If there is one thing Jojo does not like, it is tummy time. I’ve mentioned before that Jojo has a pretty chill temperament. That is until she has to do something she doesn’t want to do. When that happens, she is not shy about letting us know she’s not down with whatever we’re making her do. And since she can’t talk, she screams. Loud. And cries. Real tears. It is heartbreaking. It feels like we are torturing her.
This whole dynamic doesn’t help her progress, in fact it is counterproductive. Because when you have low muscle tone, moving your muscles is hard work. Jojo is content to sit and play with her toys all day. Why do hard work when you can scream and cry until someone comes to do the work for you? This personality trait of hers emerged very early. I remember in the first months of working with a physical therapist, Jojo must have been 7 or 8 months old, the PT observed that she slows down and even stops the work of therapy with her protesting.
This puts hubs and me in a bit of a pickle. And when I say pickle, I mean emotionally heart-wrenching dilemma. We must push Jojo to work hard every day to get stronger. When we do, it isn’t pretty. If we don’t push her, she won’t make progress. That can feel like the weight of the world. It is so hard to see her upset and not bail her out. If entertained sufficiently it goes more smoothly. Tummy time is particularly important as her arms are the weakest part of her body. When we subject her to it, she just rolls right out of it onto her back. So we borrowed this tummy time device from one of Jojo’s PTs. It is pretty great, it spins so she can swivel around and play with different things and it gets her up off the floor so she doesn’t just lay her head down and rest. Some days she is cool with it for a little bit and some days she screams as soon as she sees it. Slowly, over time she is getting stronger and able to last longer. One torture, I mean tummy time session at a time.
Jojo The Strong 
Hang in there. No pain no gain even when it breaks your heart. You are being a great mama when you push her. My son used to pull himself on the ground and we would call him the wounded soldier. He too had low muscle tone. He was the king of drooling cause his facial muscles were so weak. Never did crawl but is the king of the monkey bars now at age 7. He hated tummy time too. My husband would always push him just further than his comfort zone and I would try to protect him. JP was right to push him. That is why he is strong today and has no fear. We did OT, PT, play therapy and speech. Best thing we ever did for him. Keep pushing that little fighter. When your heart breaks, remind yourself you are teaching her that nothing in life comes easy. She has to work for it and she will progress and when she does you will all celebrate in a way other families will never relate to. She will reach her own milestones in her own time and she will be great as the person she is destined to be with her awesome family supporting her all the way. We always chant the 3 musketeers saying in our family “All for one and one for all.” Feel free to steal it. And know that while you are cheering her on, we are cheering you on. Xo
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