Many reasons to celebrate

Oct. 10, 2011

In the past, Nathan’s been known to have good days and bad days. He’s had days when things start to click, or he learns new skills, and days when his health takes a turn and we feel set back at least as far as we’ve come. No one could have suspected, but no one can complain, but we actually put almost a full week of not just good, but great.

It started on Monday, while at PT and working on standing endurance. If Nathan can stand for longer, we can start working more on balance, which can lead to more independence, and other successes. Nathan’s goal has been 20-30 seconds, and he’d hit that range maybe once or twice per session. This past session, he had two stints where he stood for over two minutes at a time.

On Tuesday, we learned that Nathan has a new show he likes to watch with Mom and Dad, The Biggest Loser. When the contestants are doing their thing in the gym, Nathan took to his exercises. We have a bar, intended to be stuck (via suction cups) to a table or flat surface for support, but we’ve been using it for moving across the floor. On his back, Nathan grabs the bar and I hold the supports. He’ll pull down as I pull back, and if he engages his feet at all, slides noticeable distances very quickly. On his belly, he’s more willing to lift up three inches off the ground and grab the bar to pull against, rather than engaging his arms on the carpet. As the people on TV, grunt and grown, he growls as well. Now I have to put some effort to give him enough resistance to build muscles. If he puts that same kind of effort into intensive therapy, I think he’ll blow them away too.

Wednesday marked a change of days for speech for a meeting scheduled for Thursday (we’ll get to that later.) There wasn’t anything too exciting in the speech therapy session, but afterward, it was finally warm enough and having enough time, for us to go to the adapted park, where he could hopefully have some fun. We tried twice before, but once it was closed and the other time, we only had 15 minutes, but I wanted to see how much he’d try and how long he’d last. Let’s just say after almost two hours of play, going up-and-down the ramps, walking from toy-to-toy watching and running after other kids, the smile on his face lasted well throughout the rest of the evening. My favorite part was watching him chase other kids jumping and climbing, and if he got stuck just acted like, “maybe next time.” He never got down on himself and looks like he can’t wait to go back and see what new he can do next time.

Thursday, marked the initial meeting with a home-health care company, meaning we’re another step closer to having another new helper (10-14 hours a week) to have an extra set of hands, allowing me to get some work done, and Nathan not feeling neglected as well. The meeting ended with the news that we should be ready to start as early as this Monday.

Friday brought the annual trip to the apple farm, and picking fruit right off the trees. Nathan seemed more interested in going for the leaves rather than the apples. Still, his giggles let everyone know he wasn’t stuck in the house yet another day/night.

Saturday was a shared celebration attending the birthday party for one of our PMG friends. The party was held at the Columbus Zoo meaning a trip we didn’t have a chance to make over the summer. Due to the distances from the car to the gate, and within the zoo, we took the push chair rather than his walker. The party also brought games, which Nathan was very eager to participate. We didn’t blindfold him for pin the nose on the lion, but still he wanted to walk up, reach as high as he could to try to put it in the right spot. After that, came the race walking with a (plastic) egg on an (oversized, plastic) spoon. For each of the events, he’d stand up tall walk around, and even though we pinned the egg to his tummy with the spoon, he walked around all the cones and was ready to do it again.

(Note: There were many things to celebrate for the other friends at the party as well. It seems as though everyone is doing many great things and we wish them continued success as well.)

Sunday marked the annual Walk Now for Autism Speaks in Columbus. We’ve done the walk (probably around a mile) for several years now, but each year Nathan has done more-and-more of the work on his own. This year he made it around the kickoff events around the arena and made it over half the walk on his own. One exciting part was being stopped by a volunteer photographer, who said, “I think I see you guys every year, but this is the first time I’ve seen him in his walker. He’s doing so well.” I can’t deny seeing her before, but none of us know her by name. Still, there’s still something special about not only be recognized, but noted for progress and inspiring success Nathan embeds on those all over.

We can only pray that we stay positive and fight off anything that may bring us down. We know that without bad days, you can appreciate the good. We give God thanks for the many blessings we’ve seen and are humbled with the thought of what the future may bring. For those who say Carpe Diem, we consider this week fully seized.

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