Michael's father (whom is usually absent and without contact) bought him a bike when he was just 2... Michael has never been able to pedal his big-wheel... Yesterday I tried taking him out on the bike. I guess he is a whole lot closer to being able to ride than he has ever been, but pedaling still seems to be too difficult for him to comprehend.
I miss the old big-wheels we had as kids. Goodness we rode ours until we were like 7. Michael would still fit in them, as opposed to being too big for the one he has. I think I will still have to take him out with thst to practice pedaling. I suppose it is a good thing I am horrid about getting rid of old toys.
Hi Holly! My son is over 60
Hi Holly! My son is over 60 pounds, he is a very big 4 yr old. A trike for a kid that is as big as a six or 7 yr old is not as easy to find as one for a 30 lb. kid, that's for sure. There's a company called Kettler that makes a bigger trike, which is what we've got, and my son just fits in it. He will pedal but he needs to be constantly reminded to do it, that and to keep his hands on the handlebars. We haven't even gotten to steering. He definitely prefers to sit on his bike like a prince on his throne as I push him down the street. He hasn't quite realized that a bike can mean freedom and a quick getaway.
Recently I saw a website that has up to adult-size trikes that are not nearly as ridiculously expensive as "special needs" bike catalogs I've seen. And it looks like some of them are made in Amish country in a wood and welding shop, which sounds neat. At school and at city kid's programs they have these big, durable, industrial looking yellow trikes. I was thinking about trying to have a bike goal added to Wyatt's IEP goals as an Occupational Therapy thing.
I agree, the old Big Wheels we all used to have really rocked! They were light, with--uh, bigger wheels--so they went faster and farther with a lot less pedaling effort.
I saw a piece of exercise
I saw a piece of exercise equipment, it is just pedals rather than a whole stationary bike. I have been tempted o buy it not only for my own weightloss, but teaching Michael, but the pedals are adult length.
The city-wide garage sale is on the 3rd, so maybe I can find something older-bigger for him. But I will look into the ideas you gave me. Once I get the SSI going (well most likely it will be Christmas
) but it will be nice to splurge on things like that for him.
Has your son always been at the top of the growth chart? Michael was 9ilbs 3oz when he was born. He weighs 40 pounds now, but is tall. Some people mistake him for a slightly older child.
Wow, that's a lot of baby!
Wow, that's a lot of baby! Wyatt was 7 1/2 lbs. Breastfeeding didn't work out as well as I had hoped and I was browbeaten into using formula--which actually turned out to be very convenient and I got a lot more sleep, too. But the formula really bulked up the baby. By age 2 he weighed almost 40 lbs. and I reluctantly had to order a Husky carseat for $200 because it was the only option that I could find. Another company had just stopped making a $50 seat that would have worked. Now that Wyatt is a little older we have the fancy carseat in our family car and an inexpensive booster in my husband's 1986 "commuter" car (the one where my neighbor asked me not to park it in front of her place :))
I don't know if Wyatt topped the growth charts because everytime I went in to see that annoying vile little toad of a pediatrician he would literally yell at me for 20 minutes about vaccinations and he did not care to discuss anything else. (By the time I found the nicest pediatrician in that HMO, my husband got a different job and we had to switch insurance companies).
Wyatt is pretty tall, too, but we have met some other 4 yr olds who are a little taller. Wyatt has two uncles who are 6'3" but the rest of the family males are of a more modest height.
But I digress--I really wanted to say WOW about that city-wide garage sale. We don't have those here. I did a Google search to see if there are any out here in California and saw that they do have some in other cities (far from me, sadly!). Sometimes they have neighborhood garage sales around here and last year, in the development across the street, I got bags full of Thomas, Fisher-Price, and Baby Einstein before I spent the $12 in my purse and my hour of freedom was up. I get a lot of stuff from ebay and once I got a giant froggie sandbox off of Craigslist. There are some resale shops around, which I ADORE, even though the clothing is usually cheaper at a Clearance sale at Penny's or markdowns at Wal-Mart --$2 or $3 shirts. I guess what I really love about resale places is the grab-bag of variety. I got Wyatt's toddler bed ($25) at a resale shop in Tucson when I was visiting my mother--it's a sturdy Tonka thing with metal rails and plastic other parts. I do love a bargain! (I tried to find a deal on the Kettrike, but no luck, so it was a splurge).
