Resilience

Gabe's back to wearing the brace again. It's almost identical to the one above. We call it his "snowboard". He only wears it at night and its supposed to fix his feet without needing surgery. Let me just say, after a 2.5 hr drive up to columbia with no accidents and a nap, I was already impressed with Gabe. Then he was a champ for the orthotist..he helped him screw in the shoes onto the bar. This was one of the best experiences i've ever had at an orthodic office. The secretary was awesome, the orthotist actually had all the equipment on site and we were done within 30 mins! Not to mention the building was gorgeous and Gabe did all his chores in their bathroom (amen)! He should be all set with "foot doctor" appointments for awhile now.
     On the long drive back Gabe was so good the whole time..he even told me he had to pee so Michael helped him "pee like a man" on the side of the road. In back roads missouri there are no rest stops. It was hilarious, Michael carried him out and pulled his pants down and whew did Gabe have to go! Michael was so proud...i was so proud..and Gabe was proud! He alll smiles after that experience. I know you probably feel like i should change this blog to a potty-training seminar...but seriously it's very exciting. I mean at this point you'd probably feel like you're missing out if i don't update you on Gabe's bowel movements. 
    Anyhow, the orthotist suggested with start out slow with brace wearing--only do a few hours the first night and gradually arrive at the full 12. Well I find with Gabe that the "cold turkey"approach works just as well, if not better. So last night we put him in his "snowboard", read him a story and he went to bed without a peep! Yes you heard me. No whining at all. Despite having his feet all locked up. So he's pretty much a rockstar. I'm going to try and rig up a mini brace for tiger to wear--so they can both wear them together. Should be pretty cute.
 If you look up the definition for resilience...you should see Gabe's name there. He's so good at adjusting to anything we throw at him. He's very good with change...better than me for the most part. Michael's decided that he'll take actual snowboard lessons with Gabe when we get to Colorado since he'll prob already be a pro.  Surely there must be a correlation between dennis brown bar wearing and mad skills at snowboarding. If not we'll make Gabe our own case study.