Why Yes, I DO Celebrate Milestones

No brainer, right? We all strive for milestones in ANY of our children, be it our special needs children or “typically developing” children. In our family, we are pretty big on celebrating milestones, no matter how small.

With Lauren, it was obviously different. She was our first. We celebrated MAJOR milestones (or at least major in our world) Since Jillian likes to keep us on our toes, we have taken to celebrating even the smallest of milestones.

I remember watching her as an infant… Grabbing a toy with her thumb and index finger and I thought “YAY! Pincer grasp”. Then when she finally managed  rolling over (ok, we celebrated this with Lauren too, but it happened at such a later stage for Jillian). I also celebrated the fact that she brought said toy-still in her pincer grasp- to midline. Good, good. All good signs.

Lately, I celebrated the fact that she knew how to take her shorts off. (she does this very awkwardly, usually in “w” position.) I even celebrated when she took her diaper off. Potty training- here we come!! (Or not. We’re still working on the pee sensation. I’m not sure she’s ready yet).

I’m sure some of my friends thought I had lost my mind when I start bragging about the fact Jillian could bring a toy to her mouth, for example. Watching Jillian struggle is certainly not high on my to-do list. She seems to take it in good stride, so I suppose I should too.

Jillian’s latest milestone is making it up the last 2 stairs coming from the basement. When we first moved in here, she had yet to learn how to do stairs since we were in an apartment. Lauren was scared of the basement stairs since they’re steep. There’s also a step down landing at the top of the stairs. I think Jillian had a hard time for so long because she uses her chin as leverage to hoist herself up the stairs. (believe me. I know this is not safe. I hold my breath every time, but I’m really trying to teach her independence!)

Also? We may have found Jillian’s newest calling. A comedienne.

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