6.17.2010

Non-milestone milestones

Everyone gets excited about the first words and first steps. First day of school. Those are exciting things. But there's all kinds of non-milestone milestones along the way too. Things you maybe wouldn't write home about, but it's exciting to you.

I remember when Ella could finally hold her own bottle. I mean, the pure joy I felt was amazing. An accomplishment for her, a little freedom for me. Technically I'm sure I was supposed to feel sad and still want to hold her 24/7. Instead I thought, "WHEE!! I can go to the bathroom again!"

And those little non-milestone milestones just keep coming. Like when Ella was able to figure out how to get to pbskids.org by herself. Or getting her own snack. And Natalie's never far behind her at this point.

And now I will admit the two non-milestone milestones that have thrilled my soul lately:

1. Ella can run the DVR. Just enough to play shows we've recorded. Translation: Saturday mornings we get to stay in bed, because Ella just puts on iCarly and they grab some cereal. Hooray! I'm sure I should not be so excited that my children watch enough TV to know how to run the DVR. But I don't care.

2. They're learning new songs. Our church kids did a musical for Mother's Day and it was precious and wonderful. They learned songs that have stuck in their hearts. Yesterday I heard Natalie singing one of them in the shower. Couldn't be cuter. I also felt a strange sense of pride when I first heard my girls singing a Dave Matthews Band song. I'm not sure why. But whenever it's on, they get so excited and ask to turn it up. Not that I blame them, click here. It makes me want to pack us up for some kind of road trip and roll down the windows so we can all sing it together at the top of our lungs.

It's the little things, isn't it?

2 comments:

Libby Design said...

I'm totally with ya on "the little things"...especially with a special needs kid!! :) Our big non-milestone for this week - Peyton can FINALLY chew gum without swallowing it!! YAY!!! She's so incredibly proud of herself and I love watching Carson congratulate her. It really is all about the little things...

gretchen said...

I must admit to a rather dubious "little things" milestone. A couple of months ago, Jimmy and I were sitting in the living room watching a game. Suddenly, Jimmy says "Jude, can you go get me a beer?" Jude says "Sure, Dad." The kid then goes to the kitchen, digs around in the fridge for a while, roots around in a drawer, then comes into the living room with a bottle of beer and a bottle opener! I though Jimmy was going to lose his mind with excitement!