I sit here with a lump in my throat and that nervous/excited feeling in the pit of my stomach. I just read an email with our team name for the NYC Marathon....Team "Take That!" Among my SB mom friends, it's a common phrase. Whenever one of our kids does something that they're not "supposed" to do, we say "Take that, Spina Bifida." As in, Brenden isn't "supposed" to be walking. He's not "supposed" to be a typical 3 year old. He's not "supposed" to be climbing the rock wall on the playground at school. Seeing the team name made me realize just one more time why I am running this race. So Brenden and the many other amazing kids I have grown to love can continue kicking SB in the butt.

Brenden is loving school. Thank goodness. I was a bit apprehensive since he has different teachers for the summer and I knew that they probably wouldn't have experience with special needs kids. But he loves them...and I like them, too :) You may remember a few months ago when I told you that Brenden wouldn't talk at school. He talks at home from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to bed, but for some reason just wouldn't talk at school (other than to the girls). Well that's changed and every day his daily report says that Brenden is extremely social and from talking to his teacher, he doesn't stop talking. It may be the smaller class size or it may be that he's just more comfortable, so I guess we'll see when the new school year starts.

We are still on the waiting list for outpatient OT and will hopefully be starting outpatient PT sometime soon. I hate not being a part of his therapy since it's done during school but the other concern is that they only work on skills that Brenden will need to be independent in school. So while that is important, there are also things in his daily routine at home that he needs some help with. He's very picky when it comes to therapists....there are some that he does really great with, but there have been some that he refuses to cooperate with. So hopefully he will respond well to the PT we will start seeing. Therapy options are limited around here, and this one is pretty much the only option, as he's seen the other one close to us and let's just say, it was a disastrous few months for outpatient therapy. (Nicole, I'm still waiting for you and Lacy to open a pediatric therapy center!)

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To help me reach my goal for the marathon, you can click on the link at the top of the page (Under the banner photo) and donate online, or write a check which I will turn in to the SBA.