New Milestones

Summer is finallllllly here in South Dakota. So that means we get to go to parks everyday! This week has been chocked full of visits to parks. Mr Boy has a mild obsession with them as of late, and I am loving it. This week Mr Boy started crawling up the steps and going down the slides at parks all by himself! You're probably thinking, "Who cares?" And I don't blame you! But I'll put it into perspective: For a long time now, we watch babies pass Mr Boy on the playset, crawling up the stairs, going down the slides, while their moms nonchalantly watch from the sidelines. When you see multiple 1 year olds fly past your 2 year old on the playset, over and over, it gets a little disheartening. He couldn't accomplish any one part of the playground by himself, and was the only kid who still needed his mommy's help... and not just because of his more limited muscles and bone structure, but a big part due to his fears.  So it was especially moving and incredible to see our lil boy conquer the entire playground by himself!

Mr Boy was being a ham and wouldn't open his eyes for the camera.

Honestly, he is really not all that far behind his peers, but it's just amazing to see him finally so close to moving and playing like them, when he had so many obstacles and setbacks. It's easy for us to forget that not only was Mr Boy born 2.5 months early, but he has spent nearly 5 months out of his short 2 and 1/2 year life, in the hospital. And during those 5 months spend in the hospital, he was surviving, not developing, so it would be natural for him to be at least 5 months behind developmentally. Then add to that, his physical challenges and top it off with a strong fear of everything, and you've got a mess! :)

Yet Mr Boy continues to amaze us just when we are starting to get discouraged and sad about how fearful he is, by doing something brave. We've had a hard few months ever since Mr Boy's panic attacks started, but he really hasn't had an intense attack in several weeks. Just a few panicky moments every week and a lingering, heightened sense of fear. There have been many sad moments this past month as we have tried to partake in fun activities with Mr Boy, only to be shot down by his tearful, panic stricken screams, even when approaching our own neighborhood park. We just never know what we are going to get with him, or what will trigger fear. One day it's a fun time at the park, another it's screaming in fear and this is not the usual terrible twos... this is panic. I know this because he has also started throwing the typical "terrible twos" tantrums and they are so cute and manageable in comparison. Anyhow, this week has been a good week, free of his usual fears, and because of that, he has grown so much in just one week!

Mr Boy even played at a park full of other kids and didn't scream in the face of any of them! Crazy, I know. He's growing up. I think he was calm enough to let his guard down a little and actually watch the kids playing and realized that none of them were paying any attention to him, and that made him happy and comfortable. Usually in his life, when the attention is on him, something bad is about to happen, so no attention is good attention!

I think the further we get from his pain, the more Mr Boy will blossom. Since his surgery, we have not had to do his nightly painful routine, so he no longer has to endure a forced painful procedure every night, at the hands of his parents. Praise the Lord! And now that we give him "happy medicine" for every Doctor visit, we have been able to eliminate the main place where all his fear originated. We are excited for this coming summer of limitless possibilities! 

Some milestones and silly moments caught on video: