Update on Jacob's broken arm

Laura mentioned in her last post that Jacob got his cast off on Friday 10/2. The healing process has gone well and the break was ~80% healed as of that time. He was sent home with instructions to take it easy for two more weeks and to wear a sports splint when engaging in strenuous activitites. Well that two weeks is over on Friday of this week!

We have big plans to get back on the track with a vengeance as there is a double points race on Saturday in Pearland and another at Armadillo on Sunday. Jacob will be racing both events as he returns for the first time to the track since the arm break.

Next comes training for the Grand Nationals in Tulsa, OK on Thanksgiving week. Yep, we'll be in Tulsa on T-day; that is the first day of practice, with races ensuing on Fri/Sat/Sun. Jacob starts lessons with the living legend, "The Jackyl" John Purse, next week. John holds the number 2 spot for all time ABA professional BMX wins at an impressive 71 wins. To put this in perspective, it's like taking lessons from say...Tiger Woods for you golfers. John lives about 20 minutes away and has a small ~800' BMX track in his back yard with an official 4 position starting gate, with the ABA starting cadence! He will be working with Jacob on strength training, sprinting, turning and general race conditioning and strategy. This should be awesome for the Grands. We have high hopes for the Grands this year as Jacob is definitely at the top of his game in the 8 intermediate class. I estimate there will be 50-60 riders in his class at the Grands striving for 8 positions at the main event. To qualify will be huge! To win would be, well HUGE!

"The Jackyl" John Purse

Anyway, back to the arm. Here is a pic of the post cast removal xray. You can clearly see the break and the new bone growth. Interesting how the bone is still a bit crooked, but the new bone growth on the backside of the break will continue to pull the bend back towards a straight position as it heels according to the doc.

In other news, Bryce is doing very well. Mommy and I have been illin' for the last week. Laura is almost well and I am on the downhill side of this allergy/sinus infection, whatever the heck it was. We both need to get better for the busy weekend ahead.

Peace,

Shane

It's hard to even imagine Bryce as a 7 lb baby these days. He is getting so big. He is now almost 5 months old (if you go by months and not weeks) but he is 20 weeks old. Last week he had his 4 month well baby visit. He weighed 15 lbs 12 oz and was 25" long. That puts him at 50% for weight and 90% for height and head circumference.

Bryce is mostly sleeping through the night. He does wake up at night a lot and his morning wake up time varies a lot but we are getting more sleep these days. The good thing is that Jacob never even hears Bryce cry in his room. Bryce is the smiliest baby I have ever seen. He isn't laughing too much yet but he smiles all the time. I have tried to feed him solids (rice cereal) but he isn't at all interested in it yet.

In other news, Jacob got his cast off yesterday. He was very excited about having it taken off. His arm is a little crooked but the doctor said it would straighten out over time. We can't tell you how great it is to say "Jacob, go take a shower." Giving both him and Bryce a bath was not fun. He also brought home straight A's on his progress report. We are very proud of him.

Here are some recent pics:

Play time with Boo

Bryce likes his Bumbo seat

Love that smile!

Silly boy

Shane and Bryce building the exersaucer. He is still in the just checking it out phase now.

Sweet cheeks!

The three stooges