Three day countdown until Christmas. I have to say I'm the most excited I have been for it in a few years. The last two years, Layla was so much more fragile. She cried so often that we had to take turns rocking her to keep her content. I don't think Aaron and I both got to sit down and enjoy a meal or a full family game at the same time. Our family stepped in to take turns giving her a rock or leg shake to get her to sleep. It was so exhausting. But
this year, it's going to be so different. Layla has changed. She is a different girl in so many ways. In the last month of appointments every single doctor and therapist has talked about how happy she is, how content she is within her self and how she is not at all the same girl she was months ago. She has consistently been moving up. It's been such a sigh of relief. I have to fight off the scared feelings of thinking it'll just be a faze. That it cannot possibly last. But what if it does? What if she stays this happy the rest of her life?
What if all our hard work, sleepless nights, tears and prayers are actually paying off??
It's a hard but delicious pill to swallow.
This year I'm imagining her sitting in her seat on more of an eye level with the other kids. I'm imagining her doing her full out belly laugh for people. I'm imagining her reaction to us all enjoying each other's company. She's recently become so reactive to kids toys, something we have never seen.
Yesterday I had a team of therapists over to work on adjustments for Layla's home equipment. They added a new arm sling for her to take away gravity so she can work easier at pressing buttons and pads. We're starting to look at ways she might learn to communicate in the future. They all loved seeing her reactions when she presses a switch and Olaf sings his song. He is her favourite toy right now. And I believe her reaction is not just the music playing, but also the fact she is so proud of what she is doing, on her own. It is so big. And I couldn't be more proud.
Oh the places she'll go.
