New Milestones

When the kids were babies and developing rapidly every day I loved watching milestones being achieved and looked diligently for the emerging of new skills. At ages 8 and almost 6 new milestone achievements still occur, just much less frequently. I still would like to document those few that happen, nonetheless. I've written before about Aislin's sensory issues/aversions related to clothing. Sometimes issues that were originally sensory related become behavioral in nature. It is typical that transitioning from one season's clothing to the next is difficult. Warming up to new clothing is also difficult. Some of it I think is related to certain behavioral rigidities. I've learned the patterns and am learning what to expect. I've learned loose dresses and soft cotton stretch pants work well. With warmer weather approaching I knew we would somehow need to get Aislin into shorts. Back in February I went to the Carter's outlet and found 3 short and shirt sets. While she refused to try them on I was pretty confident she would eventually wear them. Nearly 8 weeks later, on a hot day, she finally decided to wear them. Once she put on one set, she could wear the other two right after. Soon after that she was able to wear a different short and shirt set from Target, this one was bought a full year ago at the end of the season, on clearance. This day she was SO proud of wearing shorts, I had to take pictures:

It's funny when other people around the neighborhood or school notice that Aislin has deviated from her typical limited wardrobe and comment about it. More than once I have gotten comments from other parents who have noticed when Aislin has worn something different. She seems to love the attention :)

The other milestone was Aislin riding with Bella's parents to her birthday party. Bella lives just down the street from us. Aislin was invited to her party, but it was during one of Blaine's baseball games. Her mother offered to pick up and drop off Aislin. I was so nervous. It was Aislin's first time riding somewhere with a friend. She has ridden with Tres and Tina many times and with other family members, but never with a friend. I was so nervous. I just knew something horrible would happen on the trip over, at the party, or on the way home. Bella's mom is really sweet and understood my anxiety. She promised to send me text messages during the party. All went well. Aislin had a great time, and I learned to let go just a little. Sometimes that is what it feels like as a parent. From the moment she left my body, I knew that life with her would be all about a balance between holding tight and letting go. I reminded myself that what I wanted for Aislin in life is to be independent and to eventually leave me, but how will she ever learn if I never let her? I'm sure this would seem overly dramatic to some parents but for me, this is how I felt. I'm sure next time will be easier. Here is a picture of my big girl waiting patiently in the driveway for Bella's parents to come and take her to the party: