My Journal
July 2, 2005… I have no new medical news, but I've been so amazed by my son
these last few weeks and I want to share it with you, too! Canon has made so
much progress in the last three months it's unbelievable. Dr. Young had referred
us to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) back in January because his gross
motor skills were significantly delayed (an effect of the metabolic disease). At
nine months, he was still not bearing any weight on his legs at all. Even at a year
old, he could not go from lying down to sitting up on his own. He was sitting up
well on his own, but could not brace himself quickly enough if he started falling
over. He could not crawl, but would only roll, and even then it was not
purposeful. I'm so proud to tell you that Canon can do all of those things now!
He not only bears weight on his legs, but pulls up on everything. We're just now
seeing the beginnings of "cruising" (like walking along the coffee table sidewise
to get from one end to the other) which will help his balance tremendously. He
crawls beautifully, after trying many of his own renditions of the crawl, two of
which Drew and I nicknamed "the bulldozer" and the "butterfly" (swimming
stroke)! He can sit up if he wants to, he can stand up if he wants to, he can go
where he wants to… Praise God! I was so worried that his motor development
would be one of our big issues, but now I feel so much peace about his progress.
His schedule of milestones may be slower than others, but that's okay. Drew
and I both struggle with being very competitive people and this has been such a
wake-up call for us about what's really important for Canon. Is it more important
that he be the fastest runner in his class or that his classmates know he's a
Christian because of the way he reaches out to people? I find myself lately
concentrating more on matters of his heart (sharing is our latest lesson), rather
than worrying about how behind he might be in this area or that. God is taking
care of those things, I'm realizing. The job that he gave me is to train his heart.
Canon has also had an explosion of words lately! It's so fun to listen to him try
new words every day, find his favorites and hear him practicing them over and
over again! He now uses over 25 words and understands many more. I'm
convinced that the language development came almost as a direct result of his
new-found independence. He just acts so much more self-sufficient lately. He
realizes now that he his a separate person from us and has separate needs and
desires. In turn, he's also learning that it does not feel good when you can't have
something that you want! This is an important and difficult lesson for everyone,
and especially difficult for me to teach (mostly because of my intense aversion to
seeing him upset)! I'm a strong believer in consistent discipline, but just didn't
realize how hard it would be until just recently to discipline my child knowing that
his face will break and he will cry and look at me with confusion (and sometimes
even anger). I hate it! But I understand the necessity of it.
Drew and Canon are flying on Angel Flight (volunteer pilots for children with life-
threatening illnesses) to Houston on Tuesday. God bless Angel Flight! I'll be
sure and post an update as soon as that appointment is behind us. Please keep
Drew and Canon in your prayers next week.
I would like to say thank you to all of you who have forwarded this website on to
your friends and family this week. I would guess that I only personally know
about a third of the people who have signed his guestbook! The rest of the
messages are coming second and third-hand, sometimes more! It's so
encouraging to me that you are out there, listening, praying, soliciting prayers.
Thank you again and please continue to walk with us on this unpredictable
journey.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and fervent in prayer. Romans 12:12