Last month she learned to jump for the first time at 3 1/2.  At the beginning of the year, it broke my heart to watch her try on a classroom trampoline.  On their turn, all the other kids exuberantly bounced away.  When it was Ashlynn’s turn, all she could do was march.  Now, she is not only exuberantly bouncing, but she is catching air in my kitchen, on my patio, and even on her bed.  I was scolded for jumping on the bed, but I don’t care if she busts every spring and I have to buy  her a new one.  It’s worth it.  It’s all worth it.  Every penny spent, every happy and sad tear shed, every minute in therapy; it’s all worth it!  

She also sang to a song that she had never heard before in the car last week.  Mumford and Son’s “I Will Wait” song was on the radio.  I was singing to it, and all of a sudden I heard her.  Her little voice filling the car with the chorus.  There are no words to describe the feeling.  I will buy the CD and put the album cover in her baby book. 

These little triumphs, so sweet when  you have a child with a developmental delay.  She has taught me so much.  We may have had challenges, but we experience something so much sweeter when there are victories.  We appreciate all the little things so much more.  We never take for granted, not even for a second, her talking, her jumping, her SINGING.