Toddling For Real?

Today was a red letter day in the Hoffman house...Bean got her orthotics, more commonly known as foot braces. She has weak muscle tone in her ankles and her feet fall inwards pretty badly, but she can bear weight on her legs extremely well; getting her into orthotics and thus hopefully standing and maybe even walking sooner rather than later was definitely the only option. And standing and walking with appropriate foot to floor contact is again the only option, at least if we wanted it to be at all effective.

The plaster casting was quick and painless, as well as pretty intriguing to watch...but I had to laugh at how excruitiatingly tiny her feet really are. She is not going to be wearing size 12s as an adult, that's for sure. The orthotics themselves are called DAFOs, or Dynamic Ankle Foot Orthoses, and they are surprisingly cute. I got to pick out colors and Velcro trim designs...ours are pink with blue dinosaurs :). The best news is that she almost immediately felt more stable when I stood her up and I think even she realized that and held her torso and head much more erect and strongly than before. Obviously we have a lot of physical therapy to go through, but the point is, we may just have a "real" toddler eventually...and then I will never get a chance to sit down again. That will be another huge red letter day around here...we may even have to throw a party!

Okay, let's be honest. The best news is that I get to go shoe shopping. For really, really, really cute shoes.