A Milestone

Today was Moopa's first day of preschool. While some mothers carried in clingy children, and lingered to make sure their babies would be okay,  I danced my way back to my car.  Literally.

Yes, I'm excited to have five hours a week to myself for the first time in eleven years.  But this morning, my joy came from someplace different.

Moopa's had an interesting first few years.  We noticed her strabismus when she was around seven months old.  Strabismus is similar to lazy eye, but for Moopa eye patches would not correct her problem.  We had to schedule eye surgery when she was just under two years old.

Que the bleeding eyes.  This was mentally and emotionally exhausting.  Although our little girl didn't seem to mind in the least after a few hours back at home.

On Moopa's two year old well visit, I mentioned to her pediatrician that her hands shake often.  And that her legs tremble when she wakes in the morning.  After her exam, we were sent to visit many specialists and over the next year have many tests.  My baby has had brain scans and blood drawn and her urine tested.  We started with physical therapy last September and occupational therapy last October. 

Other than knowing our baby girl has Hypotonia (low muscle tone that makes her weaker than her peers) and intention tremors (hands that tremor the harder she tries to complete tasks requiring fine motor skills),  we have no answers.

And when the weather turns cold, and it starts to snow, our baby struggles the most to get her days going.

Today, I feel like we reached a huge milestone.  Our baby girl went from crying if we even mentioned being around other kids to asking every minute when she could go to school.  She is confident, happy and ready to tackle preschool.

And so when I dropped her off today, I felt nothing but happiness for her.  I'm so very proud of all she has accomplished.  It's been a long road of appointments, therapists, evaluations and specialists.  These past few months she has blossomed and she is beginning to come into her own.

Today is just the beginning of her journey.

And for me, I can't say I'm not thrilled to type this without Nick Jr. in the background.  Or at the thought of Christmas shopping in peace this winter.  I'm ready to rock and I'll be cruising at full speed.

Wonderful things are ahead.

Happy Thursday!