Olympic Fever
We have really enjoyed sitting together as a family this weekend and watching the U.S. Olympic Trials. We’ve watched a lot of swimming, track & field, and gymnastics. You could say that Olympic Fever is already spreading around our house.
The coolest part of watching the various Trials this weekend has been Kaitlyn’s interest in the events. I wrote about it a little Friday, but since she has become even more interested, I figured an update would be nice.
She has cheered, at least for the most part, for the eventual event winner. Of course, a lot of the time it is because she waits to see who is winning and then gets excited for that person.
One thing she has not done, at least during the Trials, is cheer for anybody that is representing UF. That’s my girl! She will be allowed to cheer for Ryan Lochte in London, but not during the Trials. Her biggest thrill was when she announced she was cheering for Maurice Mitchell in the 200-meter race, and he made the team by finishing second (he’s a Nole, so she was really cheering hard for him).
Kaitlyn is getting more and more excited about the London Olympics. Amber and I are right there with her.
Showing An Interest
Kaitlyn was nice enough to join us on the couch for a little bit tonight as we sat and watched the Olympic Trials. She really ignored them on TV during the swimming (sorry Caroline). I found that a little strange because she always says how much she loves to swim.
The gymnastics, however, caught her attention. She was really in to watching as the gymnasts did their routines on the balance beam and uneven bars. She claimed that he could do some of what they were doing, and eventually got around to which skill it was that she could do. The results: she can hang on the bar and walk on the balance beam.
I am happy that she at least took an interest in watching the Trials with us. Hopefully she will watch some of the track and field events with us tomorrow night since she loves to run. My bigger hope is that she will watch some of the events during the Olympics with us.
Her interest in gymnastics, swimming, and running has me wondering which of them would be best suited for a child with Asperger’s; while I do not harbor any Olympic dreams for her, I would love for her to become very interested in at least one of them and possibly excel. I think the adherence to rules and the structure and routine of each would be right up her alley.
Cartwheels, rings, and tumbling
It’s pretty safe to say that Kaitlyn’s interest in ballet ended when her ballet class ended at the beginning of August, probably sooner. What has been constant since the idea was first brought up over the summer has been her interest in taking gymnastics.
Today, Kaitlyn started her gymnastics class. And, unlike her ballet class, Amber and I were able to see most of what she did. As we were sitting there, we could tell that she was having a great time. She was twirling around as they went from station to station, and had a huge smile on her face.
We laughed to ourselves when she was on the low bar, trying to hold herself up; an instructor came over to help, and Kaitlyn let her do all the work..classic. She enjoyed the rings and being able to just hang there, and eventually found out that if she put her legs straight she could touch the floor while holding the ring; so much for hanging there. And as expected, her cartwheels need some serious work, but she tries hard.
After her class, we asked what her favorite part was, and she said the tumbling. I assume that the tumbling occurred in the kindergarten gym room, and that is the one area we cannot see from the seating area.
It is nice to see her so excited about gymnastics, and I hope that it will help with some of her sensory issues and maybe even help burn some energy (although she has been wide open all day, so that might be a stretch). Amber and I enjoy it more than her ballet because we can actually see some of the activities she is doing instead of sitting there hoping to catch a glimpse through the glass on the door. I can’t wait to see how the balance beam treats her since balance in general is not one of her strong suits.
