Live from Flower Mound, Texas!

This just in...Texas in July is somewhat toasty. And since this heat is crushing my humor and creativity, y'alls (yes...they say that here) can just enjoy these pictures and we'll talk about our feelings another time.

Some quality pool time is a necessity down here.

The cousins playing nicely together.

I believe most of you know her.

Cousin Allison.

Cousin Caroline.

Now with more Emily-ness.

If nothing else, I am a man of my word. 

I deviated from the original course by posting about our brief excursion to the Windy City. The reaction was swift and ruthlessly negative. 

"Nobody cares!"

"Your team sucks!"

"Show us the kid, you narcissistic hack!"

And so on. 

Therefore, in an effort to pander to my worldwide audience, (look at the chart on the right...the stats don't lie!) I bring you news of the child. 

Ooh, didn't that sound dramatic? Well, get over it because I actually don't have too much. We met with Dr. DeLuca this past Monday so he could take a gander at her new shoe lift. We've been putting her in it about once a day to give her a chance to get familiar with the feel. Because she's mostly crawling and doing some cruising along couches and coffee tables, the shoe isn't terribly helpful just yet. At least, according to our humble and non-orthopedic opinions. 

However, we were interested as to what DeLuca was going to say regarding the size of the lift. If you'll think back to this post, we had a budding doctor-to-doctor controversy as Dr. Paley felt the shoe lift should be twice as big as it is. Well, DeLuca looked at it and was clearly on the same train. He didn't want to say definitively, but he felt some more time would be necessary before we made any adjustments. "Give me a call in a month or so and we'll take another look," he said. 

It's worth noting that, in exactly one month's time, we'll be returning from our visit with Dr. Paley. Funny how that works out, right? If I was a high-profile athlete, I would point to the heavens right now. And maybe pound my chest a couple times. And probably pay someone else to write this. Right. Moving on.

Other fun from this past week includes Emily figuring out how to clap...while with her grandparents. That's a fun phone call. 

"Hey, does Emily know how to clap?" 

"Um...no." 

"Well, she does now."

Apparently, she took a look at her right hand...gazed at her left hand...and smacked them together which both surprised and amazed her. She's been enjoying it ever since. There are now constant ovations in the house. Super for the self-esteem. 

Finally, in what will be a string of firsts for Team Tredwell, we will all be headed down to Texas this Tuesday to visit with Emily's Uncle Pete, Aunt Kathy, cousin Caroline and cousin Allison. This will be the first trip to the Lone Star State for all three of us, as well as Emily's first plane ride. As excited as I am to see my only brother and his family, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous for this flight. Emily has been the most wonderful baby...mellow, engaging, and cute enough to make a bishop kick out a stained-glass window...but she's still an 11-month old. An 11-month old that's trapped in a pressurized metal tube for over three hours. You get the idea. Say a prayer for us. I'll take all the help I can get. 

That's it for now. Perhaps I'll delve into the world of road-blogging this week. Live from Texas! It's The Gray Area! Oh, the excitement...

Only slightly Emily-related.

I realize this blog was designed to keep you up to date on all things Emily. And, clearly, that top picture is NOT Emily. That's because mommy and daddy felt it was crucial for our little girl to get some quality time with her grandparents. 

As parents, we are responsible for so very much. We teach, we comfort, we counsel, we discipline..the list is endless. But the simple fact is, every once in a while, kids need spoiling. It's in the rules. Look it up. That job falls squarely on the shoulders of the grandparents. It's not just their right, it's their responsibility. So, being the model parents that we are, we sent Emily off to Grammy and Grampy's house for a few days. 

With some time off, what were we to do? My first reaction is always, in an almost Tourrette's-like fashion, "Chicago!" So off we went. 

(By the way, did everyone catch that? I totally made it sound like Emily needed time away from us. No, I didn't plan this trip months ago. It's what Emily needs. It's really in HER best interests. Got it? Back to the story.)

