For the past few days I've been trying to keep track of some of the positive things. The things that I'm pretty sure would not be happening if Lauren was a typical 8 year old. The things I love so incredibly much and am so grateful for.
Here they are in no particular order:
1. She is perpetually convinced that her birthday is right around the corner. She recently went an entire day thinking her birthday was coming up (her birthday is February 12th) and nonchalantly asked me what kind of ice cream we were having for her party. I was like, uh...party?
2. She sings Daniel Tiger songs to herself to help work through difficult tasks. If she can't get something right (especially a fine motor task) she sings, "Just keep trying, you'll get be-e-tter!" If she has to use the bathroom she stops and sings, "If you have to go to potty, STOP! And go right away!"
3. She absolutely loves to sing, and she loves to sing loudly. She begs to be allowed to sing "so super loud" which basically means screaming. She thinks she is great at singing. If you follow me in Instagram you know that she is, in fact, not great at singing. I love her confidence.
4. Her confidence! She loves to congratulate herself at doing seemingly simple tasks. "Great job, Lauren!" is a common phrase she says whenever she accomplishes anything, great or small. I'm big on sticker charts to help her learn new tasks or reinforce partially forgotten tasks. We're currently in week 3 of Lauren getting herself completely dressed in the morning and into pajamas at bedtime. She is so excited to put a sticker on her chart! She hasn't missed a sticker and today is day 17.
5. She LOVES people, but on her terms. We went for a family walk yesterday. She said a quick hello to all of our neighbors. One guy (we've never met him before, he's in his mid-late 50's), she said, "I love him. I want to have a sleepovers at his house!" Then she cracked up because she thinks she is hilarious. (Note to self: Work on the concept of stranger danger.)
6. She congratulates others for everything, just like she does for herself. If I use the bathroom, get the mail, brush my teeth, etc she is quick to say, "Great job, Mommy!"
7. She is so forgiving. If someone is unkind to her, short tempered with her, or she perceives any slight at all, she gets mad. But within approximately 10 seconds she says, "It's okay, I forgive you!" And then that's it. No grudge held.
8. She loves me more than I ever thought it was possible for one human to love another. Real talk, sometimes it's irritating as hell. I can't tell you the number of times I've accidentally elbowed her in the head because she's standing so close to me. Or how many times I would just love to go 5 minutes without someone touching me. But her reason is always, "I just love you all the time!" and who can argue with that?
9. She is such a hard worker. Fine motor tasks are HARD for her. So hard. But she always wants to try. She wants me to just start opening her cheese stick, she'll do the rest. She insists on helping peel her oranges. Imagine you had heavy gloves on and then had to perform these tasks. This is what it's like for someone with hypotonia and fine motor delays. It would be so much easier for her to just let me do it, but she insists on trying. She has an unwavering belief in her own abilities and she really sets the best example for how others should respect her ability to try.
10. She loves to help others. She will hand me things (that I don't need) when they're right next to me, just to be helpful. She will get all of our shoes when it's time to go somewhere. She loves to hold the door open for us when it's time to leave. She loves to help make dinner and pack our lunches.
These are just a few of the things that make Lauren so great.
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