55°

outside, that is.

The sun is shining and I am positively salivating at the thought of spring afternoons to come. We have months ahead of sub-freezing wind chills and inches of snow and ice. But, today, I am ready for spring.

We received word yesterday that Dr. K was in receipt of the in-brace x-ray and measured 18-20°, K, the orthotist, measured 17°, and Dr. D measured 22° - so all are in the same ballpark.

Excellent. Just excellent.

As I sit here waiting for the scramble of finding jackets, tying tennis shoes, and devouring apricots to commence, I am in awe of this little boy before me. This child, no longer a toddler, in his first pair of jeans (unable to be comfortably worn with braces and casts that filled his first two years). His black and white Vans, read to run the grass-filled backyard that terrified him as a child. His sweatshirt zipped, hood up, protecting him from the cool wind.

I remember that night in Chicago, dreading the months ahead. That tiny baby asleep in the travel crib, unaware of what was to come. It seemed like an eternity ahead, no proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. A whirlwind of fear, dread, uncertainty, and risk clouded my mind. In a sense, we feel like we lost so much time with him as a toddler. But, in reality, the journey was well worth the child we have gained.