Physical Abilities

Evan and Seth are pretty much equals in the physical abilities department.

Evan is 4 1/2.
Seth is 17 months.

They step up and down curbs with a similar amount of teetering in their balance.
They both have scraped knees from constantly falling.
Each of them wins tug-of-wars over toys 50% of the time, as well as races for a coveted item.
Their feet even make the same slapping noise when they run, probably related to their matching pigeon-toed-ness.

Evan climbs ladders on the playground with anxiety and wants me to help him even though I know he has the ability to do it on his own. Seth, on the other hand, will eagerly climb up behind Evan even though his teeny legs can't even reach the next step, giving me regular heart attacks.

Comparisons to the little brother aside, Evan is incredible. He is defying a lot of spina bifida odds with his mobility level and bowel/bladder control and I am so grateful for everything he CAN do. He throws and kicks (left-handed and left-footed) things all day long. His new favorite trick is drop-kicking. When he's not playing with balls or paper airplanes, he jumps and does somersaults on the trampoline. And he is potty trained, people! No cathing, no enemas, no medication, no nothing. That pretty much doesn't happen with people at his level of spina bifida.

Evan sorta graduated therapy today. By "sorta" I mean, his therapists evaluated him as able to function independently or his age, but I'm too afraid of not having him seen regularly by a therapist to completely stop therapy, so he will still get check-ups every other month. He has progressed a ton in the last 6 months and year. Sometimes I don't notice his progress, but I've had multiple people comment to me lately about how well he is walking, or how straight his feet seem, or how awesome he is doing on the playground... I step back and realize, "Yeah, he is doing great!"

We recently signed him up for soccer, and he loves it. Last week at practice, the coach said, "Let's see who is the fastest." My heart sank and I was so nervous for Evan. The kids were told to run to the goal at the opposite end of the field and then run back. Check out my little guy--he made me so proud! No, I wasn't crying during the middle of soccer practice...

Super Evan watching Super Why

This is what happens when you lean too far over the edge of bathtub when Evan is bathing.

Evan earned a "train" (light rail) ride for staying "fresh" (potty trained) for 5 days!