Seasons

I think it's Spring in Minnesota. One can never be sure, but it seems the nicer weather is here to stay.

I love the changing of seasons. I love the little buds that appear in the ground in the Spring and the tiny little leaves that form on the trees. Every year it seems like a miracle that winter is over.

Listening to his music

A wonderful side benefit of seasons is how they give us a gauge on how much Elijah is changing. Just as the seasons change, Elijah changes. Every winter we say, "Look how much better he is at navigating through the snow." And every spring we notice changes too.

This spring, we're noticing how much more he's taking in the world around him.

We've taken Elijah on a lot of walks in his life and often he'd spend a lot of the time bent forward with his mouth on the stroller. It was quite a source of stress for me.  I didn't like that he did it, but I couldn't get him to stop doing it. Walks around our neighborhood were often filled with grumpiness for me as I tried to figure out how to get him to sit up straight - and happiness for Elijah as he thoroughly enjoyed the vibrations of his stroller on his teeth.

Taking a drink

This spring, Elijah isn't mouthing his stroller nearly as much, but rather sitting up tall and looking at the world around him. It's quite a remarkable thing to witness. "Good head up!" I'll tell him, internalizing what I've learned in ABA: reinforce the behavior that we want to see. We talk about the things that capture his attention, teaching as we go.

When the wind blows and causes the dead leaves on the trees to rustle, Eli stops and looks. He's internalizing more, learning by living - something most children do without anyone even thinking twice about it. And I'm learning too, learning to appreciate and take note in the changing of seasons and the changing of Elijah.

Nothing ever stays the same and for that I am grateful.

Cuteness

P.S. Elijah's replacement glasses came in already. Fast service!
P.P.S. Random purple pajama photos are from January and really have nothing to do with this post.

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