My Little Boy

We recently had an awesome opportunity to have photos of Colin taken playing a variety of sports activities at the Special Olympics facility.  The photography company that took the photos shared a good amount of them with us and when I saw them, I couldn't help but wonder where my little boy went.  

 

 

I look at these photos and wonder how we already got here to this place; to having a 5 (well, almost 6) year old little boy.  Although we are halfway through, it's hard to believe that he's in Kindergarten and not the little boy anymore that we cheered on through learning how to roll, crawl and then walk with the round little face.  Having therapists come to our home for Early Intervention seems like a lifetime ago when Kindergarten seemed like a distant future. 

 

At first glance through these pictures, it's easy to stare at that smile with happiness that radiates from his face and forget about the struggles and challenges.  In these pictures, you see a little boy who is happy doing something he loves so much; playing sports with those he loves the most. 

Looking back now on Colin's first 5 years, the "challenges" we faced don't seem like they were that hard.  However, we hit this Kindergarten year and then things changed in a way we weren't quite expecting.  We have had to work through many challenges with Colin in school and difficulties stemming from his still improving communication skills.  Some days have been really hard and other days have been filled with so much happiness and laughter. 

The thing with Colin is that even on the most challenging days, he is still filled with so much love that it's impossible to hold on to that frustration for too long.  He is so adept at sensing your emotional status and becomes visibly uncomfortable with someone around him crying and being upset or mad. 

Colin is constantly growing and changing around us and so much of it has made us so incredibly proud of him.  There are so many things that have to be broken into steps for Colin to learn that come naturally to those around him. Because these things often take longer and are often harder for him, we celebrate accomplishments as they come.  His communication skills are improving, we are helping him to work on socialization skills (a BIG challenge right now), he's eating more variety, and seeing changes in many other areas of development. 

I look at these pictures and wonder where my little baby boy went and how he turned into this handsome, loving, strong willed, determined, sometimes challenging 5 year old boy.  He's come so far and with our help pushing him has so far to go. 

I know we are in some new territory right now with challenges we weren't quite expecting but I know there's always a way to get to the other side and with some help, we will get through.  There's nothing we won't do for Colin....because we know there are big things ahead for him.

~Photo credits to Dennis Mosner Photography~

Thank you for the beautiful photos!