Morgan Kate

Mondays are long days. Not only do we have work, but Morgan Kate has speech every Monday afternoon. She and I leave the house before seven and don't get home until almost six. We are both tired and hungry and just ready to be home. We sometimes sit in rush hour traffic for what seems to be forever. We sometimes sing and laugh. We sometimes scream and cry. Not at each other, but separately because we are both so exhausted and it's only Monday. But today was different. Today was a good Monday. I'm not sure if it's because we had such a great weekend or we both got lots of rest last night. It might have been the three snacks I packed - one for her to eat on the way to speech, one on the way home and one in case of a hunger emergency. And she ate all three. Or maybe it was the awesome speech session she had today. I must admit, it's probably a little of each of those things. But I know for me personally, the speech session made my heart smile and my eyes all watery. 


I've always liked where we take MK for speech. And I have always loved her therapists and we've had quite a few - four to be exact. But I haven't always loved SPEECH itself. For anyone who has ever sat through a speech session or had a child attend speech, it can be quite frustrating and overwhelming. When it's going well it's fascinating to watch and be a part of. But when it's not going so well, it can be difficult to say the least - or that's how I feel anyway. This may not make much sense, but PT and OT were always easy for me, at least most of the time. I could see, literally, the progress MK was making. I could see the way she tried to pull up or the steps she wanted so badly to take. I could see her hands moving and working. I could see that physically there was nothing standing in her way and I knew she would be okay. Speech wasn't that clear for me. I can't always see things happening because so much of speech takes place in that amazing brain of hers. It was harder for me to know that everything was okay in that department. 


Now don't get me wrong. I know that Morgan Kate is one smart cookie. She is just absolutely amazing. But, she was delayed in talking and that concerned me. I guess I knew she would have those delays, just as she did with PT and OT, because of her prematurity, but it was harder for me to know she would get better with speech and with her thinking. Sorry if this makes no sense at all. It makes a lot of sense in my crazy head. 


But God continues to amaze me with this little girl. There are very few days when his work in her life doesn't bring me to tears. He continues to show me just how miraculous he is and how awesome she is. Just today, during our speech session, I found myself biting my lip and trying my best to hold back tears of happiness. I feel so silly getting all emotional in front of people. We have a new therapist that we've only seen three times (our old one is out on maternity leave) and things are just going so well. She just has a way of working with MK that gets results and leaves me wide eyed with amazement. 


Today when we first arrived MK immediately wanted to go back and play "in da balls". It's this kiddie pool filled with those plastic balls and MK adores it. Her therapist, T, told her that she needed to work some first, but when the timer went beep, beep, beep then she could play in the balls. MK was perfectly content with that. She worked so hard for fifteen minutes or so. They read a book together, played with bubbles, played a game, played pretend and all the while she was talking the entire time. As soon as the timer went off MK jumped up, went to the door and said "Balls....Open, please". She was able to play in the balls for about ten minutes, still talking and working, but not really realizing it. When the timer went off again she cleaned up the balls and headed back to the room to work. No fussing, no crying, no procrastinating. Of course all of this amazed me, especially the words she was using and how she used them. But it was the therapists words that brought me to tears. She commented on how bright MK was and how advanced she was in her cognitive abilities. The therapist was impressed with her play skills, her pretend skills and just how she interacted with others. As I said before, I've always known she was one smart cookie, but it's always nice to hear from other people, especially people that work with her in that capacity. 


I guess I got all emotional because anything that MK really does makes me emotional. I don't know if it's because of her early birth or if it's just because I'm a mom. I can't really put my finger on it. I just know that I soak up every single thing and I just treasure it and hold on to it and I'm just so thankful for it. Every thing she does amazes me because I remember those first few months. I remember so many things and I remember not knowing how things were going to be or turn out. But I do know now and I'm just in awe at how far this little one pound twelve ounce miracle has come in only two short years. 


I love you, sweet girl! You make your mommy so very proud!