Good things come to those who wait.....

I started this post in the airport last week but didn't get a chance to finish....

Today we were up at 4am to catch our 6am flight to Montreal for our long awaited appointment at the Shriners hospital. Ryder did amazing on the flight and I give all the credit to the new car seat we bought that fits on the plane seat. What a difference to have him strapped in and not freaking out trying to escape from his seat or my lap. He knew he had to sit just like he does in the car and there were no tears. YAY! We arrived and were greeted right away by a Shriner and brought straight to the hospital. We were there by 8:00 and our appointment was not until 1:00! The staff and social worker were amazing! I was able to leave Ryder's car seat and our jackets in the office and we were giving a food allowance for the two of us for the full day. One of the staff members gave us a tour of the hospital then our waiting began. 5 hours seemed like forever trying to keep Ryder occupied. There were toys and t.v.'s but not the best set up for little kids like Ryder who can't walk and just want to crawl around on the floor. His knees were disgustingly dirty and I had to wash his hands about every ten minutes. Not that it was a dirty place at all, just like any public place not the best for a little guy crawling all about. During our appointment we saw a occupational therapist, physio therapist and the Doctor on his case. The therapists seemed to be VERY impressed with all the things he is doing. They were very excited to see him crawling with reciprocal movements and pull to standing the "proper" way (pushing off with one flat foot). When they gave him a walker to test out they got even more excited and said he has such strong potential to walk INDEPENDENTLY one day!!! It felt really good to hear such a positive predication for the future. Before then it has always been "he's so young that it's too hard to tell". They also said they strongly feel he's going to take off in the next six months. I also feel that way, I mean just look how far he's come in the past 6 months! I left feeling really good, tiered but good! He needs AFO's made and they were prepared to put me up in a hotel and get them made right then but it was Thursday and with the weekend they would have needed me to stay until Tuesday. I didn't come prepared for that so they said they will contact our Physio therapist and decide if it's cheaper for them to fly me back and put us up in a hotel for two nights or just pay to have them made here in Saint John. I am really hoping they get made here so we don't have to make that trip again but I'll do whatever needs to be done. After his appointment a Shriner then drove us back to the airport where we waited another five hours for our plane!! Sucks living in such a small place that there aren't very many direct flights per day. Anyhow Ryder was amazing!! No fussing at all and he laughed the whole flight back home. A man sitting in front of us even complimented Ryder on his behavior and said how impressed he was. He mentioned that he saw us earlier on our first flight and what a long day that must have been for him. Yup id say a 20 hour travel day for a 2 year old with only a 45 min nap is a pretty LONG day.

We were very happy to get home and we both passed right out. Still waiting to hear whats going on with the AFO's. Hopefully we can get them made really soon, it will be great to give him that extra stability.

                                          

The new car seat is a life saver (lol) and the new car seat cart is more than convenient! :) 

Cat nap :)