In the Moment

Well, that was quite a swing between my All Lit Up post and my Regression Analysis post. I'd say sorry for being such a downer in the latter, but... it is what it is. Talking about Joy's regressions takes me to dark places, and that's part of the way things go sometimes around here.

On the other hand, the regression part of Joy's journey also has something to teach me about living in the moment, if I let the lesson sink in. If I worry too much about the future and the next regression that might (or might not) be around the corner, there are many glorious Joy-moments that might not get the appreciation they deserve.

Like all the peek-a-boo games yesterday!

One of Joy's intensive autism therapists was the first to elicit it, a week ago. Joy has always loved peek-a-boo games, and has been pulling the blanket away from our faces to peek for a long time now. Last week, though, the therapist reported that Joy held up the blanket TO HER OWN FACE and did a peek! Turn-taking, imitation, initiation, social awareness, all in one tasty package!

Joy showed off her new skill a couple of times during the past week, with great big grins and giggles. Then yesterday, she decided it was her favorite new thing to do. We spent long spells peek-ing, sometimes at my initiation, sometimes at hers, sometimes between Joy and JoyDad. She was enjoying holding up that blanket so much, I sometimes had to playfully grab it away to get a turn in edgewise!

My favorite interaction, though, was at one point when I came upstairs and she initiated the game, holding up the blanket to peek. Then she came over, took my hand and put it into the blanket, thereby asking me to take my turn...

Oh yes, there are some glorious moments here, when we're willing to live in them.