Onward and Upward

Lily has now been under the care of Dr. Goldberg for almost a month.  If you're new around these parts and have no idea what I'm talking about, clicking here will get you all good and caught up.

We have a phone appointment with the doc himself Thursday evening and I'm expecting to hear bloodwork results as well as any findings on the fancy Neuro-SPECT he did on her brain.

I have to send in a weekly report to him via email and I've been very faithful to do that.  One section of the report is divided into Positives and Negatives.

Truthfully, we've been pretty heavy on the Negatives with not many Positives to report.

Until this weekend.

I have to tell you that we've been lucky in that our sweet Bird has always been a pretty affectionate kid. But this past weekend, she was incredibly lovey.

And it was lovely.

I would be in the kitchen, rinsing out dishes to load in the washer, and she would come up behind me, wrap her little arms all the way around and just squeeze me.  When I'd turn around and bend down to get a better hug, she'd lay her sweet head on my shoulder, squeeze me with her arms, and just smile the sweetest smile.

She's making better eye contact.

When I point at something, she actually looks to see what I'm pointing at rather than just looking at me in confusion.

Her use of the iPod Touch for communication seems to be much more intentional and purposeful.  Like when she is asked a question, her answers tend to make more sense.

And best of all, while she is still very active, there's been less of that frantic, frenetic running around like she's got ants in her pants and it's simply impossible for her to sit still.  She actually snuggled up next to me on the couch and, dare I say it?  She almost appeared... peaceful.

I would venture to say it was actually a pleasant weekend around the Rush house.  Unlike most of our weekends, which are spent trying to keep Lily occupied in ways that are not harmful, destructive or catastrophic.

Of course, there is still much, much more progress to be made.

But hey, we've learned to take what we can get with the Bird.

Yes, these are tiny baby steps.

But they are forward.

And that is a huge cause for celebration.