Here are a few photos of our little man. In the group photo, he's on the far right.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
My Big-Hearted Little Man
Each month Jacob and Molly's school focuses on a particular character trait and February's was "caring". I went to the school assembly this morning to see Jacob be recognized for his caring - there was one kid from every class. His teacher phoned me last night and said that his nomination wasn't due to how nice he has been with Molly during all her foot stuff, it was because he is always caring and empathetic about the other kids in the class. She told a story by way of example that a girl in the class was crying last week and Jacob went up and gave her a kiss on the shoulder and asked if she was okay. What a player!
Here are a few photos of our little man. In the group photo, he's on the far right.
Here are a few photos of our little man. In the group photo, he's on the far right.
Casts Off and Montreal Trip
We spent Friday at Sick Kids getting Molly's casts off and getting her fitted for AFO braces. The braces will be ready in two weeks, so in the meantime she's wearing the casts (bandaged together). The surgery was apparently successful. She does appear to have more flexibility in her ankles but we won't really be able to tell much until she's out of the casts for good.
- Here are two photos of the casts being sawed off and then removed. I love Zoë and Jacob's looks of interest/concern.
- Molly showing off her "new" feet
- Chatting with the surgeon
Friday night we drove to Montreal, just missing the snowstorm (but seeing lots of carnage along the highway). Then we had a fabulous time at Beth and Don's. Hot tub, Biodome, swimming pool, hanging out, cousins having a great time together. It's a shame I didn't take any video of Kate doing Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii - serious blackmail possibilities.
Here are a couple of photos from the biodome.
- Here are two photos of the casts being sawed off and then removed. I love Zoë and Jacob's looks of interest/concern.
- Molly showing off her "new" feet
- Chatting with the surgeon
Friday night we drove to Montreal, just missing the snowstorm (but seeing lots of carnage along the highway). Then we had a fabulous time at Beth and Don's. Hot tub, Biodome, swimming pool, hanging out, cousins having a great time together. It's a shame I didn't take any video of Kate doing Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii - serious blackmail possibilities.
Here are a couple of photos from the biodome.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Weekend Plans
We're off to Toronto in the morning for Molly's cast removal and AFO brace fitting appointments. Then it's off to Montreal for a weekend with Beth, Don and the ten year-old (!!) cousins.
And here are some more February photos I've just uploaded off my phone.
- My fantastic fox mother, who celebrated her birthday along with Zoë's
- My snowboard punk son
- Zoë rocking her new puffy vest
- Jacob and Zoë ice fishing on the coldest day of the winter. An OPP diver was down there attaching toys to the kids' fishing lines.
- Zoë trying out Kate's new barefoot shoes
And here are some more February photos I've just uploaded off my phone.
- My fantastic fox mother, who celebrated her birthday along with Zoë's
- My snowboard punk son
- Zoë rocking her new puffy vest
- Jacob and Zoë ice fishing on the coldest day of the winter. An OPP diver was down there attaching toys to the kids' fishing lines.
- Zoë trying out Kate's new barefoot shoes
Zoë's Birthday
Still struggling to find the minutes to catch up on the blog. And the further behind I fall, the more daunting the catch-up becomes. So, before it's entirely too late, here are some photos of Zoë's birthday, which extended for weeks due to staggered grandparent visits and Zoë's own enthusiasm for her big day.
- Putting the toppings on the cake. "The" being the wrong word, as there were many, many cakes.
- Singing along with Kate
- We need a bigger table!
- Zoë recently declared that her favourite thing to eat for dinner is cupcakes.
- Zoë's favourite new toy is her wooden magnet board. Every time she finishes a picture she insists that I take a photo of it. The newspaper in the background is a giveaway that we're not in Orillia.
- Watching the start of the Super Bowl. Fortunately the kids didn't stay up late enough to see the game fall through Brady's (or Welker's) fingers.
And a little birthday song video of Zoë at her smiling best.
- Putting the toppings on the cake. "The" being the wrong word, as there were many, many cakes.
- Singing along with Kate
- We need a bigger table!
- Zoë recently declared that her favourite thing to eat for dinner is cupcakes.
- Zoë's favourite new toy is her wooden magnet board. Every time she finishes a picture she insists that I take a photo of it. The newspaper in the background is a giveaway that we're not in Orillia.
- Watching the start of the Super Bowl. Fortunately the kids didn't stay up late enough to see the game fall through Brady's (or Welker's) fingers.
And a little birthday song video of Zoë at her smiling best.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Molly's Surgery
Molly's foot surgery was 4 weeks ago, but I'm finally catching up on the blogging now. Sorry!
