Winter Adventures

Teddy gets the undivided attention of our sitters this week because AJ is at his grandparents' house for a week of e-learning, Beast rides and card games. Our sitters take advantage of these week to spend a bit more time outdoors because Teddy loves being outside. This week Bri took Teddy to Waukau Nature Preserve, which is where we went for our Christmas Eve stroll.

She realized when she got there, though, that there was no way she could push him on the snow-covered trails in his chair. She realized she had a sled in the vehicle because they had also been looking for sledding hills, so they traipsed into the woods using the sled. Teddy was super chill hanging out on the sled, which is slightly surprising because he often wants to take off exploring. I think perhaps the woods was enough of a distraction itself and there were no docks, open garage doors, etc. to distract him. 

I chuckled to see the sledding hill they found because it's a rather steep hill that curves and has plenty of obstacles on the sides. But they managed to safely navigate it several times and had a blast sledding in the woods and exploring there.

I'm not sure I'd have thought to take a sled for that hike, but it's definitely something I think we'll have to try this winter because they had so much fun! We're so grateful for our sitters who not only keep our kiddos safe but also give them such fun experiences. 

The Beast

Surprisingly, the title of this post isn't referring to Teddy. It's the name of the totally awesome contraption my dad built for the boys. It's part sled and part tube with equal portions of ingenuity and love.

In case you didn't know, I grew up on a dairy farm. Although my family no longer raises animals, they still have all the property and raise crops. This means the boys get plenty of 4-wheeler and tractor rides when we visit. I didn't think anything could make tractor and 4-wheeler rides better until we got there this weekend and saw "The Beast."
 

This is completely normal for us.

My dad had created this specifically to allow Teddy to go tubing without needing an adult to hold him. It consists of a slippery plastic bottom with a large tractor tire tube strapped securely on top. The finishing touch was a smaller tube placed inside to give the perfect amount of support.

The boys loved the Beast. In fact, they spent most of Saturday morning riding in the Beast. They came in to warm up with hot chocolate (AJ) and snooze (Teddy - that 4 a.m. wake up makes him a bit tired by 11 a.m.). After that, we headed down to the woods where my dad had started a fire. We cooked hot dogs and s'mores for our winter bon fire picnic. It was so neat to see Teddy wandering around to whatever he wanted, mostly the 4-wheeler, when he couldn't walk by himself a year ago. We had snowball fights, played with snow paint and enjoyed an amazing afternoon.

This is mine. All mine. Wait, can you make it go?

This is our second year doing our winter cookout, and it's such a fun day. We were lucky to have much warmer weather this year that we could spend more time playing and enjoying the day.

Family sledding on the Beast.

As I've gotten older, I now have a much deeper appreciation for farmers. My dad (and uncle and grandfather) proved time and time again that no one is just a farmer. Farmers are gardeners, veterinarians, inventors, welders, woodworkers, machinists, mechanics, diagnosticians, meteorologists and so much more. I'm so lucky that my boys still get to experience bits of my childhood and spend such fun times with my parents. I mean, who else aside from a farmer could create something as awesome as the Beast?

Personalized sledding perfection!

Sledding Fun

Since the forecast for tonight is -2, I thought I'd share how much fun we had this past weekend when it was so nice and warm (like 20 degrees). We spent the weekend up north celebrating Christmas and New Year's with Dave's family, as has become our tradition. One of our favorite things to do is take all the cousins sledding. The 5 oldest cousins were there, which made for plenty of fun on the sledding hill.

Think this kid loves sledding?

I love sledding with Teddy for several reasons:

1. He loves being outside.
2. He loves playing with snow ... and eating it.
3. Sledding is great for his core.
4. Sledding also gives him opportunities to work on his fine motor and speech.

But perhaps most significantly:

The sledding hill was the great equalizer for Teddy this past weekend. His challenges and delays weren't as obvious because he was one of the kids, laughing and playing in the snow. So what if he got pulled to the top of the hill every time? All the other kids tried to con us into pulling them up, too. And realistically, he would have hopped to the top if all the other children wouldn't have aimed their sleds right for him.

Teddy's cousin is intentionally blocking Teddy's path ... no mercy!

I even commented to Dave that things were easier for those moments because Teddy seemed more like the other children ... it was less work even though we were hauling 40 pounds up the hill at minimum, depending on how many other kiddos jumped in the sled.

What is it about kids eating snow?

Now, we need it to warm up about 20 degrees and dump several more inches of snow in our yard, so we can go sledding down our little hill. Wait, did I just ask for more snow?

Sledding Therapy

Teddy's a regular at physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and Birth to Three. He has more therapeutic goals than we'll ever work on in any given day (or even week if I'm completely honest). We do our best, pick a few to focus on and count much of our everyday play as therapy because in reality, all play is therapeutic.

Since Teddy was unmotivated to be in his gait trainer today, we decided to play outside in the snow instead. Teddy is getting so good at holding his hand out for mittens (and then promptly ripping them off because he didn't really want them on) and knowing that his socks, braces and shoes go on his feet. It's nice to see that recognition and (minimal) assistance with dressing instead of resistance or dressing a boy made of Jello. (The nice red socks are our way of keeping his mittens on underneath. He's a stylish boy.)

We're lucky our house has enough of a slope to go sledding right in our backyard. Teddy and AJ both had a blast sledding, and it was a fun experience that encompassed OT, PT and speech therapy. Teddy had to engage his core to stay upright on the sled while sliding down the hill and then being pulled back up the hill. It's something we don't think about, but it's a lot of work for a child with low tone. He compensated for some of this effort by holding onto the edges of the sled, which is great because one of his OT goals is to hold onto items with a sustained grasp. Lastly, he had so much fun that he was vocalizing almost the entire way down and then back up the hill. Speech therapy. The trifecta of therapy while having the best time sledding.

Watching Teddy sled today reminded me that one of his original goals for Birth to Three was to be able to go sledding with assistance from AJ last winter. He was able to do that, so he accomplished that goal. I think of how far he's come, though, from last winter when he was mostly dependent upon supporting himself by leaning into AJ. Now he can sled down the hill by himself in a regular sled while holding on and vocalizing how much fun it is.


Therapy is not always as fun as our sledding today, but it certainly is worth it when you can realize the progress.