Meghan (and her whole family) dropped by a week ago, and very kindly stood in for Jon in his body test. And since then, he hasn’t been idle.
Jon has been on the Wii Fit every day, not only having a short or long run, but also doing Balance Games. He’s particularly fascinated by Ski Jumping, which consists of staying in a crouch, weight forward, then standing quickly at the end of the ramp (not jumping, you will lose all points). If you don’t extend quickly enough, or in Jon’s case, your foot pressure is mitigated by you pulling yourself up with your arms on your stander, you will fall off the ramp and roll down the hill, gradually becoming a huge snowball.
The view from the top of the jump ramp
The first day, Jon was nothing but a snowball, but that was okay by him: it’s hysterically funny. The next day he announced he wanted to be a snowball again, and I thought, “Oh, my aching back. What a waste.” (since I have to assist with everything). But Laura happened to come in, and she focused on his feet (placing them, keeping them from turning—the uneven tone of CP makes even basic standing a tricky, unpredictable event), while I focused on his gently touching his thighs and torso to remind him how to stand. He gets to the end of the ramp and BOOM!…Jon was flying. And he pretty much has been since.
Jon successfully jumping
Jon’s personal best is now 125 metres over two flights. But being a snowball is still pretty hilarious too.
Jon has also improved heavily in Slalom Skiing (as of today, he’s the reigning household champ) and Soccer Heading (beating my current score, but not Laura’s), but boy, a workout for him is a workout for me and Laura. As Laura keeps the feet more or less in position, I have to help Jon lean his torso, focusing his weight from left to right. It leaves my torso pretty tired. We can’t do more than 10 minutes at a time. It’s particularly interesting when he gets a bout of clonus in either foot, which completely confuses the Wii Fit balance board.
Between the walker and the Wii Fit, Jon is focusing more on pushing his weight into the floor, something we’ve been trying to work on for the past ten years. This bodes well for the future.