Resiliency

Landon's Physical Therapist came to our house this morning. This was the second meeting. Landon did wonderfully during the first session. He was cooperating for most of the hour that she was there. He allowed her to touch him and sat on her lap. I could not believe it. I wondered if it may have helped that I was not there when she first arrived. Jimmy's parents were watching Landon so I got there a few minutes later and he had an opportunity to play with her without looking for me or wanting me to help him instead.

He was not quite so cooperative this time. He didn't even want me to do the tasks with him (i.e. supporting his waist to stand him up to get a toy). A big part of the problem was that the session began right before nap time. Not ideal at all! I talked about this with the therapist ahead of time, but we had no choice this week so we went for it. The therapist asked if she could hold him and if he would let her, in an attempt to build rapport with him. I told her that he would not, but that she could take him into his room or play room and that I would stay in the kitchen. It took him a few minutes to stop crying (screaming) but then I would hear silence. Music to my ears because I would love for him to be a little more comfortable with people he doesn't see all of the time. Then I would hear screaming again.. This went on for a good 20-25 minutes.

As soon as I heard, "let's go find Mommy. We're all done." I peeked around the corner to find her holding him and tears streaming down his face. He reached for me and once he realized that we weren't going to "work" anymore, he calmed down.

Melissa gave me some recommendations and positive feedback. He seems to be walking better (with assistance) this week compared to last week. She said that he has great toys to play with and that we should try to raise them a bit (particularly in his room) because he can easily crawl and sit to play with all of his toys. She commented on the number of toys he has and said that she doesn't have to bring her toys with her to our sessions *sigh* (I know this...). We have such generous family members and friends who buy and pass along their kids' toys to Landon! But, what she said next really struck me. She said, "I can tell that Landon has been through a lot, but he has really great coping skills for as young as he is." Now, I have worried about Landon's anxiety and coping in the past so it felt good to hear this. I asked her why she said that so she told me that even when Landon gets upset, he maintains his composure and then after a few minutes he just decides to deal with it. She said, at no point, did he seem comfortable with the fact that she was there and I wasn't, but he went along with what she was doing. He became upset when she tried to get him to walk and stand probably because he was tired and not in the mood. She also said that he is a thinker. He likes to figure things out and really concentrates on the task at hand. That is definitely Jimmy! What I noticed about him, which is a lot like me, is that he will continue to try to make something work even when we redirect him to do it the "correct" way. It's almost as if to say, "I need to find out for myself that it doesn't work." This has been reason for some of Jimmy's frustration. He says that I just don't listen. Sorry honey!

Anyway, I feel like I learned a lot about my son in the last hour. And, I am even more proud of him!