You know who I love? Early Start therapists. Early Start is an early intervention program created and funded by your tax dollars to help children with disabilities ages 0-3 years. It's aim is to "intervene" during the period of greatest brain development to mitigate the the degree of disability. Our therapists, Linda (a hearing/speech specialist) and Lydia (a physical therapist) come to our apartment every few weeks to evaluate Marley's development, work with her on her skills and answer any questions that we have. And did I mention that it is free? Yes, your taxes are actually being used for something good.
Anyway, I admit that I experience a sort of "high" after these wonderful ladies have visited. Working everyday with Marley, I have a hard time seeing the progress that she's making. Sometimes it's downright frustrating to not see her just sit up or crawl like so many other babies seem to do. When Linda and Lydia are here they always exclaim how much Marley has changed since their last visit. The point out the small things such as her stronger arm strength, her proactive grasping of objects and her increased flexibility. Maybe it's not the big milestones of sitting up unassisted or crawling but they are smaller milestones that are necessary to reach the big ones. Plus, they praise me for the work I have been doing; that really means the world to me.
I'm still impatient. I can't wait for her to crawl, stand and walk. I really can't understand why other moms lament about how quickly their babies grow up. I guess that's one of the things that sets us apart and makes our worlds so different. When you have a special needs child, developmental milestones can't come quickly enough.
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