Cast pictures!!

Thought I'd better add some pictures of Russell in his second cast.
I just think he's so adorable.
Oh yes.

We get to choose the color of the cast each time, and this time we chose green.

We get lots of comments on his cast.  Most people agree he's either a future football player or current ninja turtle.  I vote for the second. Ninja turtles are tough. And awesome.

The cut out you can see on his right, above, is for his lungs to be able to expand, and so that his ribs are able to come out (they sink into his back right now, due to the rotation of the spine).

The cut out in the front is for his stomach (so it has room when he eats) and for his lungs to be able to expand.

The cast extends about four inches below his waistline, you just can't see it.

The physical therapist came yesterday, and we have started some new exercises for him.  Mostly to strengthen his stomach muscles.  The cast tends to weaken them.  We're also working on getting him to be able to stand up without holding on to anything, so that if he's in the middle of the yard, or the carpet with nothing to hold onto he's not stuck.  He bounces on an exercise ball, rocks back and forth, and steps off and on a balance board (the same one we use for Tyler in vision therapy), have him push the exercise ball around, and we just have him get down on the floor and get up over and over.  His arms are really strong, but his legs and torso need more strengthening.  He did so great yesterday.