One of the skills we have been working on with AJ is going from the floor sit-to-stand on his own. Meaning, not holding onto anything. Well, he's got it! He just won't do it for his physical therapist....He's done it several times here at home. Yesterday, after his booth testing, we spent some time in his regular speech/feeding therapy room. I was facing the opposite direction, but his Speech Therapist saw him stand up from the floor on his own and walk over to the table!
Some people have been surprised with my answer when I say, "No, he's not walking quite yet." He IS walking, he's just not running around the house. Walking for most children is a fun skill. Once they get it, they get it and they're off and running. Because AJ has cerebral palsy, walking is quite a task for AJ. It requires balance, coordiation, and strength. None of which are his strongest skills. Now that he is standing/walking at everything and getting up to stand on his own, our hope (along with his physical therapist) is that he will just take off. We must continue to have him WALK WALK WALK.
Goals. Hmmm. I'm not so good at answering this question. Early on in AJ's therapy treatment, we were told not to get too hung up on what he "should" be doing, as his chronlogical age doesn't really mean jack at this point. It shows us how behind he is, but other than that, its useless. Because of that, I think I stopped worrying about what he wasn't doing (finally). Today, his PT asked me to think about goals for our next IFSP meeting. Huh? Walking has been on the board for so long, I hadn't even thought of what should come next. He's got so much going on at the same time, sometimes it becomes hard to focus on just one area. So think I shall do, and discuss with AJ's Dad. Some of the goals his PT and I discussed:
*crawling up and down stairs
*climbing out of his carseat on his own
*climbing onto stepstool to wash his hands
*walking up to the house (up porch step)
*playing ball
*potty training
It wasn't until the last goal was mentioned that I was stunned. Our little man is growing up. I remember timidly asking his PT if AJ could be potty trained a few months after his CP diagnosis. I was surprised she said YES! What surprised me even further was she suggested getting a potty now and making it a novelty. AJ's Mommy isn't sure she's ready for a potty. This growing up thing is hard. Today is one of those days where I'm looking at him and saying, WOW...You are a miracle aren't you AJ? So potty shopping today? No. But maybe tomorrow...:)
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