A Revelation & Some Photos

I watched a video several days ago which was shared by the Disability Scoop. It was of a boy with cerebral palsy running a race during his school's field day. He experienced a wonderful show of support by his schoolmates. I cried almost through the whole video...

I wanted to post it here, though not specifically Ds related because it really triggered a revelation for me. As recently as a few months ago, I worried about the things that Levi might not get to do or experience. Lately I've been worrying less about whether he'll be able to do many things and more about how he'll feel attempting those things. You see, I am a perfectionist. Sometimes those tendencies are helpful in seeing a project through to completion and getting the job done right. Sometimes it's hindering because I often turn away from challenges which I perceive as too difficult to complete perfectly. I don't want to be disappointed in myself for "failing."

Seeing this last week really made me realize that my perfectionistic tendencies have been influencing the way I've perceived the possibilities for Levi. It equates to "I feel sad because Levi certainly won't want to run a race against his typical peers because there's no way he'll win." This may not be the best example - I'm not saying Ds has affected Levi in some way which will prevent him from running quickly - it's just an example. In any case. This video showed me that Levi doesn't have to feel the same way I do about challenges - in fact, in many ways - I hope he doesn't. I hope he strives to overcome challenges which he perceives as difficult. I would be more proud of him for that than winning first place in a race any day!

So here's the video - I hope you enjoy it as I did...

And because I've been slacking in my blogging (and will probably continue to be over the summer as we'll spend very little time indoors), here's a few adorable pics from the last few weeks. I was hoping my weekly updates on Levi would make it until he turned one, but I'm so swamped with appointments and planning this month that I strongly suspect his birthday post will be the next one to arrive. So until then...

Learning to Hold His Own Bottle