"Buh Buh"

I meant to post yesterday, I really did.  But lately I've been experiencing this unexplained phenomenon...time keeps passing by, even when I'm sitting on my duff in front of the TV.  There should be a pause button for mommies, one that we can push to put the world on hold while we take a few minutes (hours) for ourselves every once in a while.

Alas, there is no such device as of yet (and I'll leave the emphasis on the "yet" part), so I'll just need to learn to deal with the fact that the world continues turning even when I'm geeking out in front of HGTV.

Yesterday afternoon The Princess and I took our weekly trip to Milestones for her OT with Sakina.  It went much better.  She actually climbed the stairs and went down the slide by herself...TWICE.  The exhilirated look on the way down was nearly as cute as the gigantic grin that promptly spread across her face as soon as she hit the ball pit at the bottom of the slide.

She was so much more cooperative yesterday than she has been in the past.  I think she's getting used to Sakina, finally.  She even kissed Sakina at least three times during our hour.  How cute is that?!

After lots of big fun in the gym, The Princess spent a good deal of time stringing beads and checking out Sakina's texture bins (new this week).  She was amazingly attentive...not to say she didn't protest at all, but at least she put up with it for the whole hour this week.

As you may or may not know, I am currently unemployed.  Not by choice, but I wouldn't trade the time with The Princess for the world.  It occurred to me yesterday morning that I should talk to Sakina to see if there were any openings at her clinic that don't require a certification.  So, at the end of our hour, I asked.  Her eyes got wide and she said if I had asked her last week she'd have had an opening for me that she thinks I'd be perfect for.

But it's been filled.  Bad timing, but I gave her my resume to keep on file if she needs anyone else.  What she's doing is actually pretty exciting - she's opening a sensory learning center in Crystal Lake, across the street from Milestones, and it will be the only one in the state of Illinois.  If it takes off, she'll definitely need more people, and she said she would be willing to work around my school schedule so I can stay on track for my COTA.

Oh, and she said she'd check with other therapists she knows who have their own clinics to see if they need anyone.  We'll see how it goes.

The rest of the day yesterday was spent marveling at the fact that time marches on, even when I'm vegging on the couch with short (okay, not always short...) play-breaks with my little buddy.

Today's big accomplishment?  Six, count 'em, six, vocal requests from my little girl during her speech therapy with Julie.  One of The Princess's very favorite things in the whole wide world is bubbles.  So, as you can imagine, we work on this word a lot.  It's been a point of contention for, oh, probably a year in her twice-weekly ST sessions with Julie.

So Julie came in today and dragged her toy bag back to The Princess's room and let the kiddo dig in.  Naturally, the first thing she came out with was the bubbles.  Last time this happened it was a disaster.  The Princess knew what was expected of her (to say or sign "bubbles"), but she just couldn't do it.  A meltdown of epic proportions ended that doomed session early.

But today, today my little girl was amazing.  She sat there on the edge of her bed, looked directly at Julie and - without prompt - said "Buh buh".

What?!

Yeah, that's right.  She said buh buh.  Six separate times.  Always making direct eye contact, never waiting for a prompt.

I love everyday miracles.  The small things that could seem inconsequential to a casual observer, but that we know to be so much more important.  I live for this.

Oh, and I had my first biology class today.  And it didn't suck.  But it was nowhere near as cool as what my princess accomplished with Julie this afternoon.