Weekend of Firsts...

We had a weekend of firsts. Madison and Eli both got their first haircuts. Brother slept in his crib for the first time and Madison went potty in the big girl potty after asking me to go. It is a start, but we still aren't there yet. Brad decided to give Eli a haircut which was pretty easy. He just sat in his bumbo chair and Brad cut his hair. We took Madison to Cool Cuts 4 kids. It was a lot of fun to just enjoy the kiddos getting older. They are both at very fun agings. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Eli with his new big boy haircut...


Madison playing before she gets her haircut...


Ready to get her haircut in her car...

A little movie to keep her entertained for a little while...

My little girl getting her haircut for the first time...

Such a big girl...

We both got our toes done too...

Momma with her kiddos, what a wonderful feeling. Brother has to show us his foot too...

Scottish Rite Appointment

Today we went to Scottish Rite for Eli's 2nd appointment for his hands. We got to meet with the hand team and met some of the other doctors that we didn't get to meet last time. He was very happy the entire day which made the visit so much better than last time. If you remember last time, we had just gotten his 1st set of casts on his feet. Sister (Madison) went with us this time and she loved it. We met with Dr. Ezaki who is the head of the hand team and some of the other residents that were there. She did an evaluation on Eli again and reaffirmed the he has arthygoposis. She did say that they are a lot of other syndromes or conditions that are underneath the arthygoposis umbrella. She was impressed with the range-of-motion he has developed and was very positive about his prognosis. She told us to continue to do stretching at home, but also put us in contact with an occupational therapist in Austin that actually used to work at Scottish Rite. We will set up appointments with her to begin therapy in Austin.
We again met with Amy, the therapist at Scottish Rite, who initially evaluated Eli at his five-week appointment. She gave us hand splints to put on while he is sleeping and just having some down time. He doesn't mind them at all which is so nice. We will go back to Scottish Rite in 4-6 months for a follow-up and to discuss what to do from there. Amy took more measurements of his range of motion like she did last time we were there. Everything had improved which was awesome. We left the appointment very encouraged and ready to tackle this new step in Eli's adventure.

Here are some pictures that I took during our visit....

Madison enjoying all of the toys in the waiting room...

This is very cool. It's a projector that puts images on the wall that interacts with the kids' shadows. Madison enjoyed her shadow, but didn't really get what was going on...

Brother waiting for the doctors in his daddy's lap...

The inside of the exam room...


A little down time in between seeing the doctors and going to see the Occupational Therapist...


Watching sister try to sleep...

Playing with all of the toys in Coach's Corner (it is where the Occupational Therapist is)...

Amy, the Occupational Therapist at Scottish Rite teaching me how to do the stretches with his braces on...

Sporting his new splints...

We are so blessed by Scottish Rite, the doctors, and OT there. I don't know what we would do without them. Thank you all so much for your prayers as we go through this adventure in our lives.

Eli, we are so proud of you! You are such a calm and happy baby! God knew what He was doing when He created you especially for your daddy and me. We love you more than you will ever know!