Knox's 1st Birthday!!

It's official, he's now a toddler :( Knox had a wonderful birthday over the weekend.  We had a small party with family and friends.  He was a cake eating machine!!

Knox has officially started walking.  He will take 5-6 steps and then usually plops down and crawls the rest of the way.  My biggest concern when finding out about clubfoot was "Will he ever walk?".  If I only knew then that he would be taking steps at 11 mos old.  We will fly to Iowa here in 2 weeks for our checkup but I have a feeling that Dr. M will be very pleased.

Knox now says Mama, Dada, Dog, and Baba.  He also loves to screech and tends to randomly yell "Bah".........all the time!

Now for some pics:

...........................and a few of the goofy girl!!

Picture Timeline

Knox is now 9 mos old!  He has made wonderful progress and is crawling and cruising everywhere.  Here is a picture timeline of our clubfoot progress from birth to now.

Birth

1st Set of Casts

After 1st set of casts

After 4th set of casts--ready for tenotomy

After 4th set of casts--ready for tenotomy (feet were not fully corrected but dr. insisted on doing tenotomy)

Tenotomy Casts (surgery completed too early and did not acheive the maximum results)

Rocker foot caused from incorrect castings--I demanded no more casts from Dr. Kean at Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, OH).  We made an appt to head to Iowa 4 days later.

1st trip to Iowa

1st meeting with Dr. Morcuende.  Dr. M confirmed that we were casted incorrectly in Columbus and that he caused Knox to become a "Complex" clubfoot case along with a rocker foot.

1st set of casts in Iowa

Christmas in casts

After 1st set of casts in Iowa--looking better!

After 2nd set of casts in Iowa

2rd set of casts in Iowa

After 3rd set of casts in Iowa

After 3rd set of casts in Iowa

Good lookin feet! (After 3rd set of casts in Iowa)

4th set of casts from Iowa--just waiting on shoes/bar to be shipped to us

Ready for shoes/bar

Ready for shoes/bar--No more rocker foot

1st time in shoes--tuckered out!

1 week in shoes/bar 23/7

2mos in shoes/bar 23/7

Rolling with brace on!

After 3 mos in braces 23/7 we go for follow up appt in Iowa--graduated to naps/bedtime wear only

8mos old--started crawling

Momma and her babies!

Sibling love

9 mos old.......with a big boo boo on his head :(

We have a crawler!

Knox has officially started crawling...........YAY!!! He just turned 8 mos old and is always on the go.  It's amazing to watch nothing get in his way..............even his heavy shoes. He will also pull himself to a standing position.  He's pretty clumsy so we have to watch what is around him so that he doesn't end up with a ton of bruises.  He fell and bonked his head on the coffee table a few weeks ago and still has a bruise on his forehead :(  He's also been loving the pool lately..............probably more than Lily has. 

6 mos appt!

I'm a little late for the 6 mos stats!  Knox will be 7 mos next week.  He had his appt about 2 weeks ago and looked perfect.  He sits completely unassisted and rolls all over the floor (with and without his shoes).  He gets up on all fours and rocks but has not grasped the concept of crawling forward just yet.  He does however LOVE to crawl backwards.  He babbles all the time and is the most smiley baby ever.  He has started sleeping through the night in his crib which has been wonderful.
6 mos stats:
Weight: 19.2lbs
Length: 27"
Overall he was 75th% for weight and only about 30th% for height but the pedi thinks that they didn't get an accurate measurement on his length (he was 75th% in length at his 4mos). 


PERFECT LITTTLE BOY!!!

Our day to day schedule!

