One Year

As Sydney and I were coming home from picking up her cake and balloons for her birthday party today, I noticed the RV and Boat show was going on at Metrapark. Then it hit me. Last year, when we went to the show, was the exact moment I realized something was not 'right' with my child. It was right there in front of me, and there was no denying it anymore.

Last year when I was going into the building with Morgan and Sydney while Kory was parking the truck, Sydney saw the four-wheelers, motorcycles and boats, she screamed, turned around, and took off out the doors. I had never seen her act this way before, and I was so thankful we were not near a street, because she would have been hit by a car. At the time, I knew something was wrong, but I did not know what it was. That's when my sister suggested I speak to Syd's doctor, and that's when the doctor told me to read a book about Sensory Processing Disorder. I still have that book, sitting in our living room with what looks like hundreds of red post-it flags on the pages where there was something that reminded me of Syd.

We are going to the RV and Boat show tomorrow, and I am going to be more 'aware' of how Syd reacts this year, after nearly one year of OT and nearly one year of me realizing some of the behaviors we probably made worse. On the flip side, one year of seeing great improvements in Sydney, that still amaze me when I allow myself to stop and think about it. Some of the accomplishments include Syd going to kindergarten and being successful not only academically but socially, Syd learning to read, Syd doing a pullover at gymnastics,Syd vacuuming and Syd getting into the big blow-up bouncy castle at gymnastics. This summer will be more telling to see how she handles the boat. We still have the socks issue to work on, but I have let that go for now.

Happy Birthday my Sydney. I am blessed to have you for my child. I learn from you every day.