That's a great idea about the bike pedal exerciser. I wrote a whole reply to you yesterday (but it got lost in cyberspace somehow) about electronic metronomes and compact stair-steppers like the bike pedal thing. I'll do a blog post later on my thoughts about trampolines and metronomes and the YMCA--or maybe I'll do another angry PMS vent posting toward evil corporate America instead of taking a Xanax. But the stair stepper thing I thought I'd mention it just as something interesting that doesn't take up much space that has similar motions to pedaling and similar rythm, if you happened to see one for cheap and wanna try it!
OOO I could never put up
OOO I could never put up with a doctor like that. Mine is kind of dull. Monotone. I hated him when I was a teenager, but even though I was a senior in Highschool when I got pregnant, when that happened, (and I went to all my appt's alone) he started treating me with more respect. And I actually appreciate his dull unexcitable manor in the delivery. He decided I was too tired and weak to push so he did a C-section. And then told me repeatedly that he was glad he did. They would have had to break my hip and dislocate Michael's shoulder if I had to deliver him conventionally. Of course they were only expecting a 7 pound baby my guess of what I had gained. Not a huge broad shouldered little "linebacker"
I too formula fed. I was too out of it after delivery so they popped bottles in his mouth, and some reason the idea of nursing did not sit well with me. I am already well-endowed and did not want to walk around with two watermelons in my bra for how ever long. Michael ended up starting cereal early, he was a pig. And then fruit. I think I am lucky, he loves fruit, which helps with the weight.
I live in Iowa, so things are both better and worse here for Michael. We lack therapy play places, or some of the bigger stores. But it is a slower pace, and Iowa is pretty good with the Autism diagnosis and therapy. I have family in California. Antioch to be exact. My sister and brothers.
You are so lucky that
You are so lucky that Michael likes fruit! Wyatt likes to sniff fruit and he likes to feed it to us, but he generally won't eat it. And when he does eat it (pureed cooked peaches or applesauce with cinammon), it tends to give him loose stools.
My husband was a big nine pounder, apparently. His mom had him naturally back in the late 60's as well as his siblings who were breach fraternal twins. I don't think there is a doctor in this country under the age of 75 who wouldn't just schedule a patient like that for a C-section. Anyway, Marc 's (my husband) mom is quite sturdy, short with ample hips and bust, and she is Ms. Organic Granola all the way--Marc's parents both went to Berkeley in the 1960's.
Marc's family lives in the Bay Area and he grew up in Palo Alto. His dad has a house in a town called Brentwood which very close to Antioch. We don't keep in touch with the dad and he lives overseas 6 months out of the year anyway. Marc's sister lives in North Oakland, brother in Burlingame, and mom in Palo Alto.
I've never been to Iowa but I had a roommate for a while who was from there who was a music/chemistry major named Sonna. She was super smart and had a huge scholarship. Her parents were both teachers (I think) and we'd both lived kind of sheltered lives so we would practice cussing so we wouldn't sound like a couple of librarians.
Michael does that with most
Michael does that with most pasta. He is not a big pasta fan, unlike me. He will not eat any pasta salad either.
The worst thing about Iowa, the snow. I hate cold and snow.
I suppose sounding like a librarian in college would be horrid.
I always hated cold pasta
I always hated cold pasta dishes--it's that pickle-relish-mayo taste, blech!
When I was in the 1st/2nd grade we lived in Texas and I thought the snow and the floods and the green tornado skies and the swarms of locusts were the most amazing things ever! I loved the sledding down the driveway on a metal trashcan lid, swimming in the street lake, and stuffing as many grasshoppers as I could catch with a butterfly net into a big glass pickle jar. But that was a kid's-eye-view.
Well, sounding like a librarian is fine, but cussing like one, that's funny--that's what made that old show Cheers great, that character Diane just couldn't loosen up. I guess that's why if you're going for a really authentic intimidating cuss, you wanna sound like a crusty bad-dude sailor or biker. :)
I
I am such a picky eater, I
I am such a picky eater, I am lucky Michael eats as much as he does.
I remember those days of being a kid. I find myself missing them more and more. I think perhaps because I went straight from being a kid to parent. Life throws us curve-balls. I may have had to mature quickly but you may still find me playing in a mud puddle.