Baby Steps

If Alyssa has taught me anything, which she has taught me a lot, but one important thing she has taught me is patience. I have to be patient with her progress. For it isn't like any one else's. And it doesn't come with a timeline some therapist or neurologist made up. It comes on what I like to call Alyssa's time. She is nineteen months now. I can't believe it. She is really growing up too fast. Speaking of up, she is SITTING UP!!!! She still can't sit herself up from a lying down postion, but can from a propped position. She can sit there for as long as she wants to, which is sometimes not very long at all. She got AFO's for her legs, and for those that don't know what that is it is Ankle Foot Orthodics. They are really helping her strengthen her muscles in her legs and she can now stand up better. She can actually stand at a table for about 5 seconds all by herself. Of Course I am right there to catch her if she starts to break down. She will take steps holding my hands, but is still very wobbly in the trunk area. We hope to have a gait trainer for her soon. I figure it will be a little while before she can use it, but she may surprise me.
Another baby step she accomplished today was figuring out how to move forward in her walker. She has done it before, but wasn't sure how she did it. Today she figured out how to get her legs to push her forward instead of backwards. I got it on video for just a second.
She has been sick with a cold and man, what a Mama's girl she has been the past few days. She has actually converted to a Mama's girl for the past few weeks. And it doesn't matter how tired I am, when that word Mama, comes out of her sweet lips with that precious voice attached, I melt. I am puddy in her hands. She has started saying a few words better than she was. Daddy is coming out DaDa now instead of VaVa. She is making fishy sounds with her lips when you say the word Goldfish. She loves the Goldfish crackers. She loves the lights in the ceiling, but calls them flowers when a ceiling fan is attached. She is so much smarter than any body not around her much would give her credit for. She is the biggest clown too. Anything that can get you to laugh makes her day. She pulls Bubba's(Easton's hair) so hard it should be falling out, but he doesn't care. She aggravates him when they are in the car too. If he sits up to look out the window she is going to pull on his shirt and holler at him until he sits back so she can see him. He also tells her no no when she is trying to pull her arm out of the car seat strap, and now the only time she does it is when he is in the car, and then it is only so he will tell her no no. She teases him about it. She likes the Christmas tree, but doesn't seem to be overally excited about it. She has touched the lights and pulled at a few ornaments, and I am sure if she was mobile would give it heck, but for now is content to just look at it when we walk past. She still couldn't care less about crawling. We were given homework from therapy to work on her crawling. I have been moving her legs in the bicycle motion with her lying on her tummy. She tells me forever more what for, but I do think it is helping her to realize how she is going to have to move. I think she would just as soon walk than to ever crawl. Who knows? She may just do that.
As far as baby steps go, Alyssa, is definitely taking them. It seems like she isn't ever going to do something, but I remember when I didn't think she would ever sit up. And she did. So that is what I think about when I forget to be patient and wait for Alyssa time. I don't take anything she does for granted. Everything she does from smiling to sitting, from rolling to standing, and from eating to sleeping I enjoy every little thing about it. It has also taught me not to take anything Easton does lightly either. He is amazing. He loves Alyssa so much and her him too. He is the best big brother anyone could ask for. He was on the Special Honor roll at school, and he wants to learn his mulitiplication tables. He is only in second grade. He loves basketball, video games, and pizza. And I always want to remember these baby steps in his life too. Our children grow up too fast, and sometimes we whine about having to help them get dressed, or having to help them brush their hair, or having to fix them something to eat, or all laundry we have to do. Just take some time to breath, and during that time remember, It is only for a little while. Life is too short and I think we all need to slow down and perhaps progress on Alyssa time.