Being a life-long Cubs fan, I grabbed (read: overpaid for) a couple of prime seats four rows from the field just past first base. They were on the visitor side, which forced us to be surrounded by Braves fans, but, I mean, who cares? WE'RE FOUR ROWS FROM THE FIELD. We got to our seats well in advance of the first pitch where I sat in utter disbelief at our location, mumbling to myself "this is unreal...this is so cool...unbelievable..." while Kate just smiled and shook her head. 

Several hours, hot dogs, Old Styles and cotton candies later, it was time to head back to the hotel. We spent the next day wandering around downtown Chicago, dodging raindrops, eating too much and drinking even more. Before we knew it, we were on a plane home. 

Everybody seemed to enjoy their time. Emily loved spending time with her grandparents. Grampy got to show her off at his favorite lunch spot and introduced her to donut holes. He's no rookie!

As much fun as it was, it's good to be back home with our girl. 

Enjoy the pictures. I promise a post in the very near future that will be chock-full of all the Emily-ness you've come to expect from The Gray Area.

Count 'em...one, two, three rows between us and the field. Awesome.

This is really the only reason Kate agrees to come here.

How do YOU think the game is going? 

Despite the loss, we managed to get a nice picture at the end of the night.

Red, White, Blue and Gray.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Her first lift.

A recent visit to the prosthetist resulted in Emily's first lift. As you can see above, a molded, hard plastic AFO (Ankle Foot Orthotic) combined with a three cm lift on the right shoe of her stylish pink New Balance has her a little closer to even than she was before. The AFO produces the stability she needs, and the lift cuts into that seven cm discrepancy between the two legs. 

In the few days we've had this, she's tried it out a few times, struggling to get used to the rigid ankle joint and added weight. Of course, she's still not even 11-months old, so she's still figuring out how all her own parts work. Tack on the fact that it's summer, and the thought of putting her in knee socks, a brace and sneakers seems somewhat, I don't know...un-American? Does that work? Sure, why not. 

Anyway, with this new lift, we've got our first bit of doctor-to-doctor controversy. We were in touch with Dr. Paley recently, updating him as to Emily's progress. Paley came back with an e-mail suggesting we should really come in for an MRI (to get an accurate measurement of the discrepancy) and a consultation so HE can put together a proper lift for her. Now, if you'll recall, Paley is located in West Palm Beach, so shooting down for an appointment is going to take more than an afternoon. But he's the best in the world with this stuff. This is our daughter. What would YOU do? Exactly. We're flying down in August. 

Paley's belief is that Ems should have a lift on her shoe that is whatever-the-discrepancy-is, minus one cm. With the current estimation, that would double the size of the lift she currently has. This, of course, flies in the face of what Dr. DeLuca has us doing. DeLuca's contention is that a bigger lift would add bulk and weight, making it difficult for Ems to get around. Valid point. Let's get it on! 

Not much we can do in the meantime. We'll continue to give her opportunities to try out this new lift. And she'll get used to it. And she'll continue to get stronger. And more confident. And more amazing. It's kinda her thing.

Staff breakfast.

In an effort to keep morale high here at The Gray Area, we like to venture out as a group periodically. We do team-building activities, attend various social gatherings and basically try to get to know one another in venues outside the work environment. These photos, complete with a brief bio of each contributor, are from Saturday's staff breakfast on the deck at Lyman Orchards.

Tim Tredwell - Founder, Chief Writer - The man behind the original idea for The Gray Area was inspired to create the site when multiple inquiries regarding his growing family combined with his lack of interest in making phone calls. 
Kate Tredwell - Director of Photography -A nurse in her spare time, Kate is rarely pictured as she spends roughly five days a week behind the lens of her Nikon, which is a shame because she is continually voted "Best Looking" by the interns. 
Emily Tredwell - Producer - Every picture, every storyline, every aspect of this site, is produced by this kid. She's got a gift. 

This is just one more reason...

...why I'll never be father of the year. This picture absolutely cracks me up. 

Ten months, two days and five more pictures.

