A Big Day - and Marietta was There!

Ha! You thought I was kidding, didn't you, Marietta?!

Look at this picture.

See anything significant?

I do.

We couldn't have taken this picture a week ago.

Why?

Because a week ago Vera would have PANICKED on uneven ground.

She would've yelled and grabbed my hand for dear life.

Walk on grass alone?

And not just grass...hilly grass.

Forget it.

A week ago she would've dropped to her knees and crawled.

A week ago she certainly would not have let go of my hand to go chase a ball.

Today at our homeschool game day...

she did just that!

(She's on the far left...just in case you didn't realize that's Vera.)

She was WALKING all over that uneven grass!

Do you know where I was?

See the red awning in the above photo?

Yeah.

That's where I was.

Telling Dana and Marietta how amazing it was that Vera was OUT THERE

Alone

Not holding anyone's hand

Not panicking,

On her FEET

Chasing a ball

With all the other kids.

We all got teary eyed watching Vera play.

Somebody (I shall not mention names) was very excited to

see one of my blog posts happen LIVE and in person!

Vera played HARD today.

After chasing the ball in the grass, the big girls helped Vera climb on the playground.

You can see Abbi on the left (above) running to get to the top to help pull Vera up...

Vera got a little stuck at this point.

But such sweet victory awaited her at the top!

Vera LOVED playing with the big girls today!

Vera played hard for several hours.

She was all over the place!

She was exhausted when we finally loaded up the van to head home.

Marietta, I didn't tell you about the other significant

happening that you witnessed today.

You saw what happened, but you probably didn't see the significance.

Some of the kids were getting ready to play another round of hide & seek.

Vera was accidentally nudged as the group began to scatter and hide.

It was a nudge that you and I would probably not notice.

But it was a nudge that caused Vera to lose her balance.
It was one of those mommy moments that you see happening

but there's nothing you can do to stop it.

She fell. She fell hard.

The fall included her slamming the

back of her head on the concrete parking lot.

Her glasses flew off and everything.

It was a hard fall.

And Vera cried.

She sought comfort from me.

I was right there and immediately dropped down to the ground next to her.

She let me pull her into my lap and rock her and kiss her and wipe away her tears.

That wouldn't have happened just a few weeks ago.

A short time ago Vera would have seen me coming

and put up her hand to wave me away.

She would've said, "No, no, no!"

But not today.

Today she let me mommy her.

A big day, indeed.

Vera had her evaluation for occupational therapy this week.

She can't cut a straight line.

She can't draw a straight line from one point to another 2 inches long.

She can't draw a closed circle.

She can't draw two perpendicular lines (like a cross).

She can't string beads.

She can't stack more than 5 blocks.

She can't do many things that a 6 year old should be able to do.

I know it must sound like I'm focusing on what Vera can't do.

I'm not.

I'm focusing on what Vera WILL DO!

I'm putting it here because someday very soon

I'm going to read this post and say

"Oh yeah! I remember when Vera couldn't do those things.

Look at her now!"

Just like I did today.