Today Noah got a chance to try the wooden steps I mentioned in my last post. We didn't expect any great results the very first time. It takes tremendous arm and upper body strength to navigate steps like this, especially going backwards/up. He was excited but when it came time to try he got pretty scared. We were ready to back off and try a different day when he drew on some inner strength and decided to go for it!
How did he do? See for yourself!!
His nurse caught this video of him going ALL THE WAY DOWN! We didn't get one of him going back up, but he did so like a pro. He went down, all of the way back up, all of the way back down, and all of the way back up again.
You can't imagine what it felt like to sit on the floor next to him. It's been almost 2 years since he could sit on the floor like that. He even crawled a couple of feet from his P.T. to me. It was the first time in nearly 2 years he'd moved across a space on his own with no wheelchair or other assistance!!!! Best of all, he used the steps to help himself get up into a tall kneel then lowered himself right onto my lap for a cuddle. It was hard not to burst into tears at that point.
These steps belong to his P.T. We had a carpenter from Abbeville come out during P.T. and measure the 6 steps. I hope to hear back from him soon with a quote and prayerfully before too long we will have a set of our own for him to use.
We were all SO proud of him! As soon as the video was off the kids started yelling and high-fiving him and hugging him (I think they waited b/c they didn't want to mess up the video LOL!) He was beyond exhausted - it really did him in for much of the day - but so deeply satisfied with his accomplishment.
Thank you all for praying for him - please continue to pray that he will be able to continue to improve his strength and efficiency on the steps and that he can have great fun being able to play on the floor.
Blessings,
Kate
