These shoes were made for walking....well, standing for now.

A few months ago Nicholas got splints and tennis shoes. Very Cute!! We were so excited! Anything that aids in his progression is exciting. We weren't sure if he would like them because they force his foot to stay at an angle and he can't move them. He does not like to be restrained. They provide him with ankle support for possible standing in the future.

He did very well though so we moved on to the next step. The Prone Stander!!! (I feel like there should be a drum roll here.) The rule was if he does well with the splints we could move on to the prone stand. So I google this contraption to see what it looks like. Ok, not too bad. I bet Nicholas will like this. It will add a new position for him other than sitting and laying down.

So our dear Travis arrives to lend us the stander. Below are pictures. Scary isn't it? You're probably thinking "who in the world invented that and why would you put your sweet baby boy in that thing?" I thought the same thing. It was all exciting when I googled it but once that thing showed up and we had to put Nicholas in....that was a whole different story. So this things lays down to strap the kids in because you can't strap them in while they are standing up. They would fall over and out. Nicholas HATES to be on his back. Strike number one! Then, this things reminds me of the times he got his x-rays done. They laid him down and pull his arms over his head, strap his arm down, strap his legs down and roll him all over the place. Very traumatizing for mom and child!! Strike number two!

Travis and Frank (Nicholas' PT) look at me expectantly. Lay him down, Lisa. The mom in me says "Heck No!" It is just like sending him off to Gateway School. No way do I want to do it but I have to realize this will benefit Nicholas. I promised Nicholas I would do everything I could to give him the best life possible. So I lay him down in it. They strap him up. Then they slowly raise it up to a standing position. Below is the look on his face.

Not cool, mom!!! In the picture below, Frank is grabbing his hand to calm him down. Yeah, right!! This is a good thing Nicholas. Is he convinced yet? I am in the back ground wringing my hands together itching to grab him out of that thing. After a few minutes we get him out. He just gets too agitated. I am a little let down. I do want him to like this.

Instructions: keep practicing with him to see if we can get him to like this. Twice a day for 30 minutes each.

Below is Nicholas today. He LOVES his prone stand. He gets so excited. He starts his little cooing sounds and just acts like he is "all that." Very exciting!

By the way, below would be Rochelle's arm. Rochelle is Nicholas' CNA who we all love and adore. We'll have to formally introduce her later-for now you just get the arm :)

New and excting things to come! Praise God!!