Standin' Time

We have been waiting for MONTHS for James' stander to be approved and delivered.  In the meantime we borrowed a stander from Early Intervention, but there weren't many activities he could do in the stander.  The stander didn't have a tray for activities so we had to resort to movies.  Of course, that was fun, especially considering Grandma Nona sent fun Disney Sing-a-longs for Christmas.  But, we wanted him to be in the stander as much as possible to strengthen his leg muscles and make him comfortable with the idea of standing the majority of the time.  Our physical therapist told us that typical standers have nice, large trays so that James can play with his toys while standing.  We started the process of getting our own back in January.

Well, we FINALLY GOT IT!  It is amazing!  James really enjoys using the tray to play.  It was a little hard to transition from watching movies in the stander to playing, but he is doing well.  He does think that the word "stand" means "movie", but if we distract him and find new, fun activities he has a great time.  He seems to do better with focusing on his activities now that they are at his level, not on the floor, and that he can't kick the tray over.

Not only is it much more fun, but his posture looks so much better.  The advancements of this stander versus the loaner helps keep his knees bent correctly and his feet flat on the ground.  James compensates for muscle weakness by locking his knees into place which means his muscles don't get a great work out, but in the new stander he doesn't have this problem!

He is getting so much stronger and having so much fun!  His new favorite stander activity is cooking!  I am so excited that we can do more food activities, that he is enjoying it, and trying new things.

With love.