Give was courtesy of WDWMICKEY and they couldn't wait to open it!  I made them pick up the family room before opening.. that will never get old.

There were cards for each of the kids.  Owen had a handmade Winnie The Pooh card and Kamryn's was Tinkerbell.  I love all the details that goes into each package.  We are already planning on sending some cool stuff when it's our turn to give back. 

Both kids got iTunes giftcards and Kamryn also got a Tinkerbell iPod touch case!  She loves it so much and has already purchased a ton of music with her card.  Owen is still trying to figure out which apps he wants to spend his "monies" on for his iPad. 

Thank you wdwmickey!  We love what you sent, it was awesome pixie dust for our weekend!

I had a million Halloween craft ideas that I want to work on, but I can't seem to find the time.  I put up the few decorations that we have.  We are trying to find a fun local pumpkin patch to go to next Sunday and Kamryn is dancing at the local Halloween festival on the 29th.   I can't believe this month is half over.. eeek!!

Gymnastics

Owen loves Gymnastics!! He started a couple months ago with a new physical therapist and he loves going to the gym! He still calls it "gymbtastics" and he gets so excited to go! I love that he has the opportunity to have a one on one gym class, but can't wait until the day he can join in with the other kids.

Since Owen didn't start walking until 3 1/2, he has low muscle tone in his legs.  You can see his little feet rolling and scrunching to try to stabilize himself.  We are picking up his custom foot orthotics tomorrow.. I can't wait to see how much they help him!

Owen is getting more used to the trampoline each time.  He is very cautious and nervous when switching surfaces he walks on.  The best way I heard it explained is that a child normally learns to walk around 12 to 18 months.  At that stage of development, they don't understand cause and effect as much and so they will jump from surface to surface with little fear of what might happen.  Owen started walking as a preschooler and he is very aware of danger and is extremely cautious.  We are working on it  and he has come so far in the past couple months.  He is brave enough to jump on the tramp and he'll let us play don't crack the egg and bounce him.  Huge improvement!

He also loves this tumble track.  Daddy came to the gym with us a couple weeks ago.  You can see him in the foam pit.  He walks down to pick up a foam out of the pit.  Then he carries it down the long tumble track and we collect them on the other end of the gym.  He loves to build houses with all his foam blocks.  It's really fun!!

The three yellow lines on the tramp are there to tell the gymnast that this is the end of the tramp.  Owen always dives from the front of the first yellow line onto the blue mat.  He usually won't step on the yellow lines at all.  He is getting braver.

The yellow tramp is my favorite!!  It is mega bouncy and Owen loves it.  He doesn't bounce on his own yet, but I know he will soon.

Owen's favorite part of the whole hour is the giant foam pit.  It's a large pit of foam blocks, full of a million germs.  I cringe every time, but no one has gotten sick yet.  If you've ever been in a pit of foam, you know how difficult it is to climb through.  I'm sure the lighter you are, the easier it is to climb on the top of the foam.  I kinda sink and it's a workout to get from one side to the other.

You can see how hard Owen is working to crawl through.  He takes a few brakes along the way and sometimes we give him a little boost. 

Nothing beats seeing this awesome smile when he knows he has accomplished something big!  He gets so excited that he wants to go back in!

Owen's least favorite part of the gym is the balance beam.  He walked across all 8 beams the other day, but you can tell he was only doing it because he was told to.  It's not something he would choose to do.  He also loves the rings and the monkey bars, but I don't have pictures since I have to help him hold on and spot him.

Owen is warming up to his new Physical Therapist.  He has so much fun and always asks to go to the gym.  I am loving the change in his gross motor skills.  He still has a long way to go towards "catching up," but he will get there!   We use a ton of hand sanitizer and many trip to the restroom to wash our hands.  As long as Owen continues to stay healthy, we can continue to go to the gym every week.  I am so happy he has this opportunity!

Big Give.. Take 2!

We had an awesome morning at Gymnastics with Owen. He was Stubborn with a capital 'S" this morning!! The gym had fall break camp so it was a bit chaotic and he was so distracted. So glad it's not always like that! Owen had a good time and loved having Sis to play in the foam pit with him. I was grateful to not have to jump in the foam pit of germs myself!

After the gym, we headed to the mall to meet the Mullen's for lunch. I used to nanny for the boys when they were little and it was so good to hang out with them. Katie is Owen's age and she wanted to play with Kamryn. While Owen loved having big boys to play with! After Grimaldis, the kids talked us into Gellato. There is an awesome new Gellato shop at the mall and it was so nice eating out on the patio! The weather in the desert has been fantastic!! We bought some shoes and made our way to the outdoor play area. The kids played and ran around.

We were sad to leave the mall, but had to get home to feed Owen. We were all so excited when we found three packages on our front porch. One of them was from Gap and it contained all of Owen's winter clothes. Boring. Then the other one was something from Blogher. The third package was definitely MICKEY MAIL!!! This one comes from diisname: Dianemom2.

Owen let Kamryn open the package this time and she started by giving him the Mickey water paint set . He didn't want anything to do with the rest of the package from then on. Ha! He just wanted to start painting!

The package was filled with family Disney leg shirts!! These are so cute! Kamryn got Minnie Mouse..

Carson got Donald Duck...

Mine was Daisy Duck...

And Owen got Mickey!!

Aren't they so cute?! We can't wait to wear these on our trip!! Thanks so much!!

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