Tiny Steps
Last night, I drove over to Fred Meyer a little before 9pm. Ostensively, the trip's purpose was to purchase groceries: also good cover for looking at Wii accessories. Janette had our Elvis Costello mix CD playing her last trip out, so I cranked up the volume and down the windows.
First stop: Dutch Brothers coffee. I crept through the drive-thru line, treating the guy in front of me to rear-view American Idol as I belted out Brilliant Mistake with Elvis.
"He thought he was the King of America / where they pour Coca Cola just like vintage wine."
I got to the window shortly thereafter, but didn't want to turn down the volume. In the middle of the chorus? How could I? As a result, after some brief shouted chit-chat, my tripple-shot Milky Way came back as a tripple-shot Mocha. I drove off, sipping. Oh well. Still great coffee.
Green Shirt kicked off as I rejoined traffic on the main highway.
"But you tease and you flirt / and you shine all the buttons on your green shirt."
I beat the steering wheel in time to the song's snare drum rat-tit-tat-tat. List of things to do at Fred Meyer: lottery ticket, Wii accessory check (window shopping), groceries, check on Beavers tickets. This weekend, we're planning a family trip with my brother's family to see the Beavers play at PGE Park. This will be Hannah's first baseball game (provided her strep infection is under control - at 5+ days of antibiotics, we should be okay). I'm sure she, Gabriel, and I will be walking around the building for most of the game (Hannah, for the movement; Gabriel, for the treats), but it should be a good day out.
At Fred Meyer, I didn't buy any Wii items (kind of a surprise to me, too, actually). I grabbed the groceries after correcting a double ring on Hannah's diapers (her skin reacts to bleach and/or chlorine, so we have to buy Seventh Generation diapers: kind of expensive), and I headed back toward the house.
Tiny Steps waltzed from the speakers as I exited the parking lot.
"Tiny steps almost real. / Tiny fingers you almost feel."
Although the song is definitely not about infants (as always, the song is a bit cynical and biting), it brought to mind Hannah as I headed home.
Two months ago, I walked into Hannah's room with Janette. I had seen Hannah start to crawl backwards twice, but no one else had. "Hannah, can you crawl backwards for Mommy?" I asked.
Hannah, already on her tummy, pushed herself up to look at me. She looked at her right hand. Very deliberately, she picked it up and moved it back a step. She looked over her left shoulder; her left foot slid back. She glanced up at me and smiled. Then she repeated the movements on the other side.
I was amazed. Her movement wasn't too surprising; I had seen her start to crawl backwards at least twice. I was more amazed that she had understood my complex request and put it into action. She had also smiled up at both Janette and me, proud of her accomplishment, which we both cheered loudly!
Since then, she has pivoted in a sitting position to a different position. She rolls freely across the carpet in seach of toys, particularly the Bee, and playmates. She is standing with assistance for longer periods of time, and she has even held a standing position, with the help of Gabriel's train table, all by herself.
Last night, as I parked the car in the garage and walked into the house, I celebrated the fact that Hannah is working to meet her own inclusion-through-movement goals. Pretty soon, when I open that door to head out to Fred Meyer, she'll be walking at my heels, demanding to go!
-- Dad
