Today Simon was officially discharged from the First Steps Program. Amy re-assessed him, and we’ve clearly come a long way. The same child who two months ago could not walk and was just getting used to cruising with a toy is now walking with a mature gait (legs close together and knees bent), running, turning in place, walking backwards, and walking with his head turned in various directions. He can also squat, get to standing using his legs only, go up and down stairs if there’s a low enough banister, climb up on furniture, hop down from furniture, and go down a slide on his own.
I wanted Amy to run his intake test again so I could see how far Simon has come and learn what I need to do to help him continue to catch up. With this context in mind, you can perhaps understand my surprise to discover that Simon is now slightly ahead of the curve. Yup, ahead. He does a few things that other children do, on average, at 23-26 months. How funny is that?
I am enormously grateful for the help we got and will miss spending time with Amy. I feel I need to thank, in no particular order, the following:
1. Initial assessor Beth, who told me to put a weight in the Pooh Plane and have Simon cruise with that and not while hanging off of me.
2. Amy, of course, for her advice on what I can do to help Simon find his way.
3. Simon, for finding his way.
4. Summer, for clearing the path. Would we be here today if I couldn’t take Simon to a park every single day? I think not.
To make the day a bit more celebratory, I had coffee and munchies at the house. Amy had to take hers on the road, but Simon took one look, walked over to his chair, asked to be put in it, and then proceeded to dust the better part of a blueberry muffin and a good third of my toasted poppy seed bagel with cream cheese. It wasn’t exactly what I had planned, but I suppose it only fitting since he is the celebrant.