Kate's parents came to town to help out, so on the morning of the surgery Kate and I took Molly to Sick Kids while Jacob and Zoë stayed at Dan and Alison's place with the grandparents. Molly was cool as a cucumber before the surgery. She had Flower with her, the stuffed dog that Sick Kids gave her at the pre-surgery appointment. Flower looks like the progeny of the dog she's had since she was born. After we checked in, we went up to the waiting room. And then we went into the pre-op room where Molly's vitals were taken. Molly was comforted to be assigned to bed J (obviously for Jacob), and by some Grandma-delivered activities. Kate was allowed to go into the operating room while Molly was being put to sleep. Then she came and waited with me. The surgery was scheduled for 3 hours, but it actually lasted 4 1/2 hours. The last 1 1/2 were a bit nervous, as I was imagining all the possible things that could be going wrong (fortunately it was foot surgery - most people were there for much more serious problems). Anyway, the doctor emerged smiling and told us that everything had gone fine. She had two tenotomies, snipping her achilles tendons to allow them to stretch. That procedure didn't provide the desired flexibility so he also entered the joint capsules to "release" them. He also did a tendon transfer on the top of her right foot but deemed it unnecessary for the left. The apparent result is that her feet now have 15-20 degrees of flexion beyond 90 degrees. Meaning that she should be able to bend her knees while standing, for the first time in her life. She's in short casts, which were put on during the surgery. Molly stayed one night at Sick Kids, in a really nice room, with Kate in a cot right next to her. The staff at Sick Kids were perfect - what a wonderful place.
After about 5 days of not being able to walk (mostly because of discomfort in the right foot due to the tendon transfer), she started getting around on her own again. And now she's completely mobile and active, as she was in the casts before Christmas. The casts come off next Friday, when she'll also be fitted for AFO braces. It takes about 2 weeks to make the braces, so she'll have to wear the casts for 2 more weeks (although they will be removeable then for things like swimming and baths). She missed one week of school and has been going half days since then. But she has been a total trooper about the whole thing. She didn't even cry once pre or post operatively. And I haven't seen her feel sorry for herself at all. We should all be that brave.
- Molly pointing out the lucky "J"
- Some last minute colouring to settle the nerves
- My sweet, brave girl
- Removing Erin's fingernail polish
- Waking up post-op
- Requesting a kiss from Jacob (you can see Kate's overnight cot in the background)
- A visit from Grandma
- And Zoë too
- And Molly's star-chart. Which has subsequently been all filled in
Kate's parents came to town to help out, so on the morning of the surgery Kate and I took Molly to Sick Kids while Jacob and Zoë stayed at Dan and Alison's place with the grandparents. Molly was cool as a cucumber before the surgery. She had Flower with her, the stuffed dog that Sick Kids gave her at the pre-surgery appointment. Flower looks like the progeny of the dog she's had since she was born. After we checked in, we went up to the waiting room. And then we went into the pre-op room where Molly's vitals were taken. Molly was comforted to be assigned to bed J (obviously for Jacob), and by some Grandma-delivered activities. Kate was allowed to go into the operating room while Molly was being put to sleep. Then she came and waited with me. The surgery was scheduled for 3 hours, but it actually lasted 4 1/2 hours. The last 1 1/2 were a bit nervous, as I was imagining all the possible things that could be going wrong (fortunately it was foot surgery - most people were there for much more serious problems). Anyway, the doctor emerged smiling and told us that everything had gone fine. She had two tenotomies, snipping her achilles tendons to allow them to stretch. That procedure didn't provide the desired flexibility so he also entered the joint capsules to "release" them. He also did a tendon transfer on the top of her right foot but deemed it unnecessary for the left. The apparent result is that her feet now have 15-20 degrees of flexion beyond 90 degrees. Meaning that she should be able to bend her knees while standing, for the first time in her life. She's in short casts, which were put on during the surgery. Molly stayed one night at Sick Kids, in a really nice room, with Kate in a cot right next to her. The staff at Sick Kids were perfect - what a wonderful place.
After about 5 days of not being able to walk (mostly because of discomfort in the right foot due to the tendon transfer), she started getting around on her own again. And now she's completely mobile and active, as she was in the casts before Christmas. The casts come off next Friday, when she'll also be fitted for AFO braces. It takes about 2 weeks to make the braces, so she'll have to wear the casts for 2 more weeks (although they will be removeable then for things like swimming and baths). She missed one week of school and has been going half days since then. But she has been a total trooper about the whole thing. She didn't even cry once pre or post operatively. And I haven't seen her feel sorry for herself at all. We should all be that brave.
- Molly pointing out the lucky "J"
- Some last minute colouring to settle the nerves
- My sweet, brave girl
- Removing Erin's fingernail polish
- Waking up post-op
- Requesting a kiss from Jacob (you can see Kate's overnight cot in the background)
- A visit from Grandma
- And Zoë too
- And Molly's star-chart. Which has subsequently been all filled in
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