A Wonderful 18 Months!

Oh, I am getting so confused with Adi's month-days. Whether she turned 18 months on the last day of Pesach or on April 22nd, let's celebrate now!

(Photos taken shortly after Adel's Jewish 18 months birthday)

And what better way to celebrate than with a look at some of her latest and greatest accomplishments?

But this time, the accomplishments are of a different sort. They are not physical, not cognitive, or emotional.
What Adel accomplished is changing me. And it wasn't over the last month; it was over the last eighteen months.

I always heard parents of special needs kids say that their kids changed them, and now I see what they mean.

Adel redefined my definition of beauty. She opened my eyes and made me more sensitive and patient.
There are two men that work in the library to which we go that I thought were somewhat strange. Like, if the little kids' program finishes at 3:30, and one child is finishing up their arts and crafts, the program leader lets them stay longer. But if one of those men come in, they say that the program is over and everyone needs to leave. They don't get angry- they say it very matter-of-factly, but you can see that a breach of rules, no matter how small, bothers them. There is a no eating rule at the library, but most librarians would overlook a mother spoon-feeding a baby from a jar. These two workers would not.
I used to think, "What's the big deal? Why can't they loosen up a little?" They would also say awkward things sometimes (like when I took a photo of the library's schedule calendar, they were discussing in front of me why I would do that rather than taking a paper. I didn't mind, but most people wouldn't do that.)
Now it's so obvious to me that they have Asperger's Syndrome, and I am amazed that I didn't realize it before. They are overly proper, are afraid of breaching rules, socially awkward... But before, I wasn't in tune with people like this. Now I am. Now when they enter the room during an activity, I don't think what will they try to correct next (a child who decides to do the craft differently than the librarian showed?) I'm much more at ease with who they are and their personalities.

And that is just one tiny example. I feel as if Adel changed my whole outlook on life... made me embrace differences all that much more. And she continues to shape me.

But who am I kidding?
Of course I will also add in some of Adel's personal accomplishments.

This funny girlie is answering me when I ask her a question. She's been doing it for a couple of weeks, but I kept thinking it's just a coincidence. When she'd hear a questioning intonation, she'd reply with a monosyllabic yap like uh or heh or na. But recently she really bloomed. I ask her a question and she says, "Ye" or"Yo." It's the cutest thing in the world.
"Adi wants to put on this sock?"
"Ye!"
"Adi wants to put on this sock?"
"Yooo."
"Adi has shichalach?"
"Yoooo."
"Adi is baby?"
"Ye."

Excuse me while I go eat my one-and-a-half year old sweetie.