Small Victories

Every day we are seeing progress, small victories that that tell us that we're moving in the right direction. It's hard some days to really celebrate these victories, like being able to sit down with Desi without her throwing a fit and hearing her utter words like mamama, and dadada (hoping that she's saying mama and dada).

Yesterday, though, I really took notice of a series of small victories that may not be so small...

I was sitting on the living room floor with a rather cranky Desi (getting up at 5:30 in the morning would make anyone crabby). Desi was throwing a fit and crying. Out of nowhere Emily shows up with Desi's sippy cup and puts it in Desi's mouth. She was trying to comfort Des with her baba. She kept on trying even as Desi resisted. I was so proud of Em at that moment. I praised her for being a good big sister. My heart was happy.

Later in the day, Emily was having some Gold Fish crackers. Desi strolled up and with her signature "mouth open and grunting" signal that she wanted a snack too. We asked Em to share her snack and she did. She gave Desi crackers to eat as she ate too. Again, we praised her for being a good big sister to Desi. Again, I was so proud of her!

Finally, at the end of the day, we were getting into the van and Em wanted to help Desi get buckled in. She took great care to get Desi fastened in to her car seat. And again, we praised her for being a good big sister and taking care of little Desi.

It made me so happy to see Emily starting to accept that Desi's here to stay and part of our family. I believe we still have a long road ahead. The girls continue to compete for my lap and attention. But seeing Em take on the "big sister" role a little bit gives me a lot of hope that they will soon be sweet friends.