Dont ever do this!

I tried to fix Grace's night brace myself when it was giving her trouble and Brigid was out of the country. It started innocently enough. First I tried heating it directly over the stove but started the velcro on fire. Blew it out and then went to indirect heat. I heated a knife and then used it to heat the brace and try to bend it out where it was tight. Well, one thing led to another and before I knew it I had cut the entire left side of the foot part of the brace off. And it still wasnt fitting right.

The worst part of the whole thing was I had to show it to Brigid!!!

Good and bad!

We went in two weeks ago for our appt with Mary and Brigid.

The bad news: Mary does not like the way Grace is walking. She pointed out that Grace can do the walks correctly but is not personally motivated to do them. She only does them when told. She said this is typical of a 7 yr old and that in two years she'll really care and then she'll pick up on doing the walking all of the time. This was not true before summer. Sometime over summer, I started having to continually remind her during her practice walking to do it right. For a while, I was petrified Mary was going to drop her from the program and tell us to come back in two years. But instead, we just continue and when Gracie is ready to do them right and keep it in her mind to do them right, she'll be ready.

The good news - no, the GREAT news is she grew but kept her range. And that is awesome.

We go back six weeks after we last saw them and get rechecked. I still have to remind Grace to walk correctly so I dont see that part changing. But Mary said a 7 yr old who is obsessed with fixing this would be a sick 7 yr old - its just not in their makeup at that age.

So I guess it wasnt really that bad after all. Just not what I would have wanted.