Growing - Pains!

First off  - sorry for being MIA!  Life just gets a bit crazy sometimes and I haven't had time to devote to writing much!

Parents with children who are "vertically" challenged will understand this post - my son is 3 years old and yet he's significantly shorter/smaller than his peers of the same age.  When most kids are wearing 3T and 4T my little guy still can safely and comfortably wear a pair of 18-24 months pants that are maybe a wee-bit on the "flood" side and for some reason the 24 month/2T we find we still have to cuff.  This discourages me because I want him so desperately to grow.  I don't want him to be the "jolly green giant" but I'd certainly like him to be at least on the lower side of "average" for a male when all is said and done.  I have some hope as he complained the other night that his legs hurt, right around the knees!  So maybe just maybe it was those horrid "growing-pains" and I'll be seeing a growth spurt in a couple of weeks.  Fingers Crossed!

When you look tiny you assume the person is very young!  I often forget that my son is not my "baby" but my 3 year old little boy.

Couple the vertical challenge with a bleeding/bruising disorder and a trip to the "local" park can be a challenge for both my son and me.  Given all the issues a person with Noonan Syndrome can have with muscle tone and the ability to "play" I am so very grateful that my son is able to successfully climb and play on most of the playground equipment.  It makes me smile when I see him attempt to climb up things using both his legs and his arms - because I know this could be so very different for him.  Although I am so grateful that he is able to do all the things a "normal" boy of his age can do on such playground equipment, I do have to shadow him and "spot" him so in case he slips and falls.  Any bump to the head can be an "emergency" so I am a bit of a "crazy" mom.  I vowed I wouldn't make him live in a bubble but I do try to make sure he makes "safe" playground equipment choices.

Last week we were at the playground enjoying one of the few nice fall days we will have left this season and my son took off running to climb up an arched ladder - one that had a narrow metal bar to put his feet on and the fall once at the top of the arch was a couple feet height.  I instantly ran over and attempted to "spot" him so if he slipped I could catch him before he fell all the way off.  He turned to me and said, "Mommy, I can do this all by myself!" and proceeded to push me away from him.  I instinctively "spotted" him again and he said to me "I can do this, go away Mommy! - I'm a big boy!"  I being the relentless person that I am said to him, "sweetie, Mommy is just 'spotting' you, just in case you slip!"  And he in no uncertain terms told me to leave him alone.  I was flabbergasted to say the least.

I conceded and let him be.  He did fine for most of the time we where there.  He did attempt to climb on a smaller arch and he slipped and nearly "injured his boy parts" of which, I ran him to the car and undressed him to make sure he didn't bruise anything - fortunately, he managed to catch the bar on the side of his inner thigh and not "the family jewels" and fortunately no bruise resulted from this little mishap or mis-step as it maybe.  I can tell you though, he wasn't so quick to push me away the next time he tried climbing it again.  Although he screamed at me in the car "Mommy I am fine, I want to play!", all the while sobbing still!

I guess these are the "growing-pains" both Donovan and Mommy will need to "suffer" together.  I realized last week, that my son is not my baby anymore but a little boy who wants to be just like every other little boy his age!