FIVE

Everything is great, everything is grand, I got the whole wide world in the palm of my hand…

The Muppets

Every Friday we have a family movie night where we watch different Disney classics. The Muppets was a recent choice and there is a song in this movie that has ingrained itself into our everyday life.

It is cute the first time you hear it.

Then slowly and overtime, 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 workout & take showers–I can’t get rid of it & 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 provided as I admired my boy, full of so much joy, living those words out to their 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 really starting to grasp just how fast all of these childhood years really go. How is he 5??!

Elliott has really come into his own independence over this last year and we can’t wait to see that develop even more this next year. He is smart, and expressing a big interest in learning how to read and do math, and he 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 favorites activities, so for the birthday celebration we went to a ninja gym with friends and family. The gym had a coach that lead age appropriate activities and even threw in some activities the adults could enjoy as well. 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 tier! 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 it also helps with flexibility and body control-all things we work so hard on in physical therapy. Over the summer months he is participating in soccer, ninja, & swim, but we have also started him in a couple of programs through the Rec Center. This includes tennis over the month of June and t-ball in July. It has been so fun to watch him learn new sports and gain more independence and confidence with every practice.

Additionally, his doctors and therapists are so impressed with his level of activities that they have advised he gets fitted for a different type of brace that is better suited for sports. This new brace is made out of carbon and will allow more flexibility and mobility on 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 made a decision to hold Elliott back from starting Kindergarten this fall. Ultimately, we want him to improve on his speech and enunciation, gain another year of socialization, physical growth and continue to work on his fine motor skills.

The school he attends goes year round and we decided he would do another year at the same school, 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 also turning five this year and starting kindergarten the following 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 is 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 every night at dinner and talk about our favorite parts of each day. There are always beautiful moments around us, if we so chose to see them. By no means is everyday 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!