The Big WC

We are there. We have it. The Wheelchair.

It is the thing that you scan that list looking for. What list? The list you get when you get the diagnosis. The list that says if your child has level __ they will use various ways for mobility. And the first thing you do is look at that list to see where a wheelchair falls.

But this wheelchair is not on this list. This is a wheelchair to replace his stroller. This is a wheelchair  to show Nick that he has the ability to be independent. To show Nick that if he wants to go and look at a pack of markers in Walmart then he can’t be pushed away. He has the ability to take himself back to those markers. And of course if he looks cute enough, his parents will cave and buy him those markers. But I get ahead of myself.

We had a very busy day yesterday. First Nick got fitted for some new AFO's! Yay, his are currently too small. And I knew exactly what I wanted on his new braces, even if no one I talked to knows what Backyardigans are. But I'll show off the new braces when we pick them up in a couple of weeks.

 I brought Katheryn with me - she wants to come with us so I decided she could come and see how boring the appointments are. The two of them had a blast looking out the 4th floor window and look at the yellow school buses! And see mommy's car!

And we got to look at all the fishies before our appointment with Beth, OT.

And then it was time. It was there waiting for us in a treatment room.

We talked a little about it. There are a couple of different ones and I don't really understand the importance of one over the others. I guess I have some research to do.
But first we needed to do some measurements.

And it was time.

At first he just really wanted to play with his cars on the ground, so he had a couple of teary moments because he couldn't do what he wanted.
But he soon got the hang of it!

And then we had some smiles as he investigated by himself.

We had 2 different ones we tried. And to get Nick going, we let Katheryn try one too.

This green one was still a little big. Something about shoulders and wanting a smaller seat/base so that he could turn the wheels without spreading his shoulders. We want to limit wear on the shoulders - even at 2 years old.
But he could definitely get both moving well.

So we decided to take the blue one home to trial. And we are waiting to get a trial of the lighter one we saw first. I wish I could remember the names of them. (I think one was the zippy something). But this blue one is pretty heavy.

When we got home I wanted to take it out and try.
So the 4 of us headed off to Walmart to try it out.
The trial did not go as planned. We had fits and tears and parental frustration.
Nick really just wanted to be in the cart, then he wanted to be carried. So I ended up pushing him most of the time, but when we stopped he started to get the feel of going back and forth.
Especially in the previously mentioned crayon/marker aisle.

So trial day 1 is done.
The wheelchair is not going into the house, so I'd better start thinking of some new outtings for us to go on!