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We've come so far, my Love

By Leslie McCann

With each improvement comes new expectations. I sometimes forget from where we've come. I sometimes focus too much on where we are now. I all too often focus on the things we still have to work on. I sometimes forget to pause in gratitude.

Therefore, I choose to take this brief moment in time to reflect on where we've come from ... to feel grateful ... to breath a sigh of relief that we are not THERE anymore. To be elated that we have come so far. We've come so far, my Love. Sweet Vail. My precious, precious Love.

* My daughter once had melt-downs so often that it would be impossible to count the number. Now, so few that many days we can count them on one hand.

* My daughter used to require being held 24/7 --literally! Now, I hold her about an hour or two a day.

* My daughter used to scream each time she didn't get her way . We never knew what would set her off or what her WAY or WILL was. Now she communicates her needs and wants quite well.

* It used to take us an hour to brush her teeth. Now, we can get through it in a quarter of the time.

* It used to take us hours to get her diaper changed. Now, we can get through it in a quarter of the time.

* My daughter used to NEVER play on play equipment when other kids were on it. We had to go to Chuck-E-Cheese in the Summer and the playground in the Winter in order to find them empty of children. Now, she'll play when other kids are there -- and sometimes, she'll even request to "make a friend".

* My daughter used to hit, kick and scream a lot. Now she seldom does any of these things .

* My daughter used to be so rigid that I lived in silent fear of from what the next big, unpredictable upset would arise. Now she can negotiate, she can communicate, she can work with her inflexibility -- she rocks!

* My daughter once screamed each time she had a bowel movement; it hurt! She has inflammatory bowel disease. Now, I can't remember the last time we saw tears with a bowel movement.

* My daughter once woke more than 30 times a night. Now, I count that many in a month.

* My daughter once had moderate to severe food reactions to 60 different foods --Horror! Now, we are only strictly enforcing only one!

* My daughter once screamed if someone even looked at her. Now, I can watch with pride as she interacts with perfect strangers.

* My daughter spent the majority of her first few years naked because clothes bothered her sensitive little body. Now I adore that she's developed her own sense of style and loves to wear and change clothes often.

* My daughter used to fall at random ;unbalanced, uncoordinated. Now she is stable, coordinated, athletic, and a phenomenal climber.

* My daughter used to walk on her toes ... no more!

* My daughter used to have regular night terrors. Now, she only has them when we sleep somewhere that has wireless internet (in other words, rarely!)

* For years kissing my daughter made her cry--she hated my kisses--. Now, being kissed is something she loves.

* I spent an entire Winter indoors because my daughter was afraid of thunder and lightning, and an entire Summer indoors because she was afraid of Bees. Now, we can venture out without anxiety and constant reassurance that something BAD is not going to happen.

* Due to her anxiety, not too long ago, I could not even get 5 feet away from my daughter. And being in a different room was out of the question. Now, I can be in the kitchen while she plays in the playroom.

* My daughter used to have brain-inflammation (head circumference went from the 5th to the 95th percentile in 9 months). Now, THANK GOD, it's resolved.

I am so grateful for where we are ... so hopeful about where we're going. So proud of my precious Love. I'm thankful -- even if I sometimes forget I am!

http://outrunning-autism.blogspot.com/2009/12/weve-come-so-far-my-love_1...