Terrific Tooth Visit

Aka trip to the dentist. 

The dentist is one of Teddy's fears. There's a handful of things that absolutely terrify Teddy, most of which defy any logical explanation to our minds (arcades, high lifts, and electric wheelchairs to name a few). Then there's a few things that make absolute sense (the ER and dentist's office). 

I stopped taking Teddy to the dentist when he grew so large  that I could no longer physically restrain him and body hug him with my arms and legs to hold him in place for the quick exams. Any x-rays or dental work has to be under sedation, as we learned when he chipped his 2 front teeth the other year. Not the easy in office sedation because he simply rips off that laughing gas before it even starts. The full in-the-hospital, give him a shot of ketamine to even get him back to the room to get general anesthesia kind of sedation.

So, needless to say, trips to the dentist are a bit stressful. We switched to an office that specializes in kids with sensory issues and other challenges a couple years ago when we needed the sedation dentistry, and he's been making progress slowly but surely. 

His last dental visit was his best yet! He actually sat in the chair on his own (rather than being lifted into the chair), stayed in the room the entire time and did phenomenal for him. While Dave could tell he was agitated the entire time, this was such tremendous progress for him. 

Apparently it's a big problem if any more teeth fall out now.

It was also really neat for me to hear the report from Dave on the dentist visit. While you might not think of a good dentist visit as a point of pride, the excitement and pride in Dave's voice was palpable. It's pretty darn heartwarming to see that form of love for a child.

Next up - trying to make some progress with the eye doctor. While the examination chair itself looks intimidating with all the equipment, that's never once been used on Teddy. Nor has he had any of the puffs of air, dilation or anything that touches his eye. So I'd classify this as one of those inexplicable fears. But our eye doctor's office is great with Teddy, especially his actual doctor. 

So when I called to ask to move AJ's contact lens appointment to allow Teddy's therapist to accompany us and video him to create his own social story to practice, they were super understanding. We're all set to see how it goes with his therapist along, which will give her the opportunity to witness it in action. They're also going to set him up with a mini appointment with a technician to allow us to video him going back into the room and go through those initial steps for the social story. I'm super impressed with them, though not surprised based on our past experiences there (and the fact they've watched me physically restrain Teddy to keep him from running out of the building because he couldn't handle it anymore). 

S'mores

Teddy has never liked s'mores. He has attempted them and handed them back to us, made faces and refused them. 

So, we've adapted and given him deconstructed s'mores minus the marshmallows, which were clearly the culprit because the kid devours chocolate, graham crackers and peanut butter. (Hey, peanut butter is a s'more staple in our household.)

It's not that he's entirely against marshmallows. He's eaten them on occasion plain, and he definitely loves rice crispy bars. I think it's a texture thing with melty marshmallow, so we've just adapted and it's worked just fine ...

... until the other weekend when he kept trying to make a s'more. Since Teddy doesn't talk, there's always a little bit of trying to understand if our interpretation is correct. At first I thought he wanted a deconstructed s'more, but he clearly wanted to cook a marshmallow. So we did that and made a s'more. 

And he shocked me by eating it. (He still kept holding out his hand to have me wipe off the extra marshmallow stuck to him, so I think there's still a texture thing he's not completely loving.) Then he proceeded to make a second s'more and eat it.

His first-ever s'more that he actually ate!

He repeated this the following weekend, so it's safe to say he now enjoys s'mores. 

We joked it was peer pressure because we had a friend along the first weekend devouring s'mores. It's neat, though, to see him enjoy something in a new way and be a full part of the campfire experience.

Is Anyone Getting Married?

We haven't been to a wedding in years. COVID plays a huge role in that, given that we've hunkered down through the pandemic, but we're also at that season in life where we're not invited to many weddings. The cousins are all married, and we're (thankfully) too young to be invited to the weddings of kids of people we know. 

The downfall in this is that weddings are a great excuse to hit the dance floor. I'm down for dancing some, but children love to dance. AJ had so much fun dancing at weddings when he was younger, particularly when he was obsessed with the Cuban Shuffle. Teddy enjoyed hopping around the dance floor because at the last wedding, he was at the bunny hop phase of movement. 

