Orthopedic Update

Nikolas was born with both of his feet clubbed. He had casts in Bulgaria for three weeks when he was three months old followed by several months of braces. The work that was done in Bulgaria greatly improved his feet, but the IA doctor that we saw in August thought we might be able to correct them even more. We met with an Orthopedic Specialist at Riley Children's Hospital today. After examining Nikolas' feet and taking lots of x-rays, she decided that further correction was necessary. The x-rays showed that the bones in both of his heels curved upwards and the bones on the top of his right foot are very close together. Because of these issues, she thought it would be best to start over and redo the entire casting procedure. We will go back to Riley every Tuesday morning for new casts until his feet are in the best possible position. We do not know how long this will take, but 3-4 weeks seems to be the average time frame. It depends on how well his bones react to the casts. Once we are finished with the casting, he will have surgery to lengthen the tendons. This will be followed up with braces and physical therapy. The doctor is optimistic that we will have good results in the end.

Nikolas is a very active two-year-old, so not being able to walk is tough for him (and us). Because he can't go anywhere, he has to be completely dependent on us to do everything for him. Today was a struggle, and I really hope he learns to tolerate the casts soon. If anyone has any ideas of how to entertain a toddler who has to stay in one place, please send them my way. If only he'd watch television...

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Family Pictures

Last week our friend Emily Reel took some family pictures for us. They turned out great and we had so much fun at the park that evening. Nikolas loved the big slide and the swing.

Here are a few of the pictures from the photo shoot:

Our Little Zoo Baby

We've made a few trips to the zoo recently and Nikolas loves it there. We ended up purchasing an annual pass so we can go whenever we want. The zoo is a quick 20 minute car ride away and a great place to spend a couple of hours when we need to get out of the house. His favorite area is the Oceans area. He loves the penguins and sea lions. He also likes trying to pet the sharks in the shark touch tank. Yesterday we fed the giraffe and he was okay with it being so close to him. When there aren't a lot of people around, he'll sit and stare at the animals for a long time (as long as they're not sleeping). He really enjoys being outside, so even walking through the zoo paths is great fun for him. I love being able to take him during the week when it's slow and hope I can continue to do that sometimes after I go back to work. (Luckily I work from home and will have some flexibility with my schedule, so that should help.) Here are a few pictures from our recent zoo adventures.

One Month Home

Our first month home as a family has been wonderful. Nikolas has made so much progress in such a short period of time. He's typically a very happy boy who enjoys getting out of the house. He likes going to church, shopping, eating out, playing outside, and going to the zoo. He is starting to understand more of what we say and his vocabulary is quickly expanding. He enjoys playing with his toys and is starting to play more on his own. He likes any toys that are really loud and/or play music. He is a very helpful little guy. He helps us unload the dishwasher every day and stocks the fridge with soda. He also likes to put the laundry in the hamper, even if it's not dirty. He tells himself "good job" after he does a task and sometimes praises us if we do good work, too.

He loves his cats and is doing a good job of being gentle. The cats seem to like him, too. They sit with him while he's playing. Cody rubs against Nikolas and rolls over in front of him. They nap in the sun together every afternoon.

He is still sleeping in our room, but we're working on moving him upstairs to his own room. Today is the first day that he is successfully napping in his own room (and he's been up there for two hours now). For the first two weeks home, bed time and nap time were very easy. We have our night time routine that hasn't changed since we've been home, but he's been fighting us a little bit at bedtime over the past couple of weeks. The Fisher Price Lullaby Baby Bedtime music that I found on You Tube has helped a lot. It tends to put the cat to sleep, too. I'd like to find a nice lullaby CD for him. He wants one of us in the room with him until he falls asleep. If we leave before he's completely asleep, he starts screaming and throwing blankets. Hopefully this is just a phase that will end soon. He does sleep straight through the night for about 11 hours.

He is doing a great job of adjusting and seems to be attaching to both of us. He's still doing a good job of eating and likes most foods. He's starting to do a much better job with meat and is starting to accept milk. He doesn't like corn or lettuce, but almost everything else works for him. He's gained a couple of pounds since we've been home.

We have another appointment at Riley in October with an Orthopedic Surgeon. The doctors did a great job in Bulgaria with correcting his club feet, but we'd like to see if there is anything we can do now that will help him as he grows. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful hospital with a great team of doctors so close to home.

We love Nikolas and are so blessed to be his parents. He's an amazing little boy who makes us laugh every single day. It's so fun to watch his personality come out and to see him grow and learn new things. We are so lucky to have him!!