Another year of growth!

It has been a longtime since I've posted about Sammie....I feel neglectful. Though I'm not sure who reads anyway! Sammie has been working so very hard the past year and a half on his walking. He generally crawls around the house from room to room but spends most of his school day walking from point a to point b. He continues to use his gait trainer for long walks and also practices holding someones hand or hands. Honestly, I think he could just do it on his own but he is still scared to let go. Oftentimes I find myself letting him go without him realizing and he is able to stand and take up to 4 steps before loosing his balance. I truly belive with some more time and added confidence he will be walking the school hallways and our house hallways without a second thought. I picked him up early the other day and watched him walk holding an aides hand. They were walking all around the classroom collecting his backpack and jacket. He was walking with such ease and so naturally. It took my breath away. I guess because I'm usually the hand he is holding I never really get a good look at him walking. He looked so grown up..he looked like a walker. It melted my heart. So many hours have been spent working toward these moments and to think that one day he will just stand up and do it on his own is so exciting! Sammie also continues to communicate in his way. He says "mama" for women, "papa" for men, "ball", "I want ball","truck", and "pet" consistently. He is able to say more in a one on one setting but does not yet generalize those other words. Mama and papa seem to make sense. We spend many years refering to our parents as mom and dad so they are repeated constantly. He is OBSSESED with balls so he learned if he could say it and request it then he would get a ball! Everytime he sees a truck and says "truck". Marc was mowing the lawn with the tractor this past summer and Sammie was playing in the livingroom. The windows were open and I could here Sammie saying "truck...truck". When I entered the livingroom I couldn't believe that Sammie had pulled himself up to standing infront of the window. He was watching Marc drive the tractor around the lawn and saying "truck truck"!! How wonderful that he is able to recognize the sound, determine where it is coming from, pull himself up to locate it and be rewarded with seeing the "truck"! Sammie has grown so much in the last year. While he still remains several inches and many pounds smaller than his peers he now within the growth chart. His curve has always been slowly rising but well below the typical curve. For the first time in 8 years his curve just touches the typical curve. It may not seem like much but it is! Sammie enjoys eating and is actually able to consume lots of food and it continues to baffle me as to where it goes? His little body and heart are just working so hard all day..I guess it must all get burned up. I continuously ask every physician I meet and they agree...maybe there is no other explaination. Sammie tries very hard to feed himself. Still working on using utensils effectively but always making progress. For the most part I believe that Sammie enjoys school. He loves riding the bus or in the van. He loves his teachers and all of the people that work with him. He gets mad sometimes and doesn't want to do the work but they never give up on him. He is lucky to be surrounded by people that believe in him and step it up to the next level when he reaches a milestone. There is always room to grow. He continues to go to Medicine Horse Farm. While he enjoys riding Ms.Lily the most he has also ridden another horse, Dell. He is able to stay up with minimal assistance and has made progress in his riding and strengthening his core, which has assited in his walking ability.