"Off, off!"

Yesterday was the day Kayleigh was able to say, "Bye, bye, purple cast." Her arm was finally free to move around and feel the air. The doctor said everything is healing well, including the bone that was straightened. Shortly after the cast was taken off, Kayleigh was fitted with a new splint. The splint is much smaller and allows her to move her elbow and use her fingers and hand. She has to wear it 24 hours-a-day, though, for probably about a year. She's been saying, "No!" when Mom and Dad try to put it on, but she'll get used to it after awhile.

She'll see the doctor again in two months for a follow-up, and she'll have another minor surgery to remove the pin in her arm in August.

Kayleigh is already noticeably happier and, to Mom and Dad, it feels like they have their Kayleigh back now. On the ride home she talked on her Elmo cell phone and giggled a lot. She's been learning more and more words and speaking them more clearly -- none of them, it seems, more clearly than "No."