First steps

Oliver is 19 months old and still not walking.

It's okay, though, because he is a lot closer to walking than was Jacob, my other Fragile X child.  

Jacob didn't walk until his was three, and Jacob never crawled.  

I'm thrilled that Oliver is crawling and making progress towards walking. 

This week our DAFOs came in the mail.  I ordered these foot braces through CascadeDafo.com. They were super helpful and friendly, and they walked me through the ordering process.  Our physical therapist recommended that we order the Leap Frog version. They give Oliver the stability he needs in his ankles.  Those with Fragile X often have low tone and for Oliver that makes it hard for him to bear weight in his ankles properly. They weren't cheap- $150.  But, how do you put a price tag on walking?

At first he didn't know what to think about them...

He started warming up to the idea, and our PT (Physical Therapist) tried to distract him with a book while he learned to stand in his new braces and shoes. 

(I need to get him a larger size show to fit the DAFOs, but that shouldn't be a problem.  I'll buy the next size up of these Granimals at WalMart.)

We are using a weighed down pretend shopping cart as a walker.  

Oliver pushes it around and takes small steps behind it.  It works beautifully!

When our Occupational Therapist came the next day, Oliver was even more comfortable walking.

He even took a few steps with only a single hand hold from Dad.

We are on our way!  Such a big boy!