Family firsts

As the last week of July rambled by us, the boys of the McCarthy family had some first time experiences! For Nathan, it was the start of of his first physical therapy since breaking his leg. Liesel and I were very surprised with his orthopedic doctor did not mention anything about him needing any physical therapy after being in a cast for 8 weeks. In these weeks post-cast, we noticed that Nathan had a strange limp, and even with some coaching from his parents, it never improved. So Liesel took him to his pediatrician, and she agreed with us and referred him for some physical therapy. On Monday, Nath went for his first session, and the therapist immediately noticed that his right hamstring was much tighter than the left. One of the measurements she took was the angle between the upper and lower leg. The average is 10 degrees, but Nathan's right leg measured 58 degrees. She worked with him during the session and he really enjoyed. She also gave him exercises to do at home twice a day, that should help his leg.
Nathan also started with one on one swimming lessons this week. He had two lessons and his confidence level since last year has improved 200%. He is loving the water and is very keen to learn the correct technique to use in the pool! So on Saturday afternoon, while Liesel and Josh napped, Nath and I headed to our gym's wimming pool so he could show me what he has been learning. We had a great time together in the pool as he showed me the different floats, some new strokes, and his new found confidence in jumping into the pool!

Josh's first is a lot more daunting to parents as he takes his first strides towards becoming potty-trained! He has shown some great enthusiasm after successfully using the potty. Liesel has been quite creative in thinking of various awards to offer him after "going" successfully. One of his rewards was a trip to our local library, one of his favorite places. We went there on Saturday morning, and gave him plenty of free time to enjoy himself in the play area, picking out DVDs and playing on the computer! This also gave Liesel some time to browse and get a batch of new book and DVDs for the boys to enjoy during the week. Josh is progressing pretty well, with more successes than accidents at the moment :) Hopefully, the accidents will become few and further apart! Ah, what a wonderful thought it would be to finally have him diaper-independent!!!

Nath enjoying the "store" at the library!

Now, it's time for my first...........
Unlike Nathan and Josh's experiences, mine is not in any way encouraging, flattering or positive. In my case, I believe (for the first time ever) that I have fractured a bone! Luckily it's not a heavily utilized bone such as the tibia, fibula or any other significant bone. The bone in question in my fourth toe on my left foot! I also do not have a glamorous story related to this fracture. I wish I could say if was a sporting injury, or a car rode over my foot, but I can't. You see, we have this gate at the entrance to our living room (which my mom should know very well now), which protects our valuable electronics and games from our own Hurricane Josh. Well, at lunch time, I needed to get something out of the living room, and this gate that I have navigated flawlessly hundred's of times before, stood it's ground as my foot swung over it. Somehow, I miscalculated the height of the gate for the first time in history, and my three small toes had a direct impact with the corner of the gate and the wall.  Since then, the small and middle toes have returned to normal, but toe #4 is badly swollen and is excruciating painful to the touch! Even now, hours later, as I type this with the toes strapped, the pain is significant! I am really hoping that by strapping it securely, I will be able to get through my beach volleyball games tomorrow without too much agony :-O!!