Friday, June 20, 2008

Major milestones

This week, PB licked a pretzel... while not a major milestone for most babes, this is a milestone of epic proportions for MY babe. She put a piece of food in her mouth voluntarily (!!!) .. a feat which has not yet been repeated, but for which I am extremely proud. You'd think my child had won the Nobel Prize, that's how freaking proud I am of her.

Her feeding therapist is also proud.

Her feeding therapist. Who knew these job descriptions existed?

My insurance pays a lot of money for a very nice lady to come to my house twice a week and play with my baby. Seriously. And it squicks me out.

Sure, it's goal-oriented playing, but it's a process that involves trying to get PB to bite, lick or chew things, and which generally involves PB putting toys (or her own fingers) into Miss Shannon's mouth.. an exercise that pushes my squick factor to the limits. My child is sharing toys, and all the germiness that comes with saliva, with a stranger who also shares toys (and most probably saliva and germs) with other children, who are also strangers to me. I feel like I'm in the midst of a germ-a-palooza.

Still, for that minute where my child giggled at her own boldness as she stuck that pretzel into her mouth, it was all worth it.

Sometimes those milestones that others take for granted are the ones we celebrate the most here in the Grail household.