Separated at Birth

This is my favorite time of year. The marching band is practicing all over campus, everything looks gorgeous, it even feels like fall here this week. AWESOME! I’m peppy — really peppy, like I used to be.

During work today I got to take time to take all of that in. Last year I didn’t notice any of the things I like most about school starting. I was too focused on just getting through. But not today. Today I got to play! No kidding. I put on a pair of “fatal vision goggles,” meant to simulate driving with a .08 blood alcohol content. I did it without thinking twice. Without wondering — even for a split second — about what would happen if I fell. And, of course, I couldn’t walk on the tape line. Of course I was all over the place. But we laughed. No one was scared.

How liberating!

And tonight, while my husband worked from an NFL pressbox for the first time in his career (I am SO PROUD OF YOU!), the Little Guy and I got to play. We played downstairs with his miniature volleyball and his train, rolling them all over the floor. We played upstairs in his room (he climbs all 14 by himself now if he knows someone is there with him!) with the shopping cart and food, nesting cubes, MegaBlocks and his shovels. We were crawling. He was running. We were laughing! It was wonderful! I wasn’t distracted by how I felt. I was just able to enjoy the time with my son.

His face looks older today. He’s growing so much and has such a great personality. I feel so lucky for that. And so relieved. I think often about how hard it was to care for him in those earliest days. I worried so much then that he would be harmed somehow because of my inability to take him places or to do all of the things I had imagined for us. He doesn’t care. He loves me just the same whether I need to lie on the couch or can play on the floor for an hour before dinner and another hour afterward.

How encouraging!

He’s also learned how to stand on the floor and put his head on the floor — completely folded in half. He loves — make that LOVES! — being upside down. He mimics syllables more than talking right now, but he says “upside down.” Last night, when we were playing upside down, right side up, when I hold him in my arms and move him correspondingly, I let his head rest on the carpet. So, today, on his own he says “upside down” as he folds himself in half and rests the top of his head right on the carpet! I can’t get my hands on the floor when I forward fold, much less my forehead.

How inspiring!

Also today, in two different instances with two different women I have gotten to know better because of my diastasis symphysis pubis, I was reminded that I have been a source of support and encouragement for others. One friend, who sustained diastasis symphysis pubis nearly a year ago, sent me an email with some good news for her. I’m so glad to know she’s getting answers and now feels like she has information she can use to make a decision. She thanked me for the blog. (Is there a feeling better than being genuinely thanked for something? I don’t think so!) The other friend is going through physical therapy right now for a work-related injury. I’ve been checking in with her about it more than most because I know how hard it is, how scary it can be. She thanked me for that and said until her own experience she hadn’t considered I was scared or worried or having a hard time because I was so positive. It was good to be able to be honest with her and to know she understood. We’ll both continue to improve, and it was good to know that, too.

How uplifting!

And the weekend is here. Bring on more playtime!