A big surprise

Motivating our son to walk hasn't been that easy. As I have wrote in previous post, Tommy's major gross motor problem has been his lack of motivation to get mobile. Believe it or not, his lack of motivation has been stronger than Hypotonia. But we are happy, because all our efforts to helping him to walk has been worthed, Tommy is independently walking!

I think the day he realized he could do was on Thursday, July 28th. It was the first day I saw him walking longer distance completely independent, but it was just for a few moments. Over the weekend, he wore his brand new Wee Squeak shoes, which were a big hit. I think those shoes helped him enjoy walking because every time he steps the shoes squeak. On Monday, August 2nd, he independently walked during the evening. On Tuesday 3rd, he complete quit crawling and went to fully walk independent.

The joy we feel is enormous! I think sometimes that it is not happening because we have been waiting for so long. We were told by our PTs that he had the skills, but he wasn't confident to do it. I feel very happy for him because he will be able to interact better with kids of his age. I don't how long it will take for him getting the gross motor skills according to his age, but I am enjoying watching him being independent because it is how he is. As part of the enjoyment, I am taking him to places just for the fun of walking. I went to the mall last week and we didn't use the stroller following the advise of our PT. He walked with me! I went to the grocery store and he helped me to push the shopping chart. It is incredible to watch him walking around.

Tommy has never follow the gross motor millstone charts. He does small progress in his gross motor skills during a long period of time; but when he is into it, he does everything at once. From walking independent in a week ago, he can walk the front porch stairs, one hand supported, up and down. I honestly thought it will take longer. He is also showing interest in running, he currently can run both hands supported and I will star one hand supported this week. Now, our big goals are walking the stairs up and down without support and running, which I don't think it will take too long for him because he enjoys everything that is movement and running provides much sensory input into his body than walking.

We waited to post about Tommy is walking because we wanted to give a surprise to my mother-in-law and father-in-law because they were out of town. My father-in-law is coming over today; so, it will be a big surprise for him.