We had another wonderful, successful outing just the two of us on Saturday when we headed to the Easter Seals Walk With Me event. Easter Seals is a very important part of our life. My sweet treasure receives most of her therapy there and they have been the most amazing answer to prayer. They have taught me so much about what to do to help my princess accomplish the goals we have set for her and so I was thrilled that we could walk to support their cause to help children with disabilities.
We walked for our friend Ethan-who's momma blogs at
courage and coffee about learning to live with Autism. This special momma and I go way back to before we were blessed to parent our special ones. Her son, who has autism, was an ambassador for the event and he did amazingly well. It is awesome to follow along and watch him grow and blossom. Really as a special education professional, she is the kind of momma you dream all your students could have..It was a a wonderful day.
It was a not an autism friendly event though as there were loud sounds, balloons, crowds of people, and chaos everywhere. My little lady is deathly afraid of balloons and we had to walk by at least a million throughout the morning! I feel like I might have benefited from a blinking sign that said don't come within 100 feet of me with that balloon your holding. She stared them down with terror on her face at first and then turned her eyes away from them as if she couldn't see them so they must not be there. Still, she had no meltdowns. She stayed almost two hours and while she looked like this picture (face of disdain) most of the time-she had no tears. She did not meltdown. She held herself together, signed to communicate, and held that Frisbee for comfort. We are so getting there friends. As I was leaving, I was thinking about how brave and courageous this little one is. I was thinking about all that she has gone through in her three years and how very much she has overcome. I think she is the most courageous person I have ever known. It is such a privilege to have her as mine.
PS..She is also really rocking that hair bow don't you think? She is certainly the cutest Chinese baby in these parts, but I am partial.
I was thinking that same thing! I was in awe at how amazing Jillian handled this non-sensory friendly event....I think she did better than most of us! I am so glad that you were both able to come and join our team! Maybe next year we will be able to walk alongside Team Jillian!!!!
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