Did she really just do that?

Yesterday afternoon was an exciting day around our house. For the past few months Morgan has been all over the house (almost). Back in January she finally learned how to control her walker with the front swivel wheels unlocked. This allowed her world to really open up and for the most part she could get to anything she wanted. However, once she got the object of her desire she was pretty much stuck. She had not figured out how to back up.

We recently went into Morgan's preschool for her IEP meeting and one of the things we discussed was that we would like to have Morgan in the next year learn how to control her walker with the brakes unlocked so she could back up. Well.... her amazing paraprofessional who we all adore (she truly is AMAZING!!!) immediately went to work (I didn't even know this, David told me the other day). Each morning for the past two week's she had been unlocking Morgan's brakes for a few minutes to begin working on this goal.

So... yesterday afternoon David told Morgan that since she had been practicing at school it was about time we start making her practice at home. He unlocked the brakes and asked her to start walking. We both were shocked that she was able to take a few steps forward. She usually relies so much on her seat and pushing backwards to get her feet forward that all she would do in the past was roll back and go now where. Well, not yesterday. Yesterday not only did she take steps forward with no brakes, but she went BACKWARDS!!!!!! Yes, my child actually for the first time in her life moved her legs BACKWARDS!!!!! Oh my gosh, I can't even describe how excited we were. We kept encouraging Morgan to do it more and at one point I said "Morgan, moonwalk." She LOVED this and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to "moonwalk" around the house. One of most exciting moments was when she decided she was hungry. She headed to the pantry like she has been able to do for a few months now and made her way into the closet. She found what she wanted and then....usually she would be stuck and would ask me to come turn her around, well not yesterday folks. She did speak up and say she needed help. But then I reminded her that she had figured out how to go backwards. With some encouraging words and guidance as to which foot to move with each step Morgan BACKED herself out of the pantry and walked over to her seat at the table for snack!!!!! I have to say that at that moment my eyes filled with tears. I was so proud of her and so excited for what this meant for her. Her world just continues to open up for her. David did get some of it on video, but of course as usual whenever our child makes amazing life changing progress she is half naked. I will try to get more video of her fully clothed and camera ready today.