Now, this child walks, runs and hops (on his feet now) everywhere. He spontaneously starts dancing when he hears upbeat music. While AJ struggled to figure out how to dance to the SuperBowl raptime (Haha, get it? Halftime. Raptime. Hahaha.) show, Teddy was down with it. 

I wish we had a wedding where this child could showcase his skills. Now, don't get me wrong, I'd be a sweaty mess from chasing him everywhere and he'd be into everything, but he'd have a blast doing it. I suppose the good news is I don't think his love of dancing will disappear anytime soon.

He's Got a Knife!

Teddy has a high interest in helping in the kitchen, coupled with limited safety skills. It's not the best combination, so we work with very close supervision and sometimes hand-over-hand assistance. He's gets so excited when we let him help stir dishes on the stove. Although it makes me nervous, he does very well holding the pan handle with one hand and the spoon with the other. 

There's no way, though, that we trust him with an actual sharp knife. He's been working with a butter knife. The challenges with that are that it's not as sharp as needed to cut some things, and the bigger challenge is his inability to know which way to hold it. He often tries cutting with the knife upside down.

So we discussed this with his OT, and she recommended several different options. We purchased a set of serrated plastic knives intended for young children, along with a wooden cutter. He is doing great with holding the knife properly and is chopping so well. And he's so proud of himself. And so are we.

Teddy is Bilingual

We're actually hoping to have Teddy become trilingual as we reintroduce a communication device. We're waiting to work through the insurance or funding process for that, so it'll be a few months. In the meantime, though, Teddy is able to comprehend and speak in essentially two different languages.

Although he cannot communicate verbally, he understands spoken words. Whether he chooses to follow directions or requests is much less a matter of comprehension than his desire to do the task at hand. Most times, I'm certain he understands us and simply chooses not to do what we're asking. That's proven time and time again when he can follow directions and listen quite well when he's motivated. Just yesterday, in fact, he listened to my request that he go back and shut the door to the house before he took off down the driveway. I was quite impressed.

Teddy's main method of communicating, beyond physically directing you to do his bidding, is modified sign language. I say modified because his signs aren't clear to those who don't know him. They're a bit sloppy at best as he works on his fine motor skills, but he understands he needs to replicate some motion to make requests or communicate.

What I found really cool the other week was that Teddy understands at least some signs when they aren't verbally spoken. Most often, we speak and sign at the same time. However, the other night, Dave simply signed to Teddy to sit when Teddy was waiting at the counter to grab his dinner plate. Teddy immediately went to the table and sat down. It was noteworthy to me because it is clear that he understands both the sign and the spoken word that accompanies it. We can use either with him, or we can use both to reinforce ideas. 

It might seem like Teddy isn't as intelligent as others because he cannot express himself verbally. But when you take a minute to think about it, you'll realize how amazing it is that any person can understand spoken words, use sign language and/or use an adaptive communication device. That's far more language skills than the multitude of Americans who only speak a single language.

Ten Minutes with Teddy

This weekend, Dave ran to the store. When he came back, he asked how Teddy was while he was gone. My response was:

"Well, I had to pull him off the top of the Tahoe because he climbed on top of it while I was in the bathroom. Then he put uncooked kielbasa in his mouth. I thought that was fine because it was already smoked, but then I read the package that it needed to be heated thoroughly. So I dug it out of his mouth and tossed it in the frying pan to cook for him. Oh, then I had to remove a very sharp knife from his hand that he grabbed and attempted to run away with it in his hand. But after that 10 minutes, then it was fine."

That, my friends, is pretty typical of our life. It's not like that day was extraordinary and that's why I'm sharing it. It's just a glimpse of what life looks like for us on any given day. 

"Oh, hi Mom, I'm just chilling up here."

Although these shenanigans often aren't appreciated in the moment, they signify progress and development for Teddy. Teddy has the motor skills, planning and strength to scale to the top of a vehicle. He has an interest in helping in the kitchen and is learning to cut up food using a butter knife (hence the taste testing). As far as snatching the sharp knife, I'll credit that with fine motor and gross motor skills, along with a cognitive awareness that he's not supposed to have sharp knives. 

It's all progress, in Teddy's own unique way. 

