Making Memories

I'm sure you have seen the sign..

Please excuse this mess, we are busy making memories.

Well, don't be shocked if that one shows up on our front door soon enough. To say that we have been  hard at it would be a complete understatement.

I remember when Leighton was a baby and we went to one of our very first art classes. One mom of a then toddler said to me...(speaking  of her own daughter) "It is just so beautiful to see her playing with her baby dolls. Just wait, it's so nice to finally see that." It seemed to me that it was a hard task to achieve and meant so much to this mother.

To myself I thought, boy, that's such a simple task. I hope that's not something we have to teach LB. Yet, another goal to add to the list. It weighed on me for some time. I wondered if she may never have the love for a doll that I so did when I was a kid. I wondered if she would feel that maternal instinct that I really hoped she would. I chalked it up to another goal we need to accomplish... and carried on.

Fast forward a year and a half or so later and yet another mom tells me that her daughter isn't really into dolls or as affectionate for toys as Leighton is or was being that day. Surprised by that, I remember feeling proud that my little girl was showing signs of enjoying babies and showing affection for her toys. But carried on with my tasks and didn't think much else of it.

Now, present day, I sit and watch as my girls pretend play with everything from dolls, the kitchen I made them, strollers and such. Leighton grabs a grocery cart, diaper bag and heads off for a stroll. Mind you, the doll was left behind.. but you get the gist. She is preaching something as her tiny little finger waves through the air as she vocalizes her thoughts, loud and proud for all to hear. All the while, PUSHING her cart with her diaper bag on her shoulder.

Then it hits me! She's done it! I don't even recall  when it exactly happened, but it DID!

SHE'S PUSHING a toy, WALKING, VERBAL, AND CARRYING something! That's a SUPER TriFecta goal achievement people!

I have been so busy and wrapped up in getting her to walk, talk and this or that, that I have missed a goal that once seemed so important to me. My little girl is compassionate and maternal. Sweet! SCORE! She loves her babies and she is capable of  showing them care. Her pretend play is STELLAR! DOUBLE SCORE!

I  learned a few things that day. First being, one goal that seemed so scary wasn't even a distant memory anymore. This Ds thing isn't so bad.. and if I just let my little girl be a little girl, she will definitely surprise me. Sure, therapy helps. But making memories is what's important. I don't have to push as much as I have to learn to let her do things on her own. Let her be. That's when she seems to grow the most.