Running

So, Nutty Bear runs everywhere. This adorable, clumsy run. My mom and I both noticed it today...I was trying to contain him at Sam's swimming lessons and he kept running away. She had to chase him through the library. He loves to run. He has also learned the fundamentals of baseball. You say, "Batter Up" and he assumes the position. Then, we try to "pitch" the ball right to his bat so that he "hits" it. When it works and we cheer, he takes off running with a huge grin because Bruva Bear taught him to run to first. It is so cute. Anyhow, I was chasing him today to get his jammies on, and all of a sudden, I had the biggest sense of deja vu. I was remembering sitting in the developmental peds office during one of Aaron's last visits. He had just started crawling, and we were so excited, but still found it hard to believe. And up until that point, even though he seemed to be doing well, no one would make any predictions. Anyway, we said to the doctor, "So, this means he'll walk, right?" and she said, "He will walk." I said, somewhat hesitatingly, "Will he run?" and she didn't hesitate in answering "He will run." He will run. I cried so hard, right there in the office. And that memory really took my breath away today. It all seems so unreal now, that fear, but then it comes back like that and it is so fresh.

Arts,crafts, and paperwork

Nutty Bear's OT came this week. I had expressed some concern that although he is meeting his milestone in the fine motor department (things like stacking 2 blocks/pincer grasp) it seems like he is more easily frustrated with these kinds of tasks. His Early On coordinator agreed. It is hard to tell if he has difficulty handing toys over, or just prefers to hurl objects baseball style. But it does seem like he understands how to build a tower, but gets frustrated. I brought it up, but I honestly thought that it would be overreacting mom stuff.

Well, she thought not. We have been working a lot on precision and that is improving, but his OT thinks that he actually has some decreased strength in his hands. He had some difficulty pulling apart legos, apparently more trouble than most kids his age. And in retrospect, he does seem to have some difficulty with "squeezy" toys. So, she has all sorts of suggestions for using Velcro and Legos to help him with this.

And crafts...yes, crafts. I am not exactly crafty. Sam is also, I think, a wee bit challenged in the fine motor dept. My teachers famously complained about my scissoring technique. My mom scoffed that I was not going to need to know how to scissor well! (Yes, I am glad to NOT be a surgeon, but I'd like to think I improved with age) Anyhow, we are going to make a good effort to have a "crafty" summer. Obviously, Aaron's participation will be at a very basic level but I think her point is to get the boys active with this now, together. So, if you know any good baby crafts...share away!

Sam has his first teeball game tomorrow night. I will post the results, oh wait, this is A2 and there is no score. Ask me privately, you know Sam will be counting. His team is the Blue Dog Thunderbolts (I think this is what they settled on!-maybe a reference to those Blue Dog Dems)

Lastly, we are trying to get Aaron set up for a visit to Cincinnati Children's in the fall. This is where much of the EE research is going on and they have a interdisciplinary team. I spent over an hour tonight filling out paperwork, now we have to get his records and pathology then we can send it all in and schedule. I have filled out these forms as a physician for families getting second opinions many a time, odd doing it for my baby. The newest article I just read on EE states that there is a less than 5% chance of outgrowing it, despite the tendency to outgrow other childhood allergic disease. Very sad and scary. Well...one day at a time...especially with our little odds beater.