A New PT

Ruby officially graduated from Babies Can't Wait on her third birthday. This means that we no longer receive the speech and physical therapy services she received through those therapists. We have two other speech therapists (one speech and language and one myofunctional), but we opted not to seek out private PT. While Ruby's visits were once/week for the first two years, once she learned to walk, we were really in a good place, and only saw the therapist about once/month. Then once Ruby went into the hospital, it was once every few months, at best. Both her therapist and I were in agreement that the work Ruby and I did was moving her forward in her progress (climbing, running, etc.). When we saw her the last time before Ruby's birthday, we reviewed strategies for moving forward, and Ruby was praised for how well she is doing.

About a month before that, I signed Ruby up for a 'Buddy & Me' gymnastics class. Once a week she and I go to a local gym where a teacher sets up a few little courses and instructs our flow while we walk our kids through it. Ruby LOVES it. She listens very well in the class and follows directions at least as well as the other (typical) kids, if not better. She climbs and balances and maneuvers through the 45 minute class with a huge smile on her face. I've noticed her gait is stronger; she almost has a full run now. She climbs anything and everything (even out of her crib!), and does most stairs with the help of a railing. She loses her balance and catches herself often. And she can walk through transitions (door ways with different levels on either side, short curbs, etc.) without support.

To say this girl is thriving in her new physical therapy routine would be correct.

Parkour!

Eli and Maddux have dabbled in gymnastics for the last few years, but outside of a few months here and there, it's never developed past that. As American Ninja Warrior fever struck us just after Ruby was born, the kids started to express interest in rock climbing and parkour-type stuff. As things often go in our house, it took me about six months to find a place that offers classes like that, and another six to sign them up.

The older kids took their first class this last Monday. Ruby and I had to wait in the front area, but there is a TV in there that plays the live feed from the inside gym where the class was being held. They had SO much fun! I wish I could have taken it; it looked like a blast! The kids and their solo classmate warmed up, practiced a few basic 'moves' and then went on to some quickly made obstacles around the gym. Go-go-go was the theme, for sure (reminded me of my boot camp!). They came out exhausted and grinning from ear to ear.

Dancer

Maddux opted to take a gymnastics class this spring instead of doing a team sport. I was able to find a class that offered gymnastics AND ballet/hip-hop, which she's come to really enjoy. Every other week she wears ballet shoes and practices her plies and sautes. On the other week(s), she dons sneakers and does some basic hip hop style moves. Every week she does gymnastics for the second half of class.

This girl is a natural when it comes to basic gymnastics: her upper body strength is great and she can balance fairly well on the beam. (This is a bit surprising since she walks into walls and will trip over her own feet sometimes. It just goes to show that her focus is necessary to stay injury-free.)

No pictures or video yet; the glass between me and the class is not easy to shoot through.

Gymnastics

My gym rats...Eli and Maddux are still LOVING their once/week gymnastics class. Maddux is a monkey out there, she can walk the beam, forward or backwards, often not even glancing at the beam. And Eli has come a long way with handstands, cartwheels and all kinds of 'hanging' things. They both look forward to their classes, but even more so, they are both constantly 'practicing'. Even in the driveway, they will do handstands or cartwheels in between tosses of the ball, or while raking the leaves in the yard.

Gymnastics

Over the summer, I enrolled Eli and Maddux in gymnastics once a week. They really liked it, and with Eli's feet, the barefoot activity focused on balance is something that needs to be a regular occurrence. Since they enjoyed it so much, I signed them up for another session, right after school once a week. They are in different classes due to their ages, but their classes are at the same time. (The gym is huge!!)

Maddux is her usual goofy self, but she is progressing really far on the balance beam. She can walk the whole length (or more) 'scooping' her feet down each step and/or going backwards. She still falls often enough, but most of that is Maddux being Maddux.

Eli still struggles with the backwards rolls, but his cartwheels have gotten so much better, and he loves the rings. This last week they even got on the high bar and hung for a few minutes before dropping into a foam pit. The most interesting exercises his class does are bear crawls on top of the parallel bars and 'gator chomps' hanging and moving underneath the balance beam. Talk about an all-over workout!