Time to Sit

In the meantime I had bigger things to concentrate on. Like Julian rolling over. I spent many hours each day doing the exercises that his physical therapist had shown me. He did lots of body twist so I could show him how to move. I learned how to show him how to shift his weight so he could figure out his head really wasn't as heavy as he thought and he could bring it along for the ride when he rolled over...He didn't like any of the exercises. He always fussed or cried but I kept at it trying to sooth the fussing but knowing it wasn't hurting him and more that it was helping him. When he was on his belly I was teaching him how to get up on his elbows so he wasn't always in a face plant. We bought tons of toys that seemed to get his attention to help with the process. When he wasn't eating or sleeping we were exercising his little body during play time. I was very positive in the beginning but the longer time went on and he still wasn't rolling over the more I began to worry that something more was wrong and so did Denise, his physical therapist.

One day I was explaining to Denise how frustrated I was with the fact that he wouldn't roll over. It wasn't just during play time he that he wasn't rolling over, even at night while he was sleeping he still laid in one position. She had me show her exactly what we were doing for his exercises and then assured me everything I was doing was correct. She thought maybe we just needed to change our focus on to a different movement and then maybe he would figure out rolling over later on.

Within minutes she was teaching Julian to sit up and giving me pointers on how to help him learn. He was a little like a bobble head only from the waist up. He weaved when he was in the sitting position as he tried to find his balance. But he seemed to like the idea better than rolling over. He did fuss or cry. And with Denise's approval and Julian's willingness to try something new we began working on going from him laying down to getting him to sit up and we decided to put rolling over aside.

Julian did amazing at sitting up. He loved to sit and play with toys and that was his biggest motivator. So within two days he could be in the sit position and he could hold his balance. Within a week he could go from laying on his back to the sitting position. I was so excited and each time he did it I got teary eyed. He was changing before my eyes every day. It was amazing to watch. The more he moved the more confident he became in himself. You could see it in his eyes.

When I we went back to see Denise the following week she couldn't believe his progress. She got just as teary eyed as I did. She was talking to him and telling him how great he was and he was all giggles and smiles. It was like our three man team had finally hit a home run against the opposing team, the people that hurt him. I couldn't have been more proud of my little man! He was finally seeing that his little bones were okay and he was going to be okay so it was time to move and I was honored to be a part of his progress!