Crutches & Braces

Gracie enjoyed her Father's Day weekend. Doug & Gracie invited Keith & Cal and Mick & Zackery over to camp out in the backyard. They showed a movie and played Wii on the overhead screen Doug attached to the outside of the house. We borrowed tents from my dad, and Doug built a small outdoor fire. I grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for them, and they roasted marshmallows at dark. Because I'm not crazy about sleeping outside, I retreated to my bed at bedtime. Mick & Zack won the Survivor Nashville award. They were the only two to stay in the tents all night.

Over the weekend Gracie practiced walking with arm crutches. Laura has loaned us a pair from Vanderbilt so she can practice even more. Laura thought this would be a good idea to get Gracie to use less of her arms when she walks. It sounds backwards but she relies on her arms less in the crutches than with the walker. It's going well. We just have to persuade her to lean forward. When she feels unsure, she leans backwards. The crutches will catch her if she leans forward.

Gracie's new braces arrived today. Laura put them on her at therapy. She will start out by wearing them an hour a day and work up to wearing them full time. We will watch carefully here at first to make sure the fit is right. If not, the braces can be adjusted. They came with a pair of New Balance tennis shoes. They're cute, but we've been very happy with the way Chucks fit over her braces. We'll try both and see which tennis shoes she prefers.