Summertime Success

This summer has been a remarkable one for both kids but its really been Braden’s summer of accomplishments. He overcame his fear of swinging things, tire swings, regular swings, etc. It took me a while to understand where this irrational fear came from but the best I can come up with is that it makes him feel off balance. The movement is something he associates with unbalance and some kind of unsafe environment. The fear began at the Treehouse, an indoor playground in Chelsea. There are two swinging balls on the second level of the structure and he did get pinned between them by two older boys who were being very rough with him. I think this is where the fear began but I’ll never know. After talking to the pediatrician we used occupational therapy techniques to slowly work on the fear. I think its been successful but always requires a bit of encouragement and reassurance on my part when going places.



Braden’s biggest accomplishment by far is his swimming. He went from splashing in the water and blowing bubbles in the bathtub to fully going underwater, swimming a doggy paddle version and jumping off the side of the pool. Its hard for me to remember where he was at in June from where he is now. Braden and Addie both took swim lessons in July and they really were effective giving them the confidence they needed to try new things. Addie is not yet ready to go under on her own but when she does it by accident she’s no longer afraid and is getting really close to trying it. She’ll put her entire face in which is a big change and when she has a pool noodle on her waist she’ll doggy paddle really well to get around the pool.


I’m a very proud mommy of my two swimmers since its one of my favorite things to do.


On top of overcoming fears and swimming Braden is been working on his numbers and letters and has made some significant improvements. He is doing a 3rd year of preschool as he is not ready for kindergarten. We will probably get him a tutor this year in addition to four days of preschool because he needs one on one instruction. He has a very visual brain and it makes it harder for him to learn because traditional schooling is auditory. He is very smart but the way he needs to learn is different and I’m still trying to figure out how to help him; this year I’ve dedicated myself to figuring out how to get him ready for kindergarten and learn how I can help him learn using his talents which are visual/spatial. He can take any material you give him and build something. You give him recycling cardboard, he builds a house, with legos he can make an entire fleet of boats and airplanes and building structures. He can stack and bend anything to make what he calls “creations” so I know he’s got an amazing brain.

 



Practicing swimming

Braden so proud to have mastered the Slip N Slide!

Swim Class