Auntie Mommy - Back Again

Auntie Mommy, Back Again

I'm baaaaack! 💅

It's been a while since I've popped up on this blog, and I have a lot to update you on. To say Chantale and Keith are busy is an understatement, so I'm stepping in to fill in the gaps. Chantale plans to post soon too, so stay tuned for more!

First: School's Out for Summer

In September, Beckett started at Step by Step's First Steps program - three mornings a week (bumped to four in the winter) with music therapy, play time, and physiotherapy. Chantale wrote about it back in the fall, but I want to add my two cents as the proud Aunty Mommy who got a full debrief after basically every session.

You guys. He loved it.

The engagement gains were real. He started playing with toys on his own - or with some help - in ways he wasn't before. He got interested in the other kids. Music time was a highlight - strumming the ukulele, banging on the drums. Very rock star of him.

He's finished his first full "school year" now. He's off for the summer (which means Chantale and Keith are very much "on" for the summer, though they'll have some support - hang in there, you two), and in the fall he starts preschool at Renfrew Educational Services. The resources, the programming, the equipment - it's exactly the kind of place that sets kids like Beckett up for growth and independence. I'm excited to see the adventures he gets into and gains he makes along the way.

Ninth Intensive. NINTH.

Beckett just wrapped up his 9th therapy intensive at Canadian Centre for Development. When I think about where he started and what that number represents in terms of hours, effort, sweat (his and his parents'), and sheer determination, I feel so proud.

This last intensive focused a lot on stability in assisted standing and walking. He did awesome. I'll leave the clinical details to the people who actually understand them, but from where I'm standing as his very unbiased (...yeah right...) Aunty Mommy: he is a machine.

His 10th intensive is coming up at the end of August. Little Bee Gallery is working to make sure it's covered. If you've been thinking about picking up a piece, now is a good time.

Communication Journey

When Beckett was born, I think most people - myself included - immediately asked: will he walk? Will he sit? Those felt like the big questions. And they still matter - and they are still wait-and-see. But something else has moved to the front of mind as he's gotten older: communication.

Beckett is non-verbal. He makes lots of noises - happy ones, frustrated ones, all kinds - but he can't use words to tell you what he wants, what he's feeling, or what's going on in that busy little brain of his. Maybe one day he'll speak - another wait-and-see. And that's hard. Hard for him, hard for his caregivers. Imagine knowing exactly what you want and not being able to say it. That's not a small thing.

Chantale and Keith and Beckett's therapists has been working on finding the right AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) tool for him - which is its own process of trial and error because Beckett's uncontrolled movements make a lot of standard tools tricky to use. But here's a cool thing about Beckett: he finds a way. He'll walk over to his high chair in his gait trainer and reach out to touch it when he's hungry. He communicates. It just looks different than what most people expect.

I don't say any of this to be heavy. I say it because I think people who love Beckett from a distance deserve to understand what the family is actually navigating - not just the wins, but the real stuff too, the challenges, and daily frustrations.

The Village

Special needs parenting is hard. I don't say that lightly or as a platitude. It is relentless, resource-intensive, emotionally complex, and not something two people can easily do alone. Chantale and Keith do it with more grace and skill than I could have imagined.

But I also want to acknowledge everyone around them. The grandparents. The friends who show up. The people who follow the gallery and share a post or buy art or t-shirts. The community that has formed around this little boy who works harder than anyone I know. It takes a village, and Beckett has a good one.

One More Thing

Chantale and I recently did a radio interview together about Beckett and Little Bee Gallery - it was a really lovely conversation and you can listen to the full thing over at littlebeegallery.com/media. Worth a listen if you want to hear us talk about Beckett, the gallery, and the all the love and determination.