What's Molly Been Up To?

This month she has started both soccer and dance.  Dance will continue through spring and soccer goes until the first week of October.  This is the first time she's been in an organized sport or activity and she's taken quite well to it!  Monday was parent watch night at dance so I took a short video.  Yes, so far she is the only one in her combo class but they've assured me more will enroll.  For the time being we're enjoying private lessons at the group rate.

RJ...continued

Warning, long story coming...
Last month, RJ had an appointment with his geneticist.  While checking RJ's reflexes on his legs he noticed that any time RJ would bend and straighten his legs, his knees (mostly his left) would dislocate.  How have I not noticed this until now?!  We also have noticed (and unsuccessfully tried to correct with braces) his feet which are always rotated out, see below:

Therefore, he walks like a duck.  When he is sitting on the ground and his knees are pointed up, his pinkie toes touch the floor.  

We made an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon to assess primarily RJ's knees but also his feet/ankles and his shoulders.  He has always had an interesting bump between his neck and his shoulder socket and out of curiosity we wanted to determine what it is. 

Monday we had our ortho appointment and had some interesting findings.  

1) His feet and ankles are seemingly just fine.

2) His kneecaps (see below) are nowhere near where they are supposed to be

3) His tibia (lower leg bone) are rotated from the knee down which is causing the outward foot appearance (external tibial torsion)

 

4) His collarbone is missing the bone that holds it to the shoulder socket

At this point #4 is irrelevant and we will do nothing about it at this time. 

What does this mean?  It means we have signed ourselves up for a relatively stressful fall.  RJ will be having his tibia rotated, his patellas (kneecaps) realigned and his quads reattached.  Both sides at the same time.  This will required a lengthy (1-2 week) hospital stay, recuperation at home as well as lots of intensive therapy.  Why are we choosing to do this?  It will not get better on it's own and will likely get worse (especially his knees).  It is better to do this when he is 60 lbs rather than over 100 lbs. and, most importantly, it should make him a better walker and preserve his ability to walk for a longer time.  At this point, we are looking at October or November and we have a sedation CT Scan scheduled for mid September which should tell us more details.  We will keep you updated as we know more but please keep RJ in your thoughts as we go down this journey.

Eventful Sunday!

We spent part of our day in the local ER for a head laceration.  I may have over reacted just a bit but when you see lots of blood and can't visualize the actual cut, it's better to be safe than sorry right?  How did it happen?  I pulled in to the garage and MJ was trying to help by unbuckling RJ when I shut off the car.  When I opened the minivan door (by a button above the driver's seat), RJ was a little too eager to get out and rolled out of the van on to the concrete.  Note: he can't get out of the car by himself...normally.  It was completely an accident and luckily, he's fine.  No stitches even, just an unsightly bump on the head.  Big thanks to my mom who came and wrangled MJ and Molly (who fell out of her chair in the waiting room goofing off).  Luckily I didn't need their services for her!

1st Day of School 2013-Pre-K, 2nd Grade & 3rd Grade!

Maggie-15 Weeks

This pooch has doubled in size since we got her!  Today, at 15 weeks, she is a whopping 20 lbs!  Quite a change in the five weeks we've had her.  We're estimating she'll be a 50-60 lb dog full grown but we may be in for a shock if she continues at this rate. She's learned the meaning of 'sit' and 'lay down' and will occasionally drop a toy when playing fetch (mostly she wants to play tug of war with it).  We've had a few clothing casualties and unfortunately a small Cinderella doll met her untimely demise yesterday.  The kids continue to lover her to death and though at times I wonder what I was thinking getting a puppy, she's been a great addition to the family.  (and a pretty cute one too!)