Many people have asked about how Steve and I both work full-time and have time with the kids.  Well, here is our weekly schedule.  Yes, it's very hectic but it gets the job done and no one is hurt in the making! :)

Monday-Thursday
4:45am- Steve and I wake-up and get dressed for the day.  Steve is out the door at 5:15.
5:30- Wake Knox up and bring him downstairs to get dressed for the day. I will adjust his shoes to make sure they are on tight enough.
5:45- Run back upstairs and get Lily.  Bring her downstairs and immediately sit her on the potty.  Then wrestle the alligator to get her dressed and brush her teeth.
6:00- Give Lily a sippy of milk and nurse Knox
6:20-Load both kids in the car.  Load my pump, purse, babysitter's bag, and my lunch all into the car too. Some days it feels like I load the whole house.
6:30- Drop both kids off at the babysitters.
6:45-7:45- Drive to work.........in peace and quiet. I usually really look forward to this time alone with my coffee.
8:00-5:00- work.  Steve works 6-2:30 so he picks up both kids from the babysitters at 3pm.
5:00-6:00- Drive home--usually on the phone with Steve trying to explain how to boil water to get the spaghetti on for dinner. (We would have cold cereal every night if dinner was left to him)
6:00-Get home. Gives lots of kisses and nurse Knox while Lily is usually babbling about her day to me. 
6:30-Everyone sits down for dinner
7:00-BATH TIME! Both kids are usually a mess after dinner so the head straight for the tub.  Steve will do dishes while I bathe the kids.
7:30-Give Lily a sippy of milk and nurse Knox.  We finally get to sit and relax for a minute.
7:45-Knox heads to bed.  I spend some time with Lily and we'll read MARVIN K. MOONEY......every night! (That book may randomly disappear very soon!)
8:00- Lily heads to bed
8-9- Steve and I hang out, pack our lunches, talk about the day, eat cookies (Lily will eat them all if we eat while she's awake).
9:00-We both fall into bed exhausted from the day.

Fridays
Mornings are the same except I take the kids to my inlaws instead of the babysitter.  Steve works late so the inlaws bring the kids to our house at 6pm when I get home. We usually hang out and order take out.  Kids are in bed by 8:30 and I get ALONE time until Steve gets home at 11pm.

Sat/Sun:
No set schedule.  We go grocery shopping clean the house, or run whatever errands that we need done.  Saturdays we usually get pizza and watch a movie.  Sundays we go to breakfast with my family and then hang out.  I usually cook a nice big meal on Sundays to fill our bellies and give us energy for the week.

So, there you have it. Our CRAZY life!

Down to naps/bedtime!

YAY!!! We had an awesome follow up appointment with Dr. Morcuende in Iowa last Friday.  He told us that Knox's feet looked PERFECT and that he only needs to wear the shoes at naps and bedtime.  Being 6 mos old, this is typically about 15-16 hours a day.  The older he gets, the less time he will nap, which also means the less time in his shoes.  Dr. M told us that we didn't need to return to Iowa for 6-8 months.  It was such a relief that everything that we have been through was actually working.  Unfortunately, our flight home was a disaster and we didn't get home until 11:30 Friday night.

Waiting on the doctor

Passed out at the Chicago airport

Ready for 3 month checkup!

So, tomorrow is the day that Knox and I will fly out to Iowa City, IA for his 3 month checkup in his shoes.  I'm really excited but very nervous also.  I feel that his feet look great but there's always a thought in the back of my mind that Dr. Morcuende is going to tell me that something is wrong and that he needs to be re-casted.  Hopefully, Knox will be able to go down in hours (at least down from 23 hours a day) wearing his shoes.  We will fly out at 12:30 tomorrow and stay at the Ronald McDonald house tomorrow night.  Our appt is Friday morning at 8:30am.  We will immediately fly out of Iowa after the appt and should be back in Ohio by 4 or 5 o'clock.  I'm excited to see Dr. M and show him Knox's progress.

On the down side, I hate leaving Lily at home.  Even though her and daddy have some fun bonding time (and usually eat take out and LOTS of cookies), it's hard to leave her.  She has been having a rough couple of nights sleeping since we recently moved her to her new toddler bed.  Also, she was not feeling well this morning. 

Wish us luck!! I'll post pics of the trip along with what Dr. M says over the weekend :)

Gymnastics Time!

My little gymnast!!