Let's Celebrate!

No, not because it is Friday and the sun is supposed to shine all weekend (although around here that in itself is worth a celebration), but because of something more monumental.

Matthew has sensory issues. I wouldn't call it full blown sensory processing disorder, but he definitely has his sensitivities and would score rather high in some areas such as auditory, smell, and tactile. I blogged about an incident here if you didn't see it.

Last year, he worked once a week with an O/T and was in regular contact with a child psychiatrist. We were all working on reducing his hypersensitivities to tactile stimulus. Brushing teeth was a nightmare in the past...don't even think about toothpaste. We were able to conquer that one. Yay!

But the wiping after a bowl movement has alluded us. Been working on that one for about 1 1/2 yrs. Won't even start to address the smell that makes him retch but the sound of the bathroom fan makes him scream. Oiy.

Just before casting started at the end of March, we had gotten to the point where he would wipe (only with me present and only with loud protests) and then I was to check and make sure it was completely clean. Then, he refused to dress until he had seen that it was clean. I took away hand mirrors to stop it but then he just climbed on the counter and looked with the bathroom mirror. Crafty little kid.

When he was casted, it was awkward to sit with the cast, then he injured his finger on his right hand. We were back to square one. Since he got the cast off 3 weeks ago, I have been working (aka fighting) with him to start again.

Which brings us to today. I sent them upstairs to dress and brush teeth for school. Matthew said he had to poop and up he went. He came down about 10 minutes later dressed and ready for school.

"Are you ready for school? Did you brush your teeth?"

"yes Mommy. I just need my brace and stretches."

"I thought you had to poop?"

He said so casually "I did Mommy."

I swear I heard angels singing. Either that or it was Ryan yelling for his socks.

He did it. He wiped all by himself. Without me in the room. Without me passing him the wipes. Without him complaining and yelling about it. Without me having to check after. Without me... at all!

I gave him a huge hug and told him I was so proud of him. And with that grin, you could tell he was proud too.

Celebration to commence after school. Perhaps a bowl of ice cream on the deck followed by a game of water balloon tag. And maybe, a glass of frozen margarita for me.

That grin

Matthew had soccer tonight. I was worried about him running without his AFO. Thought he would trip and hurt himself on that indoor soccer surface.

Some days I need to give my head a shake. Did I really think that? Why?

He entered the gate of the field at a run, sprinted as fast as he could to the other side, put his water bottle up, got a ball and took off. During the game, he ran his heart out with a grin on his face the whole time. He kept up with them all and even took the ball away from the other team time and time again.

But his foot looked terrible. His foot was turned in and he was running on the side of it. And when he was walking, his ankle would roll every step.

But that was me seeing it. He didn't see it that way. Neither did his coach. Matthew took a ball to the face near the end. The whole crowd of parents gave a collective groan. The coach walked him off as I was making my way to him. He had a few tears, but was ok within minutes. His coach said 'he is just flying out there!' I mentioned, yes and even without his AFO. His coach had to do a double take and realized he was not wearing it.

It makes me feel good to realize that I do see more then most people. Maybe no other parent saw his odd gait, his terry fox hop. Maybe they never made it past that grin on the kid who was flying around the field.