Finally!

I started the end of our spica saga HERE and I'm just getting around to filling in the blanks.  So, as I was saying...

The orthotics office was the first time we'd been able to set Molly down since the cast came off. She was elated! She scooted spica-style clear across the table back and forth for awhile. Here she is, her happy little self:

 Her legs naturally fell into a full split any time she was on her back. 

 After we picked up the brace we walked out of the building, down the sidewalk and through the tunnel that leads to the hospital.  We didn't even go back to the car...just walked on into the registration waiting room we know so well.  Molly was so talkative and happy and optimistic:)  She wanted down so badly but hospital floors...never!

 She got a chance once we got to a room and she was thrilled.  She sat there kicking her legs like windshield wipers on high speed.  The cribs are roomy and firm...perfect for taking a new pair of legs for a spin.

 It took them four tries to get her IV in.  She has bad IV veins and it's always such an awful process.  Once it was in, her dinner tray arrived and things were looking up.  She was quite a fan of hospital food (her first taste since during all of our previous admittances I was nursing and I was the one getting the trays) and we were fans of being able to pick up the phone and order a well-balanced toddler meal complete with delivery and clean up.

 "Legs? Check. Feet? Check. Hips? Check.  Toes?  Check.  Now if I could just get this thing off..."

 "I can't bear to watch"

 New favorite thing number one: wagon rides.
Once she got a taste you couldn't walk past a wagon without the promise of putting her in it...and there are wagons EVERYWHERE!  In previous CHOA stays we hadn't been able to utilize many of their resources.  We'd used the parent ones (laundry, business center, etc.) but she was either too little or hooked up to so many things that we simply didn't venture out to see the stuff they have for kids.  But for this particular stay, she was taking in enough by mouth that they didn't order IV fluids and we were detached from all machines except for a few hours of meds a day.

 New favorite thing number two: an abacus.  They have a wonderful library with an excellent board book and toddler/preschool section.  We checked out the maximum allowed everyday we were there which kept Molly busy.  They also had some great toys and puzzles she enjoyed.

 New and MOST favorite thing number three: FISH!!!  Moll's added a new word to her ever expanding repertoire..."ish" and she repeated it over and over from the moment you put her in the wagon until the moment we arrived at the lobby fish tank.  Ryan and I have been talking for weeks about how we'd like to celebrate her cast-free-ness and had decided on a family trip to the GA Aquarium for Molly's first big fish experience and now after this past week in the hospital it's evident that our plan is just perfect for she is in love with them!!  We plan to sqeeze it in sometime before the new year.  Here she is saying "ish":

 Channel 11 and the Atlanta Thrashers mascot (and some jersey-wearing kid) were there one afternoon shooting a story on a little boy and his family.  The end.

 On every floor there are family play rooms.  Ours had this nifty pretend MRI machine and doctor play area.

 Also the coolest soft block pit where Molly and Ryan built towers and knocked them down again over and over.

We had even more fun the next day...on a different, not-yet-loaded, memory card.  So I guess this post shouldn't be entitled "finally" as there is more to come...tomorrow...goodnight.