The following has been brought to you by the letter Y and the number 2 and made possible by the generosity of a host of proud sponsors – ABA therapists, teachers, aides, parent educators, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists and by contributions from people like you. Thank you for your continued support. (The tote bags are in the mail.)
This morning, Brooke woke up before I left for work. I heard her door creak open. We’ve intentionally left it unoiled. Its creak lets us know when the little eagle is on the move.
I opened my door and watched her shuffle toward my room in all her sleepy headed glory. I crouched down and waited for her to come to me. I’ve conditioned myself to crouch and wait, though the restraint fights with every fiber of my being. She walked into my open arms and let me hug her. I breathed her in and felt whole again.
“Good morning, my little love.”
“Morning to you, Mom” – each word separately and slowly articulated.
I hugged her and we swayed ever so slightly.
“You gave me a hug.”
“Yes I did, baby.”
“You went like this (she rocked back and forth).”
“Yes I did.”
Luau turned off the water in the shower and stepped out into the bathroom to our right.
“Did you have fun in the shower, Dad?”
“Well, yes, Brooke, I did. Thank you so much for asking me!”
I want to scream from the rooftops. I want to hug everyone I see. (OK, not that skeevy Starbuck’s guy who can never, ever get my order right. But everyone else.) MY BABY HAS LANGUAGE!!!! LOTS OF IT!!!!! Spontaneous, unscripted, socially appropriate language. “Did you have fun in the shower, Dad?’ A question with no purpose whatsoever other than to initiate interaction.
The sky is the limit, my friends.
I am so proud I could burst.
Are you ready for more?
Because, my friend, it’s coming…
Singing, shouting, and hugging right along with you!
love to you all~~
Just discovered your blog, and loved reading this post. We were watching some old video of the kids the other day, and it was startling to flash back to the days when my little guy, diagnosed with PDD-NOS in preschool, was so non-verbal. You should hear him now! Drama Mama is right. You ain’t heard nothin’ yet! Enjoy.
Oh, this is only the beginning. Just you wait…the best is yet to come!
thank you! all of you! ‘the good times sweeter for the sharing’ never rang so true.
Hip HIP HOORAY!
That’s so awesome! I love it that because of our kids we never take one single spoken word for granted. YAH Brooke!
Gives me hope for my little one…
Bless her sweet little heart!!!!!
Amazing…I’m cheering right along with you. I read something by a mom years ago that referred to each of her son’s words as a “hard-earned trophy,” and that’s how I have thought of all my own son’s words (and now conversations, believe it or not) ever since. To this day, I’m sure most people on the playground would laugh if they knew I was repressing an inclination to break out in song and dance when one of their kids says hi to my son and he says hi back. Seemingly such a simple interaction that most people take for granted, but we know otherwise. So hard earned. And therefore so, so sweet and worthy of celebration.
Feeling the joy!
And this is EXACTLY why I do the job I do. For moments like this! I am so proud of Brooke!