Gymnastics Update

So LJ has had about three classes now and seems to enjoy himself. :) He definitely isn't as focused as Kaitlyn was but he does have fun. He tends to wonder off more (which is OK in the tot class) than to stay on the mat during group time. He loves to climb on EVERYTHING! He isn't a fan of the bar except the low one to swing on but he does enjoy it. And he LOVES the balance beam! Anything else? Forget it. He rather just climb. At this age, as long as he is having a good time that is all that matters. Then "IT" happened.

There is another boy in Landon's class who, by what I can tell, is about two months older than Landon. He does have quite the vocabulary. Landon likes to follow him around a bit. I could see the mom...sizing up Landon. LJ is quite shorter than the rest of the class (he has always been quite the nugget, only 19 inches when he was born). With his delay in language and some gross motor it would be easy to confuse him with a much younger child. Then she asked it..... "How old is he??" She might of just said (at least in my mind) "I noticed that your child is much more delayed than mine but since they are in the same class I would imagine they are the same age. So go ahead and tell me how old he is so that I feel better that my son is progressing better than yours....." OK, she might not of had those intentions when saying it, but that is what I hear.

I knew it would happen. It is obvious that LJ does not contain the same set of skills as the rest of the kids in the class. The range in the class is rather large (20 months - 36 months) but LJ is definitely the shortest, definitely the least verbal, etc. I know he is fine. I know he is doing great. But when someone asks me how old LJ is, in this context, I want to start off with the fact of WHY he is delayed before I even get to how old he is. But I don't. I just told her that he will be 2 in April and LJ ran another direction. As I went to follow, she leaned over and said something to her husband. I boiled.

All that matters is that LJ is having a good time. I just have to remind myself of that. He is happy there and it is our special one-on-one time together :) Can I just get several t-shirts made saying "I am a special heart kid! I am my mom's hero!" and make him wear them everyday ?? Really, it would just make my life easier mentally :)