Worthy of Mention

As Emmi's struggles become less, the therapies dwindle, and the doctors' appointments space out, I find myself posting less and less often. What should I write about? How nothing has happened? But it would be a injustice to only write about the negatives, the downfalls, the hardships. Emmi has accomplished so much this past year, and that, too, is worthy of mention.

At the beginning of last year, we were still questioning the push to move Emmi on to Kindergarten. Would she be ready? Would she struggle with the curriculum, the socialization, the separation from her beloved Lisa Moore and classmates? And moving her into a mainstream classroom would be one step closer to moving her out of the only school she had known. It was scary. I never imagined at the beginning of last school year where we, she, would be now.

As I post this Emmi is sitting at the bar top in the kitchen with a friend from her new school. They are discussing their syrup preferences. On the side. On the top. If I didn't know which Emmi preferred, I would not know which child was talking. A fact that amazes me. She sounds like any other kindergartner. Sometimes mixing up "ing" and "ed." Sometimes flipping noun and adjective. But carrying on a real conversation. It feels like Emmi has arrived.

She is thriving. She is consistently performing on target or ahead in all areas. She has made huge gains recently in verbalization. Quite possibly from being exposed to a mainstream classroom, and forced into constant communication. There have been no major setbacks. No major health concerns, since this summer. No surgeries. No hospitalizations. And I realized as I fell off to sleep last night that I was no longer holding my breath, waiting for something bad to happen.

At the beginning of last year, I never imagined we would have moved and Emmi would be doing so well.