My Daughter (In A Nutshell)

Last week I wrote about how A took her first steps on--and off--a curb. It was very exciting, because it showed that her balance and strength are getting better and better. And, really, at the age of almost 4 1/2, it's about time!

I've also written about how motivated A is; even her therapists gush all the time about how her motivation comes from within, which you either have or you don't. All of her therapists (speech, physical, occupational, adapted P.E., and deaf/hard-of-hearing) often tell me how impressed they are with her determination, perseverance, and moxy.

So last Thursday was the day she did her first curb stepping. We did it a few times that day, and also on Friday. However, on Friday, when I was having her step off a curb when we were leaving speech therapy, she fell. She was on her knees on the pavement, crying. I picked her up, put her back on the curb, and urged her to do it again; I did NOT want her to be afraid to try going down again. However, she refused. She kept crying for me to pick her up and carry her. When I didn't, she said "crawl", and got down on her hands and knees and literally crawled off the curb.

Okay. I decided not to push it.

However, just a few moments later, A started to cry hysterically again and broke away from my hand, heading back to the curb. She started to yell, "I do it, I do it, I DO IT!!". She stepped back up on the curb, and then back down. Once she was down, she re-took my hand and we headed to the car.

That's my determined, motivated girl. She knew she could do it, and that she SHOULD do it, and she wasn't going to be satisfied until she did it all by herself.