Milestones

Life is full of milestones.  As a parent you begin to take notice of the typical ones.  The first smile, the first time they roll over, the first time they sit up, crawl, stand, and walk.  The first word, first sentence, first time they point to something or ask for something, and the first time they say I love you.  From that very first moment it is all about milestones for your children, but there are milestones as a parent too.

That moment when you find out you're expecting, the first ultrasound, the first heartbeat that sounds like a washing machine, and that moment your precious baby comes screaming into the world.  That's just the first nine months.  There's also that first night you survive getting up every couple of hours, that swelling in your heart when that soft little head lays against your chest, and that first bath when you have managed to keep the baby above water but soak yourself.

So many milestones and we take so many of them for granted.  Notice them, as many as possible.

Lately I've noticed a few and I'm so grateful I took the time to catch them.  My baby girl, my Bella boo, is reaching and grasping.  She loves to beat up her butterfly on her car seat, smack the bugs attached to her bouncy seat, and shake her rattles until she forgets how to let go.  My itty bitty baby has become aware of her surroundings and is interacting with them.  I'm so proud of her and can't wait to see what new thing she figures out next.

I've also noticed that my snuggle bear, my Angel has accomplished so much recently.  In fact, today alone we had two huge accomplishments.  The first being he mimicked Mommy saying ball.  He's never done that before and I was so proud.  There was lots of encouraging words and clapping and cookies involved.  The second was that he passed his target goal of commands.  Commands being his attempt at communicating be it vocally or with signs.  A "normal" child his age has 900 commands a day.  Angel's target goal in a four hour period is 50.  When his ABA therapist left today Angel had 57 commands on the counter.  For most moms this may not seem like much but to this mom is it a huge deal.

These are the milestones that make up my days.  All those precious ones that are occurring in Bella's first year.  Every tiny new thing she does that makes my heart swell is so amazing.  I'm so proud of her and so in awe of her as she explores her new world.  She makes me want to pull all my hair out some days but she is still my favorite daughter, still the most beautiful girl in the world, and still one of the loves of my life.

All those amazing things Angel accomplishes in overcoming the obstacles of autism make my heart swell as well.  I am so proud of how much he has learned and succeeded at in this journey.  I'm so proud of how proud he is at everything new he is learning to do.  There are moments I wish he could just tell me what he wants or how he's feeling but he is still my favorite son, still the most handsome boy in the world, and still one of the loves of my life.

Life is full of milestones.  For your children, for yourselves, for everyone.  Take the time to notice them, to celebrate them.  They are all amazing and that are markers in this journey we call life.