Sharing with a Velociraptor

The other night we had grapes for supper. Teddy was apparently starving and shoveling food into his mouth faster than he could chew. (He's at risk for choking, but he just doesn't realize it.) I grabbed an egg carton and put a single grape in each hole. That slowed him down somewhat, and it often works until he dumps the carton onto his plate. And I just got sidetracked researching slow feed bowls for dogs ... there's a lot of parallels between Teddy and a puppy, so why not leverage that?

Anyways, the other night, Teddy was apparently too hungry to demonstrate any self-control, and he stole Dave's entire serving of grapes. He was so quick, determined and fierce that we joked he was like a velociraptor. Dave simply went and got himself a second serving of grapes. He set that on his plate, picked up a different piece of food, and the grapes were gone ... again. Teddy had snatched them in a second. 

It's frustrating and challenging because we need to establish boundaries that stealing food isn't acceptable, yet he's so quick and determined that trying to stop him results in potentially getting hurt or the food destroyed. I know we need to do better, so I asked him right away if he could share the grapes with Dave.

Teddy responded by immediately plopping a single grape on Dave's plate. I couldn't help but laugh. It was squished, so Dave rejected his offer to share. But Teddy heard my request, comprehended it and shared what he felt was appropriate (a single grape after stealing probably 20 or more). The comprehension is there, but we clearly need to work on the communication and impulse control.

Hey, I could say the same about myself and impulse control when it comes to food ...

Will He Ever Walk?

I can't tell you how many times Dave and I had that conversation in the first three years of Teddy's life. Somewhere around when he turned 2.5, we became absolutely certain that Teddy would walk independently. Sure enough, just a couple months before his third birthday, he took his first wobbly independent steps, motivated to grab car keys.

Through the years, we often described him to a drunk monkey in terms of how he walked. He couldn't stop the momentum of his body, so he simply crashed into walls. He walked into everything, unless he fell first because he fell every couple steps. His gait has improved slowly, but steadily, with a lot of physical therapy and practice. 

This, my friends, is the boy who we once wondered if he'd ever walk:

Now, we wonder if he'll ever stop running?

Perhaps We've Done Too Much PT

Teddy has attended physical therapy on average once a week since right before his first birthday. We've obviously had breaks in there for vacations, weeks with scheduling conflicts and the lag time between approvals for services. However, whether through school or outpatient services, Teddy has consistently had PT for more than 6 years. 

That therapy initially focused on core strength for him, simply working to sit independently. When that wasn't possible, we focused on how to develop some protective responses for when his chubby little body succumbed to gravity. As he grew with his core strength, we focused on kneeling in a 4-point stance to learn to crawl, practicing those motions over and over until he finally mastered them (and quickly moved on to hopping like a bunny because it was easier). 

We've spent years working on sitting in appropriate positions, which means everything from how to sit independently in a chair or on the floor to not sitting with his legs in the shape of a "W." I can't tell you how many times through the years, we've used the phrases, "No W sitting" or "Fix your feet." 

We've spent countless hours practicing everything from bearing weight while standing, stepping with all sorts of adaptive equipment and bikes and other contraptions to help reinforce the idea of using both legs in a pattern to move. 

The latest focus is safety on the stairs. At PT sessions, we spend time every week walking up and down the stairs, looking out the windows for something intriguing to see  and throwing balls down the stairs to retrieve them. Progress is gradual, but it's noticeable. Teddy went from doing one to two steps up without holding on to now 5 or more steps. He's learning to slow down and focus on holding on with a single hand for descending. He's definitely improving his stair safety except for one thing ...

... the railing. Our home has a railing that is open on both sides to go upstairs. There's also a railing in our hallway that overlooks our living room and entry way, which means the ground is nearly 15 feet from the top of the railing. Teddy discovered a few years ago that he could attempt to hook his foot over the railing, but fortunately he wasn't tall enough to be successful. We put garland on the railings and left it up all year as a deterrent. It worked initially.

Unfortunately now Teddy is tall enough to scale over the railing, and the garland did nothing to deter him. It just rained little bits of fake green garland around the house that required me to vacuum more often (or realistically live with a dirtier house). Most often, he actually climbs up the outside of the stairs and then scales the railing to end up on the stairs. It's slightly safer than the other way, I suppose. 

