Wheels!

Joseph's physical therapist arrived this morning with a special surprise--a mobile stander. Shannon (the therapist) has been working with Joseph in his standing frame, which is totally stationery. She saw that Joseph was clearly ready to be moving--a standing frame is pretty boring for a two-year-old! Equipment is expensive and time-consuming to order, so Shannon found this mobile stander to loan to us until we leave Washington or Joseph grows out of it. It comes with all the physical benefits of standing--improved circulation, respiration, digestion; developmentally appropriate--and has the major added benefit of being fairly easy to move around.

The stander has lots of disadvantages compared to a wheelchair. It's much heavier and therefore harder to push, especially on our carpet. It's not as portable--it won't collapse and Joseph can't be moved while in it, so it probably won't leave the apartment much. It's also not custom-built for Joseph, so the height of the wheels is just slightly too low.

Despite all that, Joseph took to it right away. He would be glad to stay in all day, but that's not actually very healthy, so we've had to remove a very sad boy twice already. Eric's trying to get Joseph to nap a bit now.

Joseph, while excited, is pretty overwhelmed by it. The wheelchair has loomed large in his imagination for a long time and especially since he was fitted for his in early December. We expect it to arrive in a few weeks, and the stander should be a good distraction in the interim.

It's extra fun for Mommy and Daddy, too, on this day of penance. Joseph learned pretty quickly how to turn around and get around obstacles and, of course, wants to be able to wheel into every room in our small apartment. We want that, too, so we have to rearrange pretty much all of our furniture to make that happen. Should be interesting. We may start the pre-move downsizing sooner than planned! Anyone want a table? Couch? Bed? (Just kidding about the bed).