The Magic of Believing

Almost exactly two months ago Robin took his first steps.  It was a joyous occasion.  However, after those initial steps he kind of stalled out and took maybe 1 or 2 steps a day, some days none.  His lack of progress resulted in a special consultation with a physical therapist, separate from his regular therapist.

The physical therapist pronounced him ready to walk.  He just did not believe he could do it.  She handed him a toy and as long as she was touching the toy, he would walk around the room.  If she let go, he collapsed.  It was just like a scene out of the movie Dumbo.  All Robin needed was a magic feather and he could walk.  Back home, I began barely holding onto his lovey instead of his hand and letting him walk holding onto his lovey.  He continued to collapse the moment I let go.  We went like this for a few weeks.

Last week I mentioned the idea of a weighted vest to his therapist.  Robin has low tone and poor core muscles.  He also sometimes needs help "waking up."  He isn't sleepy but it takes a bit more to make him alert and active.  I thought the pressure of the vest would help stimulate him while also helping him build strength.  His therapist thought it was a good idea, but suggested starting with a weighted backpack and seeing how he responded before I spent money on a vest.

I emptied out Linus' little toddler backpack and put a one pound bag of beans in it.  The backpack has chest and waist straps which really helped secure it.  The result was nothing short of miraculous.  Since Robin has a propensity for hunching forward, the backpack pulled him up and straightened him out.  This alone seemed to help.  Luckily, Robin loves his backpack and hates when we take it off him.

The hallway of the kids' school provides excellent practice for walking,  Long, straight, with lots people nearby to cheer him on as he walks.  We started by setting goals to have him walk with very little assistance the length of one classroom.  After lots of hard work, we eventually worked our way up to having him go the entire length of the intermediate and middle school classrooms.  Robin is even kind enough to sometimes let one of the teachers hold his hand while he goes. 

Finally, in the past three days Robin has gone from taking 3 steps maximum by himself, to 10,15,20 steps.  He can even pivot and move around objects.  I tried to take a video and of course he didn't want to cooperate, he was on a mission to climb the stairs and couldn't be bothered.

I'm so excited that Robin is progressing to bipedal movement.  19 months old, whatever. His world is going to open up for him.  The backyard and playgrounds will be infinitely more exciting.  Robin just needs lots of encouragement and opportunities to try.  I'm so proud of him.  All it took was a lovey and a magical backpack of beans.