Alignment & some Fun

On a break during his prosthetics alignment at Scottish Rite yesterday, we had a quick picnic at the Scottish Rite park & let Will play & just be a regular kid- something he needs especially when we are spending time doing some not so regular kid things.
Playing in the "choo choo."

It was hard on him to take his new zancos off & on so much during the alignment - rather confusing.

In order to properly align the new prosthetics (zancos), the prostheist had to have Will try them on, walk around for a while, fall (often really hard), & then adjust them & start all over again. Actually, the hope is that he won't fall but by watching him walk & fall, they are able to determine where the kinks are & how to align the zanco better. It is critical for his little body/bones/hips, etc that they are aligned perfectly.

Because of his age, & due to the fact that he was going from his regular height to about 5 inches taller in a matter of minutes, & due to the fact that he is unable to feel the attached feet (which are bigger than his old ones), he tripped alot & fell really hard alot. He wanted to run, which he is used to doing & loves to do, but was unable to in the new zancos & so that was very frustrating for him. She aligned them as much as possible at this visit & then sent them home with us in their unfinished state so that he could try adjusting to them in his own environment & working with his physical therapist. We will then return in 2 weeks and, hopefully, he'll be a little more used to them & able to stand longer/walk further so that she can better align them & then complete them so that they can permanently come home with us...

until he goes through another big growth spurt & needs new ones in 6-9 months at which point we'll start all over!

I let Will just play with the new zancos for a little while- to get used to them. He first put them on his feet & then discovered he could do all sorts of cool things with them on his hands.

Being in the hospital for hours working on an alignment can really exhaust a boy (& his mom!)

He put them on his feet all by himself (although he skipped steps #1-3)

This is how I found Will on Sunday afternoon - after he had been sleeping for almost 4 hours in his nap- blankee over his face, arms up as if to say, "I surrender!" He was one tired boy!

During Will's nap, my dad & I did the 30 day shred together. My dad didn't make it through the whole video - he said it was because he had run 8 miles already that day... whatever.

It's one tough workout!

Cheesy face on the slide playing with his Cookie

Will taught his Great-Great Uncle Jimmy (whom he affectionately first named "Hat Eyes" due to the hat & sunglasses he was always wearing & later named "Pe-paw") how to play bat-ball.

He likes to wear his goggles but won't wear them under the water- he prefers straight up chlorine in his big blue eyes.

Will wore his botas (stubbies) to the grocery store with his Lovie on Sunday & enjoyed finding food for his cart.

He picked out his favorite fruit- "bbs" - blue berries... & accidently dumped them out when he put them upside down in his cart.

Upon our arrival in Tyler, Saturday afternoon, we headed to Lake Tyler to spend some time with old family friends- the Kummerfelds & the Rameys. One of the Kummerfelds, Nathaniel, & I have been good friends for a long, long time - since middle school, in fact. We spent many a Christmas Eve having dinner with the K family & the biggest trouble I ever got in during high school (well, the 2nd biggest), was when I got home late from a Christian concert in Kauffman that Nathaniel & I had attended. Seriously. I wasn't much of a rebel, I guess!

Nathaniel was even in our wedding. The K family has also supported Will at the Dallas White Rock Marathon as a part of his team.

We all got to meet N's new girlfriend, Ha, which was really fun & Will did a great job as the only kid around.

We took a dusk boat ride with everyone & Will loved all the boats. He would yell, "hi boat" & "bye-bye boat" to every single boat he saw on the lake. We also took a slow boat driveby Matthew McConnaughey's new lake house- the former HGTV dream house from a few years ago. (He's from a town near Tyler.)Maybe we can make friends since our kids are fairly close in age & be lake friends. I told Will that the little kid in that house has a very handsome, funny daddy but he has no moral scrupples. (Did I just really use that word?)

It was too dark & I couldn't get a good pic of the house but I will next time I'm out on the lake. It's beautiful!

He didn't mind the lifejacket at all this year & was very cuddly & relaxed.

Making the "happy" face from the song, "If You're Happy & You Know It."

Relaxing with Lovie on the boat

Swimming in Lake Tyler with his Cookie

(look at those ringlets! His hair is actually quite long when wet & not coiled in tight little curls!)

Will had a great time playing baseball with Tom Ramey - a family friend I've known since I was 5. Along with our other great family friends whom I've known forever, like the Salisburys, the Granberrys, the Carrs, & the Rogers, the Rameys have shown us great support- praying over Will when we flew to Tyler following his inital diagnosis (although, at the time, we didn't know he was a he or a Will so the prayer was for: William, David, Ellie, Jack), & even traveling to Dallas to celebrate his birth. I love that these families, and so many others, have watched Will grow up, have prayed so fervently over his life, & have such ownership in him.