In Which Connor Goes For A Ride

Today was a fantastic start to our Spring Break!  Though the forecast was originally for rain, the day dawned mild and beautifully sunny.  We decided that it was the perfect day to have Connor's tricycle make it's official debut outdoors!

Connor started getting excited when I put his helmet on to adjust the fit (he's grown quite a bit!) before we got in the car and drove to the park.  When I took it back off again for the drive he got kind of ticked-- he wanted on his trike now.  It's great to see him so fired up about a family activity!

Jer's taken most of this week off, though we had to cancel our visit to Canada because there are a few work-related things keeping him close to home right now.  He'll be home most of the week though, and I'm already really enjoying having so much family time.  Because Jer was coming to the park too, I got to strap on my outdoor skates and while Jeremy slowly guided Connor up and down Bradley Park's gentle hills, I zoomed around and got a great skating workout in-- my first outdoor skating session of the season!  Every once in a while I'd skate up alongside of them, flip around and go backwards in front of Connor, who thought this was pretty funny.

The park was absolutely packed, and we weren't the only ones out putting new adaptive equipment through its paces.  While we were sitting on a park bench letting Connor take a break (to his adamant protests-- that kid will ride his trike until he positively droops in the seat) a little guy in a new walker came by with his mom.  He was about Connor's age and obviously enjoying the walk and the lovely weather.  His mom and I chatted a bit and ended up exchanging phone numbers with the plane to set up a play date between the kids at some point.  Turns out they live really close to us.

Have I mentioned just how much I love this town?

Anyway, Connor had an absolute blast and completely wore himself out.  He's still not able to push the pedals down all the way by himself, but he still got quite the workout from all the effort he put into it.  He also played with a branch of pine needles.  Pine needles-- can you believe it?  Even I don't want to touch those things!  Not only did he happily pat the branch with his right hand, but he felt it with his left too.  It was pretty fantastic.  I think that the trike was giving him enough grounding and calming sensory input that he felt comfortable exploring things with his hands.  Of course he still won't hold the handlebars, but we'll keep working on that.

So all in all it was a great kickoff to what promises to be a fun-filled vacation.  Here's to sunny days!

~Jess