5 years after accident, Tripp Halstead is doing 'awesome'

ATLANTA - Five years ago today, the Halstead family's life changed forever.

In 2012, Stacy Halstead watched her 2-year-son "walk" into his daycare center in Winder, Georgia. That would be the last time she would see him before his shocking accident.

Tripp was outside his daycare center when a limb from a tree fell, hitting him in the head. He suffered severe brain injuries and spent months recovering at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

"The world as we knew it stopped on Oct 29, 2012," Stacy said in a Facebook post today.

Since the accident, Tripp and the Halstead's story of facing great odds has resounded with millions of people worldwide.

With his loving family by his side, Tripp has been making great progress, This year he started first grade and has been working hard at therapy.

WATCH: Tripp Halstead wakes up excited for first grade 

Over the past years, Stacy has shared her family's story with the world, posting updates about the highs and lows on her Tripp Halstead Updates Facebook page.

In today's update, Stacy admitted that sometimes these anniversaries are very painful, writing that the day five years ago was "life-changing."

"I have been a strong mommy for 5 years, I think it’s ok to be sad thinking about that day. I can always be strong again tomorrow," she wrote.

Tonight Stacy said the family was going to have a quiet family dinner at Tripp's grandmother's house to celebrate all of Tripp's huge accomplishments over the past five years.

Over the summer, Tripp started using a new "sit to stand" stander at his mobility clinic. The new device offers therapy support in both seated and standing positions.

He's also making good progress on controlling his head, Stacy said.

This month the Halsteads were able to take Tripp to Walt Disney World, a vacation that "has been perfect," Stacy wrote. They had wanted to go for a long while, and now Tripp showed enough progress for them to be able to ride some of the rides

She said that they got recognized while walking through the park.

"Everyone was so sweet and we saw lots of people recognize us but chose to not approach us. Lots of whispers "Oh my gosh, that's Tripp" lol," Stacy said. "We honestly didn't care either way. We just love that so many people care about Tripp and our family."

MORE: Paul Milliken catches up with the Halsteads 

Last week, Stacy shared a video of Tripp that was taken 10 days before the accident.

"This is the little voice I remember, this is the little smile I remember, this is one of my favorite videos of my sweet boy. He was just two yrs old. I can’t believe he is a 7 yr old now," she said in the post.

Stacy said she plans on taking flowers to the daycare where the accident happened.