FIVE
“Everything is great, everything is grand, I got the whole wide world in the palm of my hand”
Every Friday, we have a family movie night where we watch different Disney classics. The Muppets was a recent choice, and one of its songs has ingrained itself in our everyday lives.
It is cute the first time you hear it.
Then, slowly and over time, this song feels like it has turned me into a crazy person. I dream about it when I sleep; it's the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning, and it's stuck in my head when I work out & take showers — I can't get rid of it, and up until recently I hated it.
The other night, we were doing an evening bike ride. Elliott was on his tricycle, and the rest of us were trailing behind him. He had no idea I had caught up to him, but as I got closer, I could hear him singing.
"Everything is great, everything is grand, I got the whole wide world in the palm of my hands."
The sun was setting, and he was so carefree and happy as he blurted out our beloved Muppets song. It stopped me right in my tracks. As much as I have grown tired of this song on repeat, I sure couldn't deny the moment it gave me as I admired my boy, full of so much joy, living those words to the fullest, riding around on his bike.
It was a core memory I never want to forget.
With that said, it's July, and a lot has happened since I last posted — including Elliott's birthday in April — so I want to catch you up! I am starting to grasp just how fast these childhood years go. How is he 5??!
Elliott has really come into his own over the last year, and we can't wait to see that grow even more next year. He is smart, shows a strong interest in learning to read and do math, and is kind, caring & full of endless energy. It is incredible to watch the daily work he puts in to learn skills that don't come as easily to him as others. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, slows him down.
Ninja continues to be one of his favorite activities, so for the birthday celebration, we went to a ninja gym with friends and family. The gym had a coach who led age-appropriate activities and even threw in a few activities the adults could enjoy. Everyone had a blast! My sister-in-law is an amazing baker, so she agreed to my outrageous request of a Lion King cake, and she even made it three-tiered! The whole day was filled with smiles and laughter from beginning to end.
As far as sports, we are continuing to dive deep into whatever we can get our hands on. Not only do sports help Elliott incorporate strength-building activities into his everyday life, but they also support flexibility and body control — all things we work so hard on in physical therapy. Over the summer, he is participating in soccer, ninja, & swim, and we have also enrolled him in a couple of programs through the Rec Center. This includes tennis in June and t-ball in July. It has been so much fun to watch him learn new sports and grow more independent and confident with every practice.
Additionally, his doctors and therapists are so impressed by his level of activity that they have advised him to get fitted for a different type of brace better suited to sports. This new brace, made of carbon, will allow greater flexibility and mobility in his ankle while he plays. He has been fitted for the brace, and we should be getting it in the next month or so. Ironically, his new brace design is basketballs — one of the few sports he has yet to try!
Finally, this spring, Nathan and I decided to hold Elliott back from starting Kindergarten this fall. Ultimately, we want him to improve his speech and enunciation, gain another year of socialization and physical growth, and continue working on his fine motor skills.
The school he attends is year-round, and we decided he would do another year there, with the full support of the staff. This summer, they have bumped him up to the oldest class, Beetles. This class has many other kids who are turning five this year and starting kindergarten next year. The teachers have a great curriculum and are working on our specific goals, so the transition has been seamless. As soon as we finalized our decision, we were more than confident that this was the best thing for him.
The rest of the summer is filled with some fun family vacations, camping trips & home renovation projects. In the midst of all this, we make it a priority to sit down for dinner every night and talk about our favorite parts of each day. There are always beautiful moments around us, if we so choose to see them. By no means is every day easy, and we have big challenges we continue to work through and figure out, but there sure has been a lot of joy around lately that I want to soak in and love to share.
Happy Summer to you and yours!