What terrifies us is him scaling over the railing and falling to the ground. It's bad enough on the stairs because that could be several feel to a significant distance. It's terrifying to think of him doing that from the second floor and falling down to the first floor. We've talked, half joking, about buying giant bean bags to serve as landing pads. Instead, Dave reached out to three people this week to get quotes to do construction to prevent the open railing between the floors. We'll see what they can propose ...

Until then, perhaps I should try a barbed wire garland?

Counting Capabilities

The other night Teddy was impatiently waiting for supper (aka lying on the floor crying because he wanted to eat right that minute). We checked the pizza and set a timer for 4 more minutes. I asked Teddy if he could count to 4 and held up four fingers. He seemed interested, so I started counting. As I said 1, he touched my first finger. As I said 2, he moved to touch my second finger. He moved to the next finger for the number 3, and he finished by touching my last finger when I said 4. 

I was amazed that Teddy actually counted along. I know I didn't imagine it because our sitter witnessed it as well. He's demonstrated some interest when I've asked if he could count when we set timers, but this is the first time I've actually seen him count. I know that he can identify numbers 1 through 10, and this takes it a step further. 

These are the little things that might not even register for others, but it's a huge accomplishment for Teddy. That boy knows so much more than we give him credit for because we need to catch the moments he's actually willing to follow directions to show off his skills. Now, we'll have to see if we can repeat this as well as see how high he can count. 

Progress, not Perfection

The other week Teddy and I went for a run together. Given that we live on a cul de sac road that heads into a busy highway, our runs always involve driving to another neighborhood to run. This time we parked at a local elementary school, the one where Teddy spent his Early Childhood year when he was a mere 3 years old. That was the year we went from both kids home to both kids in school, at just 3 and 4 (and then 5 since AJ had his birthday right after school started). 

That was right after Teddy had learned how to walk, so he was only taking a few tentative steps. He spent most of his time crawling, or actually bunny hopping, to get around. When his class went anywhere, he rode in a wagon every single time because he couldn't walk more than a few steps without falling. AJ would get so excited if he spotted Teddy's class, so he'd always wave and call out, "Hi Teddy!" I know that AJ was only in 4K, but it gave me so much comfort to have them riding the bus together and to know AJ was at the same school to look out for Teddy. 

Partners in play, running the streets and the playgrounds.

Back to present time, we decided to take advantage of the empty playground at the school near the end of our run. Teddy was so excited to be able to play, and he had to check out everything. The first thing he did was a rope bridge that was probably 10 feet across. I encouraged him to hold onto the sides, and he made it 3/4 of the way before he stumbled and fell. I asked him what he was going to do, and he used the ropes to pull himself back upright and finished the bridge. 

For most kids, a rope bridge is nothing noteworthy. But, I was so proud of him because he's come so far. The last time he played on that playground, he couldn't do anything without assistance. Now, he could do just about everything, except for monkey bars and the like, which are understandably tough. It was no big deal for him, just another wonderful playground to explore. For me, though, it gave me the chance to pause and reflect on all the progress he's made with a truly grateful heart. 

A Milestone Marked by String Cheese

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that someone opening a string cheese would be notable, certainly not seen as a significant accomplishment. I couldn't have imagined how excited I would be, even to the point that I'd tell the world about it a week later while still grinning. 

But here I am, about to tell you the story. It's not an exciting story. It's actually quite unremarkable. I was preparing Teddy's lunch, and he helped himself to a string cheese from the refrigerator. I told him to give it to me to open, but instead he headed to the table by himself. 

It's not unusual for Teddy to self-serve food from the fridge. If it's mandarin oranges, he squishes them while clenching them tightly, not realizing we need to assist him in peeling them. If it's frozen waffles or pancakes, he runs off with the entire bag as frozen breakfast items are a staple in his diet ... still frozen, of course. If it's string cheese, he sometimes tries to bite it through the plastic and other times asks for assistance. 

This time, however, he sat down and proceeded to work on opening it by himself. He used a pincher grasp to hold each piece of the plastic and started to pull them apart. He got about 1/3 of the way done and then held it to me to finish. I told him he was doing great and to keep going. He continued pulling the plastic apart until he had it all the way done. Then he pried out the string cheese and promptly ate it in about 3 bites, par for the course for Teddy. 

