A little piece of heaven

Today I realized that so far this year, Nathan has learned to walk, talk, and sit.

Sure, he walks with a walker. But hey, it’s walking! He can go when he wants to go, stop when he wants to stop, and go where he wants to go!

Sure, he talks with a computer. But he is learning to tell us he wants to go to the mall, watch Phineas and Ferb, play simon says, make the cars crash, say “Hey what’s up”, choose what snack he wants, and much more.

Sure, he is just sitting for a few minutes and easily falls and it’s not yet functional sitting. But HE IS SITTING! Honestly I wondered if I’d ever see the day, every time I see him I have to pinch myself!

Sure, he has a long way to go to improve these 3 emerging skills. But he is LEARNING!

So often we focus on what we want, and so little we focus on what we have.

And what I have is a gorgeous happy smart little boy that is starting to walk, talk, sit! In his own adapted way, but hey, I’ll take it and cherish it!

PS I’m having trouble with my PC reading my SD card so pictures coming soon when I fix the problem.

While taking the dogs for a walk tonight I was thinking about many of the kids we’ve met on our journey with Nathan and just how special they are. I was also thinking about yesterday’s post. And I came up with a theory.

In the first year of life, typically developing kids spend a lot of time MOVING. I’ve watched Belle and, well, that’s about all she does – MOVE. She turns twirls crawls kicks grabs looks – she’s in constant motion. And these are the movements that are helping her to develop. While she is moving, the brain is creating synaptic connections for gross and fine motor skills. A LOT of brain real estate is dedicated towards learning to move.

Kids with CP don’t have the opportunity to move as much as their typically developing kids. What happens to all of that brain real estate that would’ve been devoted to movement?

My theory is that all of that brain real estate is allocated towards whatever it is they CAN do. And in many of our kids – that is to FEEL, LOVE, CHARM, GIVE.

It’s a bit like monopoly. The areas that you visit and work on the most are the ones that develop the most. If you leave an area abandoned, it loses it’s original “owner” and gets taken up by another owner – another skills that is being used constantly.

Or maybe, my theory is just BS, and our kiddos are simply special beautiful gifted angels!!!

* Thanks to everyone for their advice, I got many emails and calls and I really appreciate everyone’s input! After our next trip to Chicago this weekend (hehe) I will finally try and get Belle on a routine as we won’t be going anywhere for one whole month 😉 Coincidentally she has slept much better the last 2 nights so maybe putting it out there to the universe was the answer! By the way, Belle is doing great, she is a DELIGHTFUL child, playful, fun, funny, sweet, adventurous. Everything is going well with her. But we do have those struggles and I just I’d ask for help with these particular issues.

* We had an appointment in San Diego yesterday with Nathan’s reflex integration laser therapist. It was wonderful. She was really impressed with Nathan’s progress and she noticed that many of his infant reflexes are finally starting to integrate. Hip hip hooray!

* Today Nathan’s school psychologist and speech therapist came by the house to observe Nathan working with Ronna. He had a blast playing on the dynavox with 4 pretty ladies watching! He did really good – he is learning to navigate around the dynavox on his own. He keeps repeating this sequence over and over – I want to go, in the car, to the mall. The other 2 that he loved were – I want to go, in the car, to grandma’s house, and I want to go, outside, in the pool or swing. Oh, and of course, he kept going to the I want to watch page, and choosing Phineas and Ferb, his favorite show 🙂

* Today Nathan sat and watched TV for 15 minutes without falling! He is getting SO MUCH BETTER with his sitting. I’ll film him again tomorrow.

* Check back soon for our first, extraordinary, awesome GIVEAWAY. You will love this one – promise!