On the Move

Lincoln got rave reviews from his Occupational Therapist today after his week of amazing development. On her weekly report, she wrote three little and very exciting words: Lincoln is crawling.

Of course we knew he was crawling, but sometimes the professionals like to be more cautious about making those pronouncements. It is a little odd sometimes having someone tell you what to do with your child. I'm not supposed to be enamored with his modified, straight-legged crawl; I'm supposed to bend his knees for him and guide him in a therapist-approved maneuver. It's not that we're not grateful for their expertise. In fact, I can't imagine doing this without their help, but there is a twinge of resentment that we all have to work so hard.

So, when we all finally get it right, and Lincoln gets a good report, it is absolutely thrilling. I just can't overstate how much more heightened our celebrations are when Linc does something new than they were with Nico. I mean, we were always ecstatic when Nico learned a new trick, but ultimately, we expected him to do all of the things he was doing, and we even knew about when to expect him to start doing them.

With Lincoln, we don't know what to expect, and we try not to put a time frame on anything. When he learns something, it can sort of be likened to Nico doing something we never imagined he would do, like flying or suddenly speaking Italian, or obeying us. When we decided to take it a day at a time with Linc, we let go of all those specific expectations for his life, which means that his progress always surprises us. He always amazes us, with every little inch of progress.