I was amazed at his focus, his pincher grasp, his persistence to finish the task rather than ripping out the cheese as soon as the plastic was partly undone. All such simple things, but all combined to a big moment for him. 

And he did it while rocking his dad's stocking cap because that's how he rolls. 

Mr. Independent managed to open his own string cheese. 

Thinking and Tinkering

We spent about an hour playing in the garage earlier this week, with Teddy showing off all his skills riding different toys for his grandparents and bossing them around by making the take turns sitting on the lawn mower. It was fun to slow down and watch not only his physical skills as he rode a tricycle, a scooter and a ziggle but also his fine motor and motor planning skills.

For example, he zoomed around on the bike, backing up to avoid hitting the garage door, steering around obstacles and handling it like a pro. He has learned to actually scooter on the 3-wheeled scooter that provides a bit more balance. (He also believes he can do the 2-wheeled scooter just fine for the record. That is terrifying to watch.) When we encouraged him to show off the ziggle, he went across the garage first to get a helmet, stuck it on his head and proceeded to chew on the strap and then hopped on the ziggle. Part of the helmet was loose and in his face, so he attempted several times to adjust it because he recognized it wasn't right. I'm not quite sure why the ziggle requires a helmet, but I was glad to see at least something triggered the need to wear a helmet.

Then Teddy decided that he needed to do repairs on the various bikes. He got the socket wrench we use to put the bike carrier on the Tahoe, took it to his trike and began manipulating it around the wheel. Then he moved on the the ziggle, flipped it over and started "working" on it.

This type of physical play, fine motor coordination and pretend play is all fantastic to see. It was a nice opportunity to relax and enjoy the progress that Teddy has made.

Inchstones Defined

When you raise a child with special needs, you hear about inchstones. That's the term used to describe the tiny accomplishments that are barely a blip in the milestones chart, if they even register. For example, inchstones might include bearing their own weight at all, then again for 10 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute, etc. That's not quite as exciting as taking first steps, but we learn to celebrate every victory, no matter how small, because nothing is taken for granted. We never know how far our child will progress. It's not guaranteed our child will walk, talk, toilet train ... simple things most parents take for granted that don't require years of therapy, and multiple types of therapies, to accomplish.

Sometimes it's harder to see inchstones for a couple reasons. First, they're not the normal things you celebrate. Second, they're often so small and ordinary that it takes a moment to process that something amazing happened. Other times they stand out because they're crystal clear, like Teddy pointing for the first time to something he wanted (doughnuts at the grocery store).

Lately we've noticed quite a bit of progress with Teddy. It's little things like how well he listens and follows direction when he's highly motivated. But that means he understands not only what we're asking, but the concept of first do this to get to that. It's getting a diaper when he needs to be changed, showing a glimmer of hope for toilet training at some point. It's a new sign that he learned within 2 weeks, although it still needs a bit more precision. It's the desire to help with housework, even if that help is anything but helpful. It's the planning that goes into his efforts to coerce us into the hammock, so he can run away when we're stuck.

Who would think that pushing your brother in a pool is noteworthy?

Spending so much more time with our boys both helps to see the progress but also sometimes blurs it. When you spend so much time together, you miss that wow factor. The good news is that family and friends will definitely get that when it's finally safe to see them.

Waffle Blocks Are Serious Business

If you've ever met Teddy, you know that it's a fair statement to say that a gnat has a better attention span. (You know, the saying about the attention span of a gnat?) At least that's the case most of the time. It's not uncommon for him to transition from an activity or toy within seconds of playing with it, unless he's encouraged to stay with that particular task or toy. Occasionally, though, Teddy is particularly interested in something, and it holds his interest for a longer period of time.

This week Monday he didn't have his usual staff after school, so I was home with him instead. I helped him get a snack, which he remarkably ate at the table except for a bite, and then he took off into a different room. I heard quite a bit of noise, but I continued taking care of a few things before I checked on him.

There's a good chance that if Teddy is occupying himself contently that he's doing something he shouldn't ... like putting toilet paper in the toilet ... or himself in the toilet ... or destroying something. So I expected to see a mess when I walked into the other room. Instead, I found this:

He had pulled out the waffle blocks and was playing intently with them.

