Cast off!!

And I don't mean knitting... Carl FINALLY got his cast off!! 

 It was almost as exciting as Kaia's birthday.  

 This is what WE see from the car when we patiently wait for him to walk down this sidewalk to the car every day when we pick him up from school.  Here is the very last time he was walking with a cast.  He isn't going to miss it even a little tiny bit.  

He got it off last Wednesday.  We all went with him.  He didn't have an appointment, there were no appointments until June!!  The docs told him to just come on in and hope for the best.  So we all went figuring it would take forever and we could entertain him.  We came at 330 and we were lucky enough that they saw him BEFORE clinic hours began at 4pm.  

They wouldn't let the kids watch the actual cast removal, they said it was too loud and scary.  I don't know what kind of primitive tool they used.  But it worked.  

From a sitting position, almost immediately, Carl was able to lift his leg almost horizontal... something he wasn't able to do after 4 months of physio therapy.  Now the challenge seems to be getting to to bend down past 90 degrees.  The wound is still stiff and a little sore.  He also has to build the confidence to put away his crutches and develop the faith that his leg won't give out on him.  And he has to built up all his muscle again, 4 months with no exercise has taken it's toll.  All in good time, we are definitely on the road to recovery.  This is best case scenario.  Carl has even already been on his stationary bike trying to strengthen it a little at a time.  

 

 And the real reason I am so happy he lost his cast is that he can DRIVE again!!  Gosh have I hated driving everywhere, this traffic is taking it's toll on my mental health.  Here is the stoplight on the way to hospital.  We only have 2 in town.  This one is broken.  Imagine the CHAOS!!  And what did we pass about 50 feet before the stoplight?  5 policemen chatting at the side of the road.  Think they could pass their time by directing traffic?  Guess not.

 And in the meantime to entertain ourselves...

Theo and I went to music makers on Friday.  We dropped Kaia and arrived early, Claudia was still having breakfast.  So Theo kept her company and had 3 bowls of granola and yogurt.  Then he sat with Yves on the table and ate the popcorn we popped for music makers.  Then the baby was getting breakfast so he found himself a bowl of oatmeal.  Then he finished and Yves abandoned his so Theo ate his bowl of oatmeal too.  Then he was STILL the first kid at the table after music makers making himself a bowl of fruit.  This is all after having a hearty breakfast of bread and peanut butter at home before we left.  Staring to sound like the little caterpillar?  Maybe he just needs a nice green leaf.

 This week it was his turn to be driven around.

 And as for Kaia, she was given face paints for her birthday.
Every parents dream.

 And then she discovered she can do her own face painting in the mirror!!
She is also VERY proud of making these popcorn holders for herself and Theo for movie night.

And lastly, this is Kaia's 5 year old big girl room.  All her hand made birthday cards on the left (I think it is super sweet that so many people made cards and drawings for her), her art in the middle, and the birthday flowers for flair.  Her room is awesome these days... she just needs her bed back from Daddy :)