HOORAY!

I will try to settle myself down a little so I can write this without sounding like a complete idiot, but I have to say, I am so happy right now it's ridiculous! I had forgotten how much I missed the little things... I'm getting ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning.

The cast removal itself was a non-issue, which was funny, since that's what I was most concerned about. But the saw was smaller and less noisy than I had anticipated, and I think we had prepared Zach for it reasonably well. He didn't look scared, didn't cry, nothing, as they cut the cast off (4 cuts total). Then once it was off, he moved his left leg a little, said ouch, and then said "mama, can you put something on my knee so I can't move it?" Apparently this is a typical response, kids feel the stiffness, and it's such a foreign feeling to them that they interpret it as pain, and don't want to move. So we were very gingerly moving him around as he got an x-ray, got dressed, and got into the car (in his own carseat!!!).

We headed to Wendy's for our lunch celebration before we took Scott back to work; Wendy's was Zach's choice because he knows he gets a frosty ice cream treat with his meal. :) And the best part - he sat in a regular chair next to Scott! No more sitting in the stroller or on our laps to eat. Whoo hoo!!

Our biggest challenge now is clearly going to be the itching. The nurse (?) who cut his cast off said his skin actually looked great, that we did a good job (not sure what exactly we did, but thanks). But there's some red patches here and there, quite a bit of dry skin, etc. That's all to be expected, of course. We thought a bath might help, so when we got home I headed straight for the tub.

Zach did NOT want to take a bath. But I quickly realized why - he thought we still had to do the sponge bath thing; he told me I was going to the wrong place when I headed for the bathroom upstairs. Once I got the tub filled - he was excited. I had to go track down his favorite plastic animals so he could play with them in the tub. It's ridiculous - I almost cried seeing how happy he was to be in the tub, making his animals talk, do back-flips into the water, etc. I had one heck of a time getting him out of the tub when the water was getting cold!

It was also obvious the water felt good - there's a reason people are supposed to swim to exercise their muscles! He was able to move around pretty well in the tub, and when I got him up even stood (with assistance) for a little bit. And when I put him in the crib, I put him on his back to see if he could roll over onto his belly - and after a second or two he did it!

While I wasn't trying to move his leg around too much to test things out, I did get the impression that he is the most comfortable keeping the leg in the position it was in the cast - almost fully extended, with a slight bend in the knee. It seemed to hurt if I bent the knee too far, or moved it closer to his chest. So we'll slowly but surely work on that.

As far as next steps, we are just supposed to encourage Zach to walk as soon as he wants to. He is completely capable of walking on the leg right now - he just doesn't understand that and doesn't like the feeling. We can go to physical therapy if we decide we need it, but the goal is just to assist him with walking. I don't really want to take him to any more doctors than we need to, so we'll keep that option open if necessary.

We'll also be going back in 6 weeks, and then in expanding intervals for them to keep an eye on the progress of his leg. Not because of concerns about it healing (we saw the x-rays - it's definitely healed!), but because they want to make sure that the growth of that leg stays on track with the other leg. Apparently in young kids that can be a problem in the long run, so if we stay on top of it and get it checked annually or so, we can address any potential issues if they come up.

Whew, I think I'm coming down from my high. But boy, does this feel good!

Oh, and before I forget - one of the little things I didn't realized I missed? Being able to pick up my kid by the armpits!! Sounds weird, I know, but if you have a little one at home, I challenge you to not pick them up, in any way, by the armpits for a few hours. Sit with them on your lap, and then try to get up without adjusting or picking them up by the armpits. It's not easy. So boy, was it a delight to snuggle with some books with Zach, and then be able to just pick him up when we were done!