Danger's NOT his middle name!

We had a FABULOUS day at the gym today! I've been bragging to my mom about the MAJOR progress I am seeing in Anders since I've been taking him there. We've been a total of 4 times and he is already hooked. All day, everyday, he is pulling us to the door saying, "I pay balls." We can't even say the word, "play" in the house anymore because he thinks we're telling him we're going to play balls! I was able to sneak a camera in today (my RAD new cell phone) and snuck some pictures. Like I said before, I didn't want anyone to see me taking pictures because I didn't want them to think I was a rookie. However, I did see another mom sneak a picture on her cell phone too! I am just so proud of my boy! If only I could videotape his progress from his first day to now. He's an extremely cautious child. If it's not something he's done before, he refuses to play any part of it. Some people think that if he watches someone else do it first, it will help. Oh no, that makes it worse because he now sees how terrifying it must be (hmm...who does that sound like, Carly?) Basically, our first day consisted of me dragging Anders to different things and him saying, "no no no." Here are some pictures of what he did today!

This is Anders on the uneven bars. Don't be alarmed, his feet are only about 2 inches off the padding. You wouldn't be able to tell that by the terrified look on his face. The first day of the gym, he wouldn't hang on. Today, he wanted to do it over and over again. Isn't he such a risk-taker?

These pictures are the ones that make me so proud. Up until today, I had to stand right next to him, holding his hand so that he would walk up and down this ramp. Eventually, he was cool with just holding my pinkie, and then it was me holding the back of his shirt. Finally, yesterday, he shrugged me off when I tried to help him walk down. However, he still needed my support walking back up. Today, he shrugged me off completely and is now completely independently walking up and down the ramp. As you can see, he is so proud of himself and watches himself the entire time in the mirror (does this sound like anyone, Kenny?). I tried so hard to get a picture of my favorite part. When he made it all the way to the top, he'd turn around, wave, and say, "hi mom!"

Here's the ball pit that I can't get him away from...ever. The first day, he was really nervous when I stuck him in there. He was stiff as a board and did not move a muscle. He would say, "no no no, out." Well, these pictures are of him jumping in all by himself and letting me cover him with balls. Anyone who knows Anders, knows that covering him with balls would normally be completely out of the question. Now you can see why I'm so proud of my boy. He's overcoming so many challenges already and is so proud of himself. He still has a long way to go to be able to keep up with RyRy when he gets home. Don't you worry RyRy, we're building you a daring, crazy, risk-taking buddy to play with!