Never a quitter!

We had the coolest day today. I took you boys to an adventure Park where they have ropes, cables, zip lines, ladders and all kinds of other obstacles. You guys could not wait! Once we had our orientation you both were off and running. I was following closely behind and hoping I could keep up with you both.

We stuck together for the first course and then JD moved on. Cole, you and I stuck together and took our time on the next 4 courses. We climbed for about 4 hours. 

I spent a good part of the day behind you  Cole, with tears streaming down my cheeks. While I know that you love adventure, I also know that adventures like this make you a little scared and aren't easy. For so many years you have had low muscle tone (due to being a preemie) and speed and balance take more effort for you. 

Watching you today was incredible. You were having so much fun and you were very proud of what you were doing. At times you were really scared and you would stop. In the middle of an obstacle. And the people around us would start cheering for you. And then you'd start moving again. 

Twice, your zip line stopped short and you didn't reach the platform; and you were there hanging 20 feet above the ground. Both times, you yelled that you needed help. And both times I told you to start pulling yourself to the platform with your hands. The helpers below started cheering for you again and we all coached you until you made it. You did it. 

You will never understand how proud I am to watch you do these kinds of things. These are things that I wasn't sure you would ever be able to in the days and weeks following your birth. 

After a few months of watching you fight or your life,  it didn't take me long to understand that you are not a quitter. Days like today only remind me of how lucky we are. 

You were incredible today and you are such a great reminder to me of how we all can do anything we want to do. We just can't stop trying. You must've yelled at me 50 times to not help you today. We had quite a line behind us because we were moving pretty slow but you didn't care. You were taking your own sweet time and you were doing it. And you did. 

And sometimes you even helped each other - rather than pushing each other off the 20' high platform.

Cole, you spent a good deal of the day with that scared, unsure look on your face. But not once did you quit or say you were done. You never fail until you stop trying. Thank you for that reminder sweet boy. 

Love, Mom