Hot Wheels

"Mam! Loot! Mama! Loot! MAMA! LOOT!"

These emphatic words have drilled deeply into my psyche, so that even in the stillness of evening, as the warm winds blow to rustle the saskatoons and groan the roof, as I preoccupy keeping updated on the first fires of the season down valley from us, as I am enveloped in the bath-like submersion of Baby Free Time, still, STILL-
And, it's awesome to be so freakin annoyed by two little words, because they mean Rainan is exploring. I wish I could share more footage of him learning how to maneuver this little red rocket to sovereignty, but I feel creepy trying to catch authentic moments with him, so you'll have to take my word for it. In this short video you can see how hard he had to work in the beginning to get those wheels moving! At first he was excited by the implications, then frustrated by his limitations. If he got stuck he would freak out. He wanted more from day one. But over time he got real good at using it, and though he is slow and it takes lots of effort, he is SO happy. It only works on smooth floors, which luckily the downstairs of the a-frame have, so he has one room to explore. Aside from occasional tries to get out the door or into the carpeted back room, he is happy to have this much. We both smile and laugh when he succeeds at getting into something he shouldn't, he likes to "chase" people, run over sleeping dogs' tails and even got in on an ecstatic dance session with a bunch of us leaping over him and dancing around and with him.
Having been using it for a few months now, even though he doesn't spend all day in it, he rally identifies with his "veews", wakes up asking to get into it first thing and talks excitedly about returning to it after being away from home. It makes me want to find other ways to expand his independent mobility.

There is an awesome non-profit called Go Baby Go that goes around teaching parents how to re-wire hot-wheels and make them accessible for littlin's with disabilities. Insurance companies won't hardly let anyone under age five have an electronic chair and they are expensive as heck, whereas a little kids electric car from WalMart might run you $200, plus maybe #100 more for pvc and foam to make it more stable. The thought of Rainan rolling along while we pick berries, getting stuck in the mud and chasing chickens sounds amazing. My gears are grinding trying to figure out ways to make our life wheels accessible, knowing full well we aren't living in the suburbs where the house is linoleum to sidewalk to accessible van to accessible school. It'll look different for him, but something so small as this little red wheelchair can change so much. That's what I am learning right now- appropriate technologies used appropriately can go a long way with you having to completely rearrange your life- or theirs.