I can’t believe my baby is ten years old.
Okay, so I know she’s been ten for almost six months now, but the end of the school year really cemented it in my mind. She’s not a baby anymore, and she really isn’t even a little girl, either.
I got to thinking a few weeks back that I should probably update the video that I made of the progress Sarah Kate has made since she had selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery almost seven and a half years ago. In August of 2010, I put several video clips together and posted it to the blog via YouTube, but my readership was pretty small in those days and I don’t know how many of you who’ve come along since then ever saw it. At any rate, a lot has happened since then so it was time for a refresh.
As I was putting it all together last night, watching and re-watching older clips (and new ones), I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. I realized how easy it is to get caught up in the struggles of the day-to-day and lose sight of all the gains that she’s made. No matter how hard I fight it, I sometimes still get sucked into only seeing what she can’t do – or at least what she can’t do well – and I forget how utterly amazing she is and how much she’s accomplished.
I had intended to write more about the video in today’s post, but I think for now I’ll just share the video with you, saving the “behind the scenes” commentary for next Tuesday. To watch, go here or click the video below.
I feel like the last walk is the teenager saunter. Watch out, Andi!
What does SK think when she watches this video?
LOL! That arm swing cracks me up. She has always struggled to swing her arms when she walks – her brain doesn’t have all the “wiring” it needs to do all the things that normal walking requires. You can see in the early shots how she tends to get what we call “chicken wings”. She’s had that pounded into her head so much that she was taking extra care to swing.
And I’m not sure what she thinks…but I’ll ask her and put it in tomorrow’s snippets!
So cool.
Loved what you said below. She is amazing, thanks so much for sharing!
“No matter how hard I fight it, I sometimes still get sucked into only seeing what she can’t do – or at least what she can’t do well – and I forget how utterly amazing she is and how much she’s accomplished.”
Beautiful!
She is amazing!
She is so awesome! She inspires me. : )
Amazing! Thanks for sharing…and thank her as well! 🙂
Yeah Sarah Kate. Her determination is so evident and will take her far.
Always makes me teary. <3 that girl!
What a great update! Love the video.
I love how she is totally annoyed at you at the end of the clip…”Mom! Stop!”
Ah, the Tween Years….
she is such an inspiration and you can see how beautiful she is on the inside as well as on the outside. you keep going, SK!!
Sitting here in tears, cheering her on!!! That’s one kid who won’t let the world stop her from doing whatever she wants to do. I wish I had even a tenth of her determination.
Wow. That was simply amazing. Way to go kiddo!
She is amazing! And I love the saunter 🙂 I can’t wait to hear about her teen years. What a gorgeous young lady you guys are raising!
Wow, you can really see the difference! WTG SK!