I caved.

I gave in.

I lost it.

I finally caved.. to my emotions.

As I sit playing with his cute toes, massaging his perfect little feet.. that was it.

The floodgates opened.

I realized how much more comfortable he is without his boots and bar.  He falls asleep almost instantly when I rub his feet. He can curl up perfect on my chest when I pick him up - he falls sound asleep within minutes.  If that.

But..
Bar - less snuggles won't keep his feet from relapsing.

More massaging each day won't continue the progress we've made thus far.

Playing with the cute toes longer won't prevent the pain of clubfoot when he's older.

So I played with his toes for 1 more minute.. massaged for o
1 more minute.. then held him as close as possible for 2 minutes. 

And then put the boots and bar back on.

What did my brave boy do?

Slept through it.

Thank God.

Best. Baby. Ever.

I didn't think It was possible for one person to be so perfectly, wonderfully awesome.

Who? My boy.

Sure.. All parents say that...

Especially when their baby starts sleeping through the night (which he *kinda* did two nights in a row!).

So why is he so awesome?

He *kinda* slept through the night, his first night in a new bed & with his new boots and bar.

It makes all the crying at the hospital yesterday worth it.

As does his straight feet!!

Best. Kid. Ever.

Xo.

T - 20 hours!

..but who's counting? (Yeah.. I wrote this Tuesday and forgot about it.. Oops! !)

Until? Baby boy's casts get removed! Woo!

I have to admit, it was nowhere near as challenging as initially expected.

Club foot..
Talipes Equinovarus..
Congenital Foot deformity..
Crooked feet :)

At our 20 week scan we found out that our boy would be born with 'club foot' - our Dr (at the time) was not overly familiar with the 'newer' treatments and said words such as "if he ever walks," "long road ahead" and other scary things.

Why he said such things is beyond me. Even with 'old ways' of 'fixing' club foot (breaking feet & knees in some situations) - people who have it (typically - there's always extreme cases) live a normal life - with the deformity  usually completely unknown to others.

Stupid Dr. 

Sure, we have had to adapt..

Casts can be annoying when dressing/changing a baby..

Sponge baths for Babe leads to half baths for the parents..

Weekly travel to the city is not ideal with a newborn..

Seeing a brand new baby in casts is not easy..

People asking why he has casts is not  easy..

And the list goes on..

But we have learned so much.. about ourselves and our amazing son..

He is such a strong little man. 
He did not cry for the first 3 castings. When he did - he was comforted as soon as cuddles were given.  Same for when he had his surgery. I can only hope I show him the same kind of strength throughout his life.

He has barely fussed .. With or without casts.
I'm sorry, but if I had casts from my hips to the tip of my toes, I would complain.  Sure, he doesn't know any different.. but it still cannot be comfortable all of the time. He is such a content baby.. even at his 'fussiest' - he would be content within minutes.. how amazing is this boy.

I have never felt so proud. Blessed. Thankful. Lucky...

After 6 weeks of serial castings, an Achilles tenotomy,  and 3 more weeks of casts - we're excited for the next step!