I’m kicking myself for not taking a camera, but I didn’t, so you’re going to have to just use your imaginations.
So, backstory: years ago when Dominic was doing regular OT, his therapist told us repeatedly that his upper body strength was weak and we needed to really focus on it because it was going to be a real problem for us down the road. Other than not being able to do monkey bars at the park (when we still took him… there are no decent fenced parks in town and elopement has been a concern) we never really saw the problem.
We went to a birthday party at a trampoline gym last night for a little Alpine friend of Dominics. Actually, she’s his girlfriend. They loooooooove each other and hadn’t seen each other in almost 2 months. She ran up and gave him a hug as soon as she saw him, and I caught him smooching on her a couple of times. It was adorable. We were only able to stay for the first part of the party (it was scheduled to go until 7pm which is Dominic’s bedtime on a school night, so we left at 6), but that’s okay because that was the playing part. There were trampolines, giant foam filled pits to jump in (sensory seeker heaven) and swings and ropes and such. Dominic spent the first part of the evening jumping in and out of the foam pit while we watched. LOVED it. Then I showed him the swing. Think trapeze looking swing off a cliff into creek swing – but into the foam pit instead. Other than needing a bit of holding back to allow the previous kiddo to get out of the way, he did fabulous. He held onto the swing, and dropped at the appropriate time. And loved it. He did that for quite a while, and the he ran. Back and forth along the springy floor (they train gymnasts at this place).
And he found another foam pit in the corner that had a rope swing above it (thick rope with a big knot in the bottom). Another Alpine mom was supervising that corner of things, and the first time he got on the rope swing, she had to help him, but he clung onto it really well and then dropped into the foam. After the first time, tho, he was doing it himself and holding on instead of using it to drop down. She told me that she asked him if he needed help and he said “I got it”. Blew her away.
So between the two swings, I’m feeling like the whole upper body strength thing is fine now. Sometime soon I want to find a set of monkey bars and see if he can do them.
So, backstory: years ago when Dominic was doing regular OT, his therapist told us repeatedly that his upper body strength was weak and we needed to really focus on it because it was going to be a real problem for us down the road. Other than not being able to do monkey bars at the park (when we still took him… there are no decent fenced parks in town and elopement has been a concern) we never really saw the problem.
We went to a birthday party at a trampoline gym last night for a little Alpine friend of Dominics. Actually, she’s his girlfriend. They loooooooove each other and hadn’t seen each other in almost 2 months. She ran up and gave him a hug as soon as she saw him, and I caught him smooching on her a couple of times. It was adorable. We were only able to stay for the first part of the party (it was scheduled to go until 7pm which is Dominic’s bedtime on a school night, so we left at 6), but that’s okay because that was the playing part. There were trampolines, giant foam filled pits to jump in (sensory seeker heaven) and swings and ropes and such. Dominic spent the first part of the evening jumping in and out of the foam pit while we watched. LOVED it. Then I showed him the swing. Think trapeze looking swing off a cliff into creek swing – but into the foam pit instead. Other than needing a bit of holding back to allow the previous kiddo to get out of the way, he did fabulous. He held onto the swing, and dropped at the appropriate time. And loved it. He did that for quite a while, and the he ran. Back and forth along the springy floor (they train gymnasts at this place).
And he found another foam pit in the corner that had a rope swing above it (thick rope with a big knot in the bottom). Another Alpine mom was supervising that corner of things, and the first time he got on the rope swing, she had to help him, but he clung onto it really well and then dropped into the foam. After the first time, tho, he was doing it himself and holding on instead of using it to drop down. She told me that she asked him if he needed help and he said “I got it”. Blew her away.
So between the two swings, I’m feeling like the whole upper body strength thing is fine now. Sometime soon I want to find a set of monkey bars and see if he can do them.
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