The Boy..an Update

It's been a while since I've written anything. And in that time, my little dude has been trucking along doing amazing things that he has never done before...all because of his OT.

When I started talking about his OT issues here it was probably quite obvious that it was a hard issue for me. Learning that your child is "behind" in any area is not easy for a mom to take, and also learning that the tools required for him to "catch up" could quite possibly land me in the poor house didn't help. But, as I wrote, I got him the help he needed without hesitation and now, only a couple months later...the change is dramatic.

There are SO many things he is doing now that he was never doing before. Little things like engaging and playing at a park (on the jungle gyms, not just in the sand...), riding his balance bike more and more, attending birthday parties at places where there is a lot of jumping involved, and even just being able to jump up on his bed and pull himself up without a stool. It has all been fascinating to watch. But two things happened recently that really had me amazed (and also had me in tears...but I do that...).

We have a meyer lemon tree in our backyard that he has talked about forever. But a couple of weeks ago he said, "I wonder if I could climb that tree..." When he said that it hit me that, being the lover of bugs and all things nature that he is, it was strange that he had never wanted to climb a tree before. And then I remembered, "Oh yeah...he has never had the strength..." Prior to OT, he literally never took his feet off the floor if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Not only for strength reasons, but also for balance. Just wasn't his cup of tea, so to say. But after he mentioned it...he looked at the tree...looked over at me for encouragement and when I told him to give it a try...he did. And as I watched him tentatively go slowly up the tree, and watched his little muscles shake in his legs as he tried to support himself and climb at the same time, I had tears in my eyes. He did it. He climbed the tree. After I documented the event properly with the camera, I cheered and cheered and cheered. And then I promptly went inside the house and cried happy tears for my little boy who mastered something.

Now I realize that if you don't know my son, you don't find it particularly fantastic that a 5 year old was able to climb a tree. But trust me...this is a big deal. For my son? A huge effing deal. And I couldn't be more proud. And more importantly, HE couldn't be more proud.

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My Ex had a knack of buying things (wonderful things mind you) for The Boy...only she always seemed to buy them about 2 years ahead of time. She bought him a trike when he was 18 months old (which he still can't ride)...she bought him toy movie characters before he was old enough to understand the movie...and she bought him a giant play structure for the backyard practically before he could walk. So for years we have had this fantastic play structure in our backyard and, while The Boy (and now The Girl) love it to death, up until recently it was only partially utilized. The Boy loves the "clubhouse" part of it. And he loves the slide. The swings? Not so much. The hanging bars? Not so much. And one of the things that I noticed when I decided to get him evaluated for OT was that even at his age, the only way he ever got up into the clubhouse portion of it was to climb backwards up the slide. The two "proper" ways to get up there are the rock wall in the front, and the rope ladder in the back. He never touched either one of these things. I figured he never would.

Last night after dinner I let the kids go outside while my mom and I were finishing the dishes. The Boy came running inside, red-faced, ALL excited. "I did it!! I did it!!" When asked what he did, he told us he climbed all the way up the rock wall all by himself. Of course we ran outside to watch him and he ran over and did it again. I swear he did it like he had been doing it his whole life. Again, for a "regular" 5 year old...this is not news. But for my 5 year old? Holy crap. Un-be-freaking-lievable. Something just clicked inside him. And he did it about 5 times in a row. More and more proud of himself each time he did it.

Jokingly, my mom and I said, "Wow buddy...soon you'll be climbing up the rope ladder too. You're getting so big and strong, we can't even believe it." He looked at us smiling and then glanced over to the play structure, and then back to us and said, "I'm going to go up the rope ladder right now!" "No!" we exclaimed. "You can't possibly." "That's too much," we joked. And he said, "Betcha I can!" and he ran off. And then he did.

Check out the smile on his face while he's doing it. Best 20 seconds I have had in a really long time. Those horrendous OT sessions that I was bitching and moaning about having to pay for? Best money I have ever spent in my life!