The Braces

We met with the orthopedic today. Lara will be getting SMO braces. Originally the reason I wanted Lara to get braces was because of a concern with her left ankle. She tends to walk on the inside of her left foot. This creates huge balance problems and looks just plain uncomfortable. Her right foot is okay. SMO braces will focus on giving the ankle some stability and should therefore help with balance. I had hoped we could go with the taller AFOs, since the trial ones were really helping, but it is felt that we need to focus on her ankle. But I think the SMOs are going to be excellent, and since they will not restrict with her crawling, she will actually wear them most of the time. The left SMO will have a little toe strap to keep her big toe from scrunching inward and curling under. HOW a toe is able to do that, I don't know, but Lara has figured it out. She will also get an SMO for her right foot just for symmetry purposes, but we may get her a tall AFO for her right leg later on. Once the doctors approve that, we will take Lara in for casting and get them ordered.

Lara did some matching/puzzle things again today in therapy, and Gretchen was amazed that Lara is advanced enough for these high-level abilities, and me too. It's amazing because she doesn't even look like she's trying, like she's been doing the same activity for 5 years. Gretchen said she is going to grow up to be a mathematician, and I groaned and said, "Oh, then we will have absolutely nothing in common!"

Lara was so exhausted after therapy, she fell asleep on the car ride home. She woke up when we got home and was very fussy, so I put her down for a morning nap. I normally like to stick to routines, but it seems she really needed some sleep. She NEVER goes back down after a car ride, but sure enough, she's sleeping very soundly...

UPDATE: Lara is now on her 3rd hour for napping...she was pooped!