Spring Break!

Last week friday we packed up and headed to Florida with Leigh's whole family, eleven of us in all. Lets just say we were more than ready for some warmer weather as the end of march can get very depressing here in Michigan. So we were off! Thankfully we were able to fly...I feel for those families that make the 20+ hour drive south from Michigan, its brutal. Trust me i've been in that back seat a few times riding down and it takes forever!!! Even with a fully charged walkman and DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince Summertime album blaring through your headphones, it's tough. Anyway, we were lucky enjoy to fly (thanks Mark) and our very first flight Grey got some special attention. He was able to sit in the cockpit! Here he is...being amazed.


After a few minutes of amazement we left to find our seats, but not before the pilot gave us a spare set of wings! no, not the plastic ones they give to every other kid, the real deal! Grey didn't care, but i thought it was pretty cool. :) Anyway, the flights went great, Aside from Grey jubilantly shouting at takeoff, he did wonderfully. AMazing what a bowl of goldfish, and a Curious George movie can do. :)

We made it, and the weather was incredible! Imediately we hit the beach. Last year the sound of the waves put grey to sleep...this year he wanted to "ride" them.


Here he is with pop, ridin. he loved it.

When Grey gets excited he wiggles his hands. Anyone thats met him has probably seen him do this. You can imagine what his little hands were doing here. :)
He loved the sand as well. But hasn't learned the proper beach/sand etiquette yet...he threw it around a lot.

The house we stayed at was great and actually worked out very well for Grey. It was open, had a lot of flat surfaces to roll around. (we brought his ride, he's really good at gettin around in that thing) they had a pool and spa. Grey loved it.
But it wasn't all just play...Leigh made sure that he worked on his walking and the tennis court made for a perfect place. Admittedly, we were both a little lax on therapy related stuff this trip, but as always, Leigh made it happen and worked him good.

Towards the end of the week the boys (except for Grey) took a charter and did some fishing. Given our collective fishing record in the past, we were simply hoping not to get skunked. Well, turned out we hit the right spot and we were slayin King Mackerel from the moment our first line went in. Here i am, hooked into a big one.

Here's my father-in-law with a shark! yeah, a real shark! so cool!
And finally the whole crew with our limit for the day.

So yes, we had a warm, relaxing, wonderful time in Florida!

One more thing...For those of you livin in colder States, you might relate to this. Have you ever had some one say before you leave for a warm place say "have a good time, bring back the warm weather." and you always respond with a "you bet i will!" haha. Well this year we kinda did. This Sunday it was like 82 in MI! incredible. So the 3 of us took a bike ride!
Grey loved it!

WE can't wait for summer!!!


P.S. props to Leigh for taking video and riding the bike :)

love to all,

Andy, Leigh, Grey

Greyson Neal Gibbs

:)

The Children's Museum

This week, my mom and I took Grey and two of his cousins to the Grand Rapid's Children's Museum He LOVED it! He has been borrowing a wheelchair from his PT and he had the best time zooming around! He also had on his KAFOs so if there was something that he could stand at...he did!! Here are just a few pictures from our day!

Here he is enjoying the giant lite brite!

He is learning his shapes...so we heard "ti-angle" for the next 20 minutes!

Here he is standing at the bubble table and the sand table...such a big boy!!

What a cutie!!

I hope you all are enjoying your spring!! We are off to Florida next week and can't wait for some warm weather!!

Much love from the Gibbs'!!

A picture worth a thousand words...

To those not living in the SB world, this picture may not mean much. To me, this picture means more than I can say.


The scar (which you can barely see)
The standing
The undies


I knew there would be a scar, I hoped that there would be standing, and I had no idea if he would ever wear undies.

I know that his bladder can change anytime, so right now, we are so thankful about this huge milestone.

He's basically Superman. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!

Happy Birthday to the best Daddy around!!



We Love You!!!

Love,
Leigh and Grey

Grey's new gear...

Today, Grey got his very first pair of KAFOs (knee ankle foot orthoses). These are braces that go above his knee and can be locked so that the knee has complete support when standing. I spent many nights worrying and debating weather or not we should stick with his GRAFOS (ground-reaction ankle foot orthoses) or take the leap and go with KAFOs. So far I am THRILLED with our decision! Grey's quads are extremely weak and it is nearly impossible for him to stand for any length of time without some sort of support for his knees, and trying to walk...forget about it. His knees would just buckle. We have been using knee immobilizers for months and for standing and walking they have been working pretty well, although they were getting much too small and we knew we didn't have much time left with them.

Grey with his knee immobilizers on

So, I went in to talk with Gabe...the most amazing orthotics guy around and he showed me something that I didn't even know existed. It's a KAFO that can turn back into a GRAFO...amazing.

See how it attaches near the ankle? Awesome.

At that point, it was a no-brainer. We knew that these were the braces for Grey! Before I show you what his new braces look like, I thought that we could take a stroll down memory lane and reminisce a little about his past AFOs...

Can you even handle this picture? I can't.

Grey got his first teensy tiny pair when he was just 3 months old. He had a curve to his foot, that if left untreated...would just get "curvier" so we strapped these bad boys on for about 20-22 hours a day and voila! his feet were (and still are) straight and beautiful!

I'm not sure what's cuter...the tiny AFOs or those chubby little legs!

Next came a pair that he only wore at night. This pair was to help with his plantar flexion (basically they pointed his foot down).

Here we are putting them on

and here he is just being cute. :)

Next he got his "standing AFOs" this was the first pair to help with standing.

Who is this kid?

snacks are always a good motivator

He also figured out how to take this pair off

His next pair were GRAFOS....they give a bit more support at the knee, you can tell in these pictures that there is an insert that goes above his knee in the front.


Next, it was time for the casting of his new KAFOs...here is Gabe doing what he does best...

Grey's just keeping himself busy with the IPOD

And there you have it!!

How did we get from so little to...so big...so fast???

Grey at therapy...standing so tall!

Grey with his brand spakin' new KAFOs!!

I heart life

A few days ago Grey got a new t-shirt...

...and he loves it.