Walking in April

It's April and we have had all kinds of weather to walk in - cold, snowy, rainy, warm, and sunny.
Yes, we even walk outside during April showers - but I couldn't hold an umbrella and take a picture at the same time - so you'll just have to ask my neighbors about the crazy Mom and SuperKid out walking in the rain and puddles - our neighbors are used to our crazy antics. We came home one day from walking outside and I found mud on the bottom of Kevin's shoe...only it wasn't mud...it happens! I just have to be careful of wet and "muddy" shoes because it's his only pair.

I love that we have been able to get out of the house and walk around the neighborhood. Kevin has been making excellent progress walking in his AFO brace and he can easily walk around the entire block - often times twice a day. Our current routine is we walk around the block and when we get back to our driveway, I bring out the stroller and we cross the street, when Kevin gets tired of walking he gets to ride in the stroller. It really says a lot that I can have the stroller out and he doesn't automatically want to ride in it until he needs to because he's tired - this makes me so happy!

Now that Kevin is able to walk some distance, this is a great opportunity to wear the Mollii suit (3 days a week for an hour). Kevin was pretty mad when I wanted him to wear the Mollii suit - it's about impossible trying to get a skin tight suit on him if he doesn't want it on. But now we have a good routine putting it on first thing in the morning. He spends the first 30 minutes in the suit helping me in the kitchen - making and eating a smoothie and unloading the dishwasher. Then we do our standing exercises and stair exercises. The last 30 minutes in the Mollii suit we walk outside - again this progress makes me so happy!

The physical therapist says we want to see Kevin walking with a good stride, where he is able to get one foot ahead of the other foot while walking - instead of short shuffle steps - this is not only good form but also will help stretch his hip flexors. Some days are better than others. Sometimes he will have a good stride if motivated to see something and sometimes we'll have an off day if he's too distracted while walking. I've been able to capture a few photos of his good stride. I even noticed in the photos that his arms are down and it looks like his arms are swinging in a cross motion too.

A cold day

He looks so casual and relaxed in this photo

Walking at the park to the playground

Smiling on Mollii suit day!

Wow - look at that stride!