Step by step...

"Look Mommy! It's a water tower!"

We went to see Dr. Hooker on the 6th and got a great report. After new X-rays (which Andrew has started assuring me don't hurt), she said his bone looks nice and "sticky" and that there is lots of good regrowth happening. The biggest news is that she said he doesn't have to wear the knee brace any more. This was major news we did not expect, but welcomed. We did ask her to explain it directly to Andrew, because he had become quite attached to the security of the brace. She also said that he is able to bend it, put weight on it, and being walking again as soon as he feels he is ready. Woah!

As you might expect he makes much more progress at both bending his knee and getting up a little bit when he is playing. He still doesn't like us to manipulate his leg that much. So we spend every day looking for any sign that he is making progress. Lately I have to think pretty hard to remember which is the hurt leg:


(It's his right leg)

His own nerves have been a more limiting factor than pain, as far as we can tell. He has been saying some things to me like "Mommy, I'm not going to run. Running is not a good idea." But we are talking a lot about how God made our bodies to heal and get better, and each night we ask God to help Andrew to be brave.

Yesterday he was so motivated to play in the sink that he thought he should stand up:





You can see how he is shifting his left leg under his center of gravity. The right leg may be touching down, but he is careful with it.

Today:


He was so proud of himself in this moment, he actually decided to take some steps. I don't have them on video because I dropped my camera to help steady him. It is very much like when he learned to walk the first time. But later today he wanted to show off for Daddy:

Hooray!! :)

Front End Loader Baby

Halloween 2011:


2012:


2013:








I hope we never have to have another costume like this, but for this year it was pretty fantastic. The front scoop really maximized the candy take (for all of us). :)

I wasn't going to dress up, until I went by the Bridges classroom and they were all dressing up as M&Ms. They stuck an "m" on my stomach. I maintain that the baby is the one dressed up. She is a little sweetie, after all.


Aren't they cute?


One last video, just for giggles:

Action Packed October

Andrew was doing so well that we decided to stick to our plans to visit Aunt Shawn in Raleigh and go to the State Fair. It was a nice change of pace to sit in new places :)

We stopped at Emily and Quinton's apartment in Wake Forrest, where Andrew discovered he had some control over his new wheels:

We did visit the Village of Yesteryear, and we were lucky enough to go with GrandNana and GrandPapa.


We saw livestock of all sorts.

But by far, the grandest adventure of the day was the fire-fighting helicopter Andrew got to "pilot" for 15 minutes.

We also visited Pullen Park, which has a train you can ride. He uses his serious face to examine things:

And a train car you can explore:

There was a merry-go-round to ride:

and chocolate popsicles:





It was a fun trip. Since we have been back he has been in





and out of the wheelchair.





We are basically back to the crawling stage. He can scoot around really well:

In Baby Girl news (I know, there is so much less info about this pregnancy. Don't worry sweet girl! We already adore you!), Andrew has been bored enough to talk to my stomach some:

Of course he eventually makes me laugh, which makes his head bounce, which makes us both laugh more. I know she loves it. She goes crazy for her big brother.

Lisa and I hunkered down to another baby quilt (I decided to keep the last one I made with Lisa to myself, *hem*)











We used the left overs from the adorable crib set, along with some other vintage-y fabrics I adore.


Don't you love it?
Added to the fantastic crib set and accessories my mom keeps turning out, and you get this:


Looking so sweet! :)
Andrew is practicing his baby care skills.





He keeps saying "Just relax, Daddy's here."

The sun rises and sets on Daddy for this boy these days. Daddy is everything he needs: strong, compassionate, firm, and always constant. Because of all these things, "only Daddy can take off the brace. Only Daddy is big enough."


Josh's birthday was yesterday. Andrew got him a Lego Creator kit. Not sure who has enjoyed it more:









WARNING: For those who are interested and not queasy, here are the X-rays of Andrew's leg from the day of the accident and one week later:

broken leg (poor baby)-


Leg during surgery with rods in place-


less broken leg, one week later-


(You can see above how the pins flex outside the bone. They sit just underneath his skin)


Pretty cool, huh? Dr. Hooker is the stuff!