Parents of kids with developmental delays often say that watching their children work so hard to accomplish milestones can often make the reward that much sweeter when they do. When I read that over and over before Claire was born those words didn't make sense to me, exactly. It sounds like what you say when you are trying to find the silver lining in a dark cloud of a situation. And now I know what they mean. Every next step comes with practice, and stretches, and exercises and paying attention to positional support. And every day she works hard at it all and shows such determination and focus and she does the next thing. She gets her hands together and grabs things and brings them to her mouth and holds her head up high. She looks so pleased with herself, so proud of herself. My heart soars every time I see that look.
In my life, some things have come so easily. But it is the things that I have found difficult and accomplished anyway that have helped to define me the most. It is the struggles that I have stuck out and overcome that have built a strength of character that serves me well in this new adventure of motherhood. I hope that this journey and the way that Claire works hard to meet every next milestone will serve her as well, I hope one achievement will lead to the next, that she will continue to grow and learn and face the world with the kind of determination and focus that has gotten her this far. And I hope she will always feel pride in herself.
There will be things that come easily to her, too. She has an optimism and a sense of calm that make it natural for her to relate to other people. She is curious and joyful and loving. Not everything in her life is difficult and she has gifts and talents we haven't even discovered yet.
Claire has been talking more and making new sounds.Goo! Gaa! Blaaargh! She has a lot to say. We've been working on tummy time and pushing up with her arms, Not there yet, but she is tolerating it for longer these days. We have been working to get her as far as we can before surgery so she doesn't lose too much during recovery.
