We arrived at the pool at the same time as his therapist, and together we got the very excited boy into his walker. As we walked towards the building, one of the life guards we know came up to say hi. When she saw the towels under my arm she frowned, and asked of I knew the pool was closed today. Oh no. Christian immediately started to fall apart.
We somehow convinced him to walk inside the Youth and Family Center, and then the day turned around. The staff was preparing for the annual Christmas Carnival, and there were already some decorations up. We said hello to some elves and The Grinch, then headed over to visit the carousel. Christian walked really well across the room, then jumped with excitement as we got him onto the carousel. Tes was a little hesitant, but I convinced her it wouldn't go to fast, so she gave me her permission to insert my quarter. The kids both exclaimed in delight as the carousel jerked to a start. Christian was siting well, but still needed to be supported, so his therapist and I walked around with him, supporting him at his hips.
After the carousel, we headed for the arcade. Both the kids wanted to try the race car games, which were perfect because it looked like they were playing without ever having to insert any coins. Tessie was having a ball, so I wandered back over to Bubs and his therapist. Christian was sitting in the chair, holding the steering wheel, supporting himself completely. When his PT told him to start his engine, he leaned to the side and pressed a button with one hand, while still holding the steering wheel with the other. Then he pulled himself back up to the middle. He shouted in delight as the cars raced by on the screen, and called out "Look at me Mommy! I'm playing the cars game!" He was having so much fun, and didn't even realize how hard he was working. And man, was he working hard. Pretty beautiful, if you ask me. It turned out that the pool being closed wasn't such a bad thing after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment