Pretty

January 02, 2009

Pretty

Waverly has a new favorite word. Pretty. In the midst of watching her lose words & skills, it is such a gift to have her learn a new word. Within the past week she has been saying "pretty" constantly. Usually, she and I are snuggling and I look right in her eyes. I love telling her how pretty she is and she caught on. She giggles after she and I both say it. It is beautiful.

Comments

Jawn said…

This makes me smile :)

January 2, 2009 at 8:58 PM

Stephanie from Portland said…

YAY!! And what a great word for her. She is so very pretty and I am sure you are thrilled that she is saying it. No matter what the circumstances, it is small moments like giggling with your daughter that makes life worth living. What a great way to start 2009! :)

January 3, 2009 at 9:12 AM

Misty said…

She is so pretty ! What a wonderful word for her to learn! She is telling you that you are pretty too! Misty
www.miracle4will.com

January 3, 2009 at 10:46 AM

Tari Reph said…

Happy New Year Matt, Shannon, Waverly and Oliver. I pray that this would be a year for you guys to enjoy each other as a family. I also am continuing to pray for a miracle for your family. NOTHING is impossible with God!

January 3, 2009 at 11:53 AM

Laura said…

Pretty much poetry.

January 4, 2009 at 1:34 PM

Anonymous said…

I have a daughter who also loves to say the word 'pretty', but it comes out 'piddy'. It's one of my favorite things to hear. I'm happy for you that your able to experience that with your beautiful daughter, too. God bless you all this year.

January 4, 2009 at 9:38 PM

Anonymous said…

Awww, how sweet!

January 5, 2009 at 9:13 PM

Cheryl said…

Praying for more of those moments and aspiring to be as intentionally loving a mom as you are. It's perfect.

January 7, 2009 at 8:16 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.