Being thankful

Thanksgiving week-end has come and gone, and tonight we had our first visit with Santa! My how the seasons fly:) We had a wonderful week-end on Whidbey Island celebrating Thanksgiving and a nice time decorating our house for Christmas when we returned. Taylor enjoyed watching the kids play, showing off her sitting skills, and didn't seem fazed by all of the activity (i.e. lots of people - in the past, this has been a bit overwhelming for her, likely due to her early vision challenges). She helped us pick out our Christmas tree on our annual Christmas tree hunt and is enjoying the Christmas lights and shiny ornaments at the house. She also has a newfound love of wrapping paper and tissue paper, so she was quite entertained with paper products while we decorated the tree with the big kids. It was a great, long week-end and we're still catching up on our sleep.

Last night as I was finishing Lauren's books, she said "you know, Mom, life's not fair" - such sage words from my kindergarten student. As I watched Taylor in her therapy today I remembered these words and agreed - life's not fair when a baby has to work so hard at basic skills. I almost got teary (a first for me in awhile), but managed to hold it together. Today actually went better than I expected. Susan had been out of town for a week and we (and Julie) worked hard to keep Taylor's muscles loose and ready for work. I was still afraid that she would have tightened up and re-entering therapy today would have been painful for her, but it was largely business as usual. She's such a little trooper and continues to work very hard.

This time of year, though, with all of its joy - brings to my mind lots of milestones that I thought we would enjoy. I remember last Thanksgiving thinking how Taylor would be able to sample Thanksgiving dinner this year (and while she did have baby food sweet potatoes, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind - no real food yet) and how we would have to carefully decorate the tree because she would be a mover and shaker this Christmas. Of course, things are different than planned, but they're still great because Taylor can smile, laugh, and and is learning to do so much more. I am very thankful for my family and all of our joys this year - probably this year more so than any other because we've seen so many other families struggling with so much more. Each day I'm choosing to be happy and hoping Taylor, amidst all the hard work, is happy too.