Scaling New Heights

Today we had the privilege of spending time with Dayna and Owen. They made an emergency trip up to NorCal to be with Dayna's grandmother who is not doing too well. We were able to pick them up at the airport and then spent an hour or so just letting the boys play while Dayna and I caught up on all the latest and greatest in our lives.

As Dayna and I retold stories about the things our boys are going through, I was amazed at how similar these two are even though they don't get to spend much time together. Not too long into our visit, both boys discovered the stairs and it was almost like a race to see who would make it to the top. Being two months older, Owen is a little more skilled at going up stairs and can even go down them on his own, where as Elijah still needs help going down stairs. However, after our little jaunt, we came home and spent some time playing outside our house. We have a small set of stairs that leads into our home and so Elijah thought he'd get some practice going up and down the stairs. After all, if his cousin can go down on his own, he wanted too also. So for the next 10 minutes we practiced going up and down the stairs.

It was almost as if he wanted to practice his new skill and perfect it. He did this one other time when he had first started to walk and he wasn't too good at going up and down little bumps or hills in the road. While visiting a friend, Elijah discovered a nice little incline in the sidewalk that had been created from the root of a tree growing underneath. Fortunately there were no uneven cracks in the sidewalk, just a nice gentle slope going up and down. I think we spent 15 minutes on this little hill while he practiced going up one side and down the other.

As tedious as it may sound going up and down stairs or hills, I have taken delight in watching Eli perform new tasks and discover new things his body can accomplish.