I quickly backed out of the room before Teddy noticed me because I didn't want to distract him. He continued playing with the blocks independently for probably 30 minutes. Even when I walked upstairs and back downstairs with laundry and other things, he looked at me and continued working with his blocks. That is extra remarkable because other people can easily distract him, even when he's working on a task.

When he came looking for me after all that time playing by himself, I joined him to keep him engaged. We played alongside each other for another 15 minutes before he moved onto our giant building blocks.

He was so focused and determined ... and occasionally frustrated. 

This level of focus is rare from Teddy, and it was wonderful to see. It was also one of the few times I've seen frustration with him not being able to do an activity. When he couldn't get pieces together the way he wanted, there were a few times he would smack the piece a few times before trying again. Despite the frustration, he kept trying and trying until he managed to get things the way he wanted.

It's also remarkable because initially all he could do was pull apart the waffle blocks. Then it was a success when he could connect a few waffle blocks laying flat on the floor. Now he can stack blocks vertically and connect multiple pieces in multiple dimensions together. It's so much progress ... all in a set of waffle blocks and one persistent little boy.

Little Moments

This week Teddy brought home the get to know you poster we created for his kindergarten class. I pointed to my picture and said, "Look, there's Mama!" Then I asked where Papa was, and Teddy pointed right at this picture:

The minute of hiking Teddy did this past vacation, captured forever.

I was so happy because we're still working on understanding and getting Teddy to show us he knows who different people are. 

From that little victory, he went to have snack at the table and then carried his  plate to the sink! It's incredible to see him carry a plate, often with food objects on it, and not have it be dumped immediately. It's also just this week that he's consistently putting his dishes in the sink when he's done, which is huge progress.

Granted, 10 minutes later he collapsed into a complete sobbing mess because he thought I took his popsicle away from him when all I did was set it on the table because that's where we eat popsicles. He melted into tears on the floor and wouldn't look up to the table or sit at his chair to see the treat. Instead, I had to set him in the chair, and then he was eye level sobbing at the popsicle and finally started licking it. It took some singing and silliness before he perked back up.

It just shows how there's so much progress and yet such simple things create massive breakdowns in either communication or comprehension. He wasn't mad that he had to sit at the table. He clearly thought his popsicle was gone. If we're being honest, I'd cry if that was the case, too.

A Stack of Cans Brings A Smile

I never would have thought that watching Teddy pull canned goods out of the cupboard would bring me so much happiness. Yet I stand in awe to watch him pull out the cans one by one and stack them. He's done this now a few times on the floor, but recently he moved them all to our island to create his stacking masterpiece. He does it with such concentration and focus, and it seems so effortless when we've spent hours of OT sessions unsuccessfully attempting to stack objects.

Check out that masterpiece!

I know the heavier cans, particularly with the rimmed lids that nestle into each other, make stacking much easier. But it's still so cool to see. It continues to make me smile every time because it's progress. It's all that hard work Teddy's put in for years coming to fruition.

Check out that form!

And then I shake my head and put him in time out when he pushes all the cans onto the floor at once because, well, he's Teddy.

See the concentration? And the exhaustion from the flu?

It's More Than an Accordion

First, did anyone else grow up with an accordion in their house? No? Just me (and my brother I suppose). My grandparents enjoyed polka music, so at some point a junior accordion made its way to our house, which I was supposed to learn how to play because I was the musically talented one. (Not quite, but my parents were still proud of me.) I also received a toy accordion that fits into your hands to play as a gift, which was rediscovered by AJ during one of our recent visits to the family farm.

AJ loved the accordion and monopolized the use of the accordion that visit, but Teddy got his turn when we were there for Thanksgiving. He thought it was the coolest thing that he could make music with it and did quite well, as you can see in this video.

What floors me, though, isn't Ted's ability to play the accordion. It's the fact that he gets into a standing position while holding the accordion with both hands, which means he didn't use anything other than his core and other muscles to stabilize himself as he stood from the floor. I watched the video several times just amazed at how easy he made it look, when in reality that's as challenging as most people doing backflips. Heck, Sunday night I couldn't even do that! (Granted I had run 13.1 miles that day, but still ...)

