William Exploring his World

I am so excited to finally share a video and pictures of William in a Power Chair!! 

Back in April we took William to a power chair evaluation and I shared our experience in a blog post titled Power Chair. William was not excited about trying out a power chair at the appointment. However we asked that a demo or loaner chair be brought to our house for him to try.  We have now had the demo power chair for two weeks today. The video included I took yesterday at the park! 

William has shown consistent improvement with his chair.  At first he was very cautious and just tapped the joy stick. He then started with clockwise circles - pushing the joy stick inward towards himself. Now he is working on forward and backward.

He loves his power chair. He almost always shakes his head no when it is time to get out. It is so exciting to let him explore his world on his own for the first time. Yesterday we took him to the park! Of course he was very cautious about the new place at first, but then began driving around and had a great time. He shook his head no as we were leaving and after we loaded him into the van I asked him what he thought of the park. He smiled and gave me a high five.

William playing at the park. 

During our two weeks of power chair practice, we have spent a lot of time in our garage and/or in the drive way.  Juliet recently got a bicycle for her birthday, so we all head outside for driving/riding practice. I have determined with two young children that do not yet understand how to stop their moving vehicles, practice sessions require two adults.

William and Juliet with their new wheels.

Who is taller?

The other day I had the opportunity to get a picture of William and Juliet standing beside each other!

William's PT has been having him stand against our ottoman.  He wears his AFOs, knee immobilizers and his TLSO then she braces him from behind.

Juliet (4) and William (22 mo.)

William standing with the help of his PT

It is amazing to me how close they are in height. William has always been very tall for his age.  Typically in the 95th percentile or higher on the growth charts. And no, Dan and I are not tall people.  Typically MTM boys are tall. I first wrote about this back in October when we first got William in his stander.