Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Scooters and potties

They really DO have a lot in common.

OK, not really.

The other day our cute little neighbor was outside with her scooter. She was so excited that she got a new big girl scooter. It was pink. Ty LOVED it. The only problem, he has no balance and with Cerebral Palsy he can't get his feet to work right.

I went on a search to figure out a way that he can participate with the other kids. I knew it would be a challenge to get him to use it but at least he could have something that looked like the other kids. I looked for the 3 wheeled ones and finally just strolled down the bike isle and found a radio flyer one.

He was super excited and didn't even care he didn't get a movie. When we got home we put it together. ( Don't think I am Handy Manny because it was a no put together item!) Off he went, sort of.

He was trying really hard to use his feet. But it will take some time. Darn CP doesn't love him to go and do things easily and now that we have a extra person I can't bend over and push him up and down the street. He needs to learn to do it on his own so he can go out and play with the kids.

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We have the scooter in the house now. He pushes the crap he has thrown all over the living room to one side so that he could use his scooter. He is getting the hang of it but he really likes someone to push him. He can do it.

While we had to pry him away from the scooter we are trying to get him to at least SIT on the toilet. Last night he did with little crying. Tonight he did with lots of LAUGHING. So much laughing he didn't even realize that he had peed. It wasn't much but it earned him his Thomas Movie that has been sitting on his table unopened for more than a month. ( Huge for Tyler. HUGE HUGE!)

He didn't want to get off he was laughing so hard. He has never laughed on the toilet. Truthfully, his dad was singing a silly song and he thought it was funny to have a song with Pee pee in it. Hopefully a few more days of sitting on the toilet will lead to more times going.

He wouldn't go to sleep without his Thomas movie and he was SO sad that he couldn't play on his scooter. He cried because he wanted to play with his scooter. I went back in to talk to him and he said " we all done now?" because we told him that we would play with his scooter in the morning.

Instead, he fell asleep holding his Thomas. We love him. We are proud of him. Even on days when we know it is hard for him and it is even hard for us.

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It's hard to watch him struggle. But he can do it. We can do it.

1 comment:

Grandma Labrum said...

Sometimes the best learning comes from struggling to learn. If he wants to do something, he will figure out a way. That will make him stronger. He will be able to do everything he wants to do because he will find a way. He's stubborn, like his mother. :)