Those little things catch you and show you the tremendous progress that Teddy has made. With his sheer determination and effort, I have no doubt he'll continue to amaze us (and drive us crazy at the same time.)

And, yes, I already bought him a toy accordion like the one in the video for Christmas. His grandparents are giving it to him because that feels better than us giving him such an obnoxious toy.

Happy 5th Birthday Teddy!

Teddy turned 5 this past Friday and had a fun-filled weekend celebrating with family and friends. His cousins were in town all day Friday, so we met for an afternoon at a place with giant inflatables since it was raining. AJ and Teddy had an absolute blast playing with their cousins. They spent 3 hours straight running around, climbing inflatables and sliding down in a tangled pile of arms and legs. It was one of my absolute favorite memories of the cousins for a couple reasons.

First, everyone had fun. It was something Teddy could do alongside his cousins, even if he was a bit slower with climbing the inflatables or needed a helping hand here or there. It's rare to find a level playing field for cousins ranging from 5 to 9 with a wide range of capabilities, and this was perfect for them all to enjoy.

Second, this was the most I've seen Teddy's cousins play with him, wait for him and help him. I'm not sure if it's because they're getting a bit more mature or if it's because it was his birthday, but his two oldest cousins were constantly helping him and cheering for him. You can see in the video how they both help Teddy (who didn't always need the help they provided, but that was half the entertainment). 

Last, but not least, the amount of skills Teddy demonstrated shows how much he's grown in the past year. Progress with Teddy is slow but steady, so sometimes it's not obvious until you see him:

• Climb up bouncy, wiggly inflatables that are 20-feet high
• Focus his attention to keep climbing even when there are other children behind him
• Run around for 3 hours - the stamina and effort
• Play appropriately with peers (aside from when he was hungry and tried to eat someone else's food)

It was a perfect afternoon that left my children perfectly exhausted. We followed that up with dinner at Red Robin, where Teddy had a quivering bottom lip while they sang him Happy Birthday. But it was worth that minor trauma for the ice cream he shared with AJ. (It's so hard to gauge whether something will fascinate or terrify Teddy.)

Saturday was a mildly construction-themed birthday party filled with fun times with family and friends. Teddy loves my Grandpa's walker and hopped on immediately for a ride. Then he proceeded to make my Grandpa sit down and attempted to push him around. Teddy made himself at home in one of his best friend's laps to open his gifts and devoured his cake. A happy birthday indeed!

Here, Great Grandpa, I'll help you push this!

Swim Class Success

I know I've talked about how much Teddy enjoys the adapted aquatics class at our local YMCA. For whatever reason, the YMCA struggled to get sufficient volunteers this session, so Teddy's had a different "teacher" most weeks. But there's one young lady who has worked with him 4 or 5 times and is absolutely fantastic with him.

First of all, she's young and has the energy and strength to manhandle  or wrestle him away from the hot tub keep him safe the entire hour-long class. I feel really bad when it's one of the retired volunteers because I know I don't want to be solely responsible for Teddy in a pool for a whole hour.

Second, she's so happy. She always has a smile on her face, and she's perfectly willing to make goofy faces and sounds and play peek-a-boo with Teddy. This obviously makes her the coolest person ever ... or at least for the hour that swim class lasts.

Third, she gives Teddy more independence in the pool than I would. I would go so far as to say that I actually cringed a few times when I saw how far away she was from Teddy, which wasn't really far at all but was just out of arm's reach. But, this is a good thing for Teddy because he's still perfectly safe. (It's not like he doesn't swallow water when I'm holding onto him in the pool.) And it shows me that he can do more than I would have imagined.

That's Teddy cruising along the pool with his teacher following behind - hands off him.

Tonight I watched Teddy go hand-over-hand along the edge of the pool for probably 25 feet without anyone touching him or helping him. I saw him grab a pool noodle from the side of the pool and hold onto it by himself to start kicking toward his teacher. His teacher gives him the freedom to show off these skills where I don't have the confidence in him to even let him try.

I only imagine what he could have done in the second half of swim class if someone hadn't accidently pooped in the pool, causing an evacuation. At least Teddy wasn't that someone ... this time.