I really think her "determined" look is my favorite. Tell me this kid won't be able to get through surgeries and rehab. She's going to be tougher than all of us.

On the move!

Rainbows and Care Bears and lollipops.

I will be the first to admit that this blogging thing is hard. 

That sounds so annoyingly stupid (Wah! Typing out a few thoughts and posting a picture is too tough! Wah!), but, in my opinion, it's the truth. I had a journalism professor whose catch phrase was "know stuff," so I try to absorb as much information as I can which includes news blogs, sports blogs, gossipy-celeb-rag blogs as well as the blogs put out by cousin Sarah and my sister-in-law, Kathy. It's ridiculous to try and keep up with the professionally run sites as they generally employ teams of people to churn out multiple posts on a daily basis that are edited, cropped and, for the most part, informative and thoughtful. But I can't even measure up to two people in my own family. The reason being, they are two of the most optimistic, generous and all-around nice people I've ever had the pleasure to be around, and it shows through so clearly in their posts. Everything is rainbows and Care Bears and lollipops. I love it. Unfortunately, it's just not me. 

Oh, I've given it my best. I've made honest attempts at adding a little syrup to my literary diet. But no matter how well I start, it eventually spirals down into some curse-laden rant like I'm Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny just tricked me into falling off a cliff. Again. 

What was the point of this? I don't know. You don't even care, do you? Tell us about the kid! You shut your mouth when you're talking to me!

Young Emily continues to develop at a rapid rate. Her crawling is getting quicker all the time. If you leave her in the family room to head to the kitchen, it's only a few seconds before she's sitting on the floor behind you. Quite proud of herself, she is. And rightly so! 

She also really, really wants to walk. Not only is she pulling herself to a stand all the time (recent headline at TheOnion.com "Edge of Table Victorious Over Toddler"), she's now making legitimate attempts to climb out of the pack-n-play. I do NOT see this ending well. 

She's also getting some play time with other kids. Sunday of Memorial Day weekend took us up to Cory and Vicki's annual shindig where apparently everyone has kids now. It was interesting to watch her interact with those around her same age as well as being able to gauge my own ability to just step back and watch. She, of course, was great. She sat nicely on the blanket in the middle of the yard while playing with whatever toys were available, even ignoring the one-year old who felt it necessary to repeatedly bonk her on the head with a plastic block (I think of the Homer Simpson quote, "Urge to kill...rising...rising...").  

And now, here we sit just a shade over 27 hours away from our meeting with Dr. DeLuca. If you'll recall, we originally had scheduled an appointment with him to get Ems fitted for her first prosthetic device on July 6th. I'm not exactly sure what this will look like or what will happen. I would imagine we'll get an exact measurement on how large the discrepancy is at this point, and he'll then put together some kind of contraption that will make it substantially easier for her to stand/walk. As I mentioned previously, this kid really, really wants to walk. This will be just what she needs. 

Perhaps it's times like this where I realize why I won't be able to make my blog the super-sweet family blog. Even though Emily was perfectly content while that boy smacked her in the head, I could not help fast-forwarding to an age where my beautiful little girl comes home crying because a classmate made fun of her leg. Even though Ems has already displayed more personality than half my 7th grade classes, I am beyond nervous that some jackass kid will feel the need to try and embarrass my daughter in order to boost his/her own pathetic level of self-worth. I shouldn't worry about it, but I do. I teach middle school. Everyone of us can think back to our own experiences. We all knew that kid. That kid is always there. My only hope is that she is smart enough, strong enough, mature enough and quick-witted enough to handle it. 

I realize this is the same process every parent experiences. We all hope our kid is the super-intelligent, popular, good-looking captain of the (fill in the blank) team. Over time, most gradually realize their child might not fall into that top one percent. Emily, however, got dealt her first set-back right from the jump. 

At times like this, when looking for something to make sense of it all, it's my brother Pete's voice I hear. "God had to give Emily that leg just to keep it fair for everyone else."

Have a lollipop.