That brings me to my little Colton. My sweet, low-toned baby Colton. And he's not so little anymore. He's 20 months old and approximately 24 pounds. We need to tone that baby up in order for him to walk! Dude has absolutely no glutes! We need to get that baby some booty muscles. He also could use some leg muscles...and some abs. How do we build that muscle tone? Squats...lots and lots of squats. Sit to stand. Sit to stand. Sit to stand. Weight bear through his legs by practicing standing. Weight bear through his arms by practicing crawling. Bending over at the waist to pick a toy up off of the floor and return to sitting position. Requiring him to support his own body when we carry him from place to place. Colton has mastered the lean. If I lean on Mama, I don't have to support my own weight. He does not help me carry him around one bit. His legs don't even grip around my waist. He just hangs there and lets me do all of the work. Colton is always looking for someone or something else to support his weight (walker, couch, highchair, etc...). But if we want him to walk...we have to make him work. It's sad to make your baby "workout," especially when it's hard for them and usually brings them to tears. But I have to put my feelings aside and do what is best for my child. He will benefit greatly from building muscle tone. And he will thank me later. So...I'm going to push him.
Mama, Daddy, and his PT had a little meeting the other day and we shared all of Colton's tricks. He's one tricky dude. He doesn't want to do the work so he finds ways for other people to do the work for him...why? Because it's HARD! That's the same reason I don't keep torturing myself at the gym...because it's HARD! So, in order for Colton to gain muscle tone, we have to put in the time, be patient, be dedicated, and be consistent. Colton can't just get 3 hours of PT a week and gain the tone he needs in order to walk. I mean, he could, but it would probably take a LONG time. So, we came up with a few things we could do to help Colton gain tone. And it's not necessarily a "workout" session everyday. It's just about being intentional. For example, I can carry Colton a different way. Instead of him hanging on my hip, I can hold him facing out and require him to use more core strength to support his body weight. I could sit him on a backless bench to watch Mickey Mouse as opposed to leaning against my body or the couch. I just need to think about where I'm putting Colton. It's easy just to plop him down on the floor, but is he benefiting from that?
The game changer is Daddy. Daddy came to the meeting and learned about Colton's tricks. Our PT showed us things that Daddy can do with Colton at home when they're "playing." Why Daddy? Because Daddy is stronger. And to be honest, Daddy is more fun. Colton LOVES to wrestle and be rough with Daddy and Brother and some things they do can help build tone. The other night, Daddy got Colton to stand against the wall for 2 minutes straight because he was distracted and laughing as Daddy shot a Nerf gun at the wall next to him. Last night, he had Colton sitting on a bench and had him do at least 30 squats standing up to put a ball in a bucket. There were no tears. Daddy makes things more fun. And I have to say, I'm super proud of my husband! Every night since our meeting, he's made it a priority to work with Colton. He finds creative ways to "play" with him and Colton enjoys it.
If the three of us (me, daddy, and his PT) keep working at this consistently, Colton is going to TONE UP! We are going to give it our all these next 6 months! I'm so thankful for a husband that is willing to help. I'm so thankful for a PT that cares enough to show us what we can be doing at home. It takes a village! It will be SO worth it in the end. By golly, Colton is going to walk. And what a glorious day that will be!
No comments:
Post a Comment