Orry Bowling is 8 years old, and he is very busy being a kid.
The Griffin boy plays baseball, builds with LEGOs, goes to the beach and the mountains, spends time with friends, and has even had a little crush.
He also loves making silly faces.
When Orry met 11Alive, he quickly challenged reporter Kaitlyn Ross to a competition to see who could make the silliest face.

For his mom, Jessica Foster, those ordinary childhood moments are anything but ordinary.
When Orry was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, at 6 months old, doctors warned her that he might not live to see his second birthday.
“As a mom, that is one of the most impossible things to deal with,” Foster said.

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SMA is a rare genetic disease that causes progressive muscle weakness. Foster said doctors told her there was one treatment available, and she decided Orry needed the chance to try it.
“We may not be together for a long time, but we will be here for a good time,” she said.
Eight years later, Orry is still proving just how much is possible.
Orry has faced significant challenges because of his SMA, including developing severe scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine, as well as kyphosis, an excessive forward curvature.
In June, during National Scoliosis Awareness Month, his family shared his story to highlight how far he has come.
Orry spent six weeks in the hospital undergoing halo-gravity traction to help straighten his spine before undergoing spinal fusion surgery with Dr. Joshua Murphy, an orthopedic surgeon and medical director of the Spine Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Foster said the surgery has made a noticeable difference.
“He’s doing things like talking, and sitting up, and doing all the things that little kids do,” she said.
After his spinal fusion, Orry is sitting taller, and his mom said his back no longer hurts.
While his spine may never be completely straight because of his SMA, Foster said seeing what the surgery has done for her son has been incredible.
For Foster, every new treatment or medical advancement represents another opportunity for Orry.
She said she wants other families facing an SMA diagnosis to know that a diagnosis does not have to define everything their child will be able to experience.

“So we’ve done all of the things,” Foster said. “He’s been to the beach, the mountains, he plays baseball, he’s somebody’s best friend. He’s had a little crush. All the things that typically kids get to do.”
Orry also participates in youth choir and bucket drumming and loves spending time outside and with his friends.
His mom describes him as silly and curious. He is always asking “why” and, she said, sees the world differently than many people.
“He finds joy in places where a lot of people wouldn’t see it,” Foster said.
And when another challenge comes along, Orry has a message for himself.
“I can do hard things.”
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