the littlest of things.

Anyone with a child with special needs will tell you that you will quickly begin to rejoice in the little things. Tiny. Obscure. Little. Things.

And you won't really know when or what you will be rejoicing.

For us, we hit a recent milestone when we could finally put pillowcases on her pillows again. Sounds funny but Maddy used to crawl inside the pillow case with the pillow in it and rock against the wall or the side of her bed. We could understand her wanting that type of closeness but really didn't want her to suffocate in the process.

She has not had a pillow case on her pillow for well over a  year now. Sometimes we would catch her in her sisters' room in their pillow cases just rocking for the fun of it. So we had to be very careful about where she was and what she was doing.

Then a few weeks ago when she was sick with the stomach flu, on a whim, I put Justin's pillow in there so she could sit up higher and make her tummy feel better. I didn't even THINK about the pillow case. She didn't bother it. So I kept it in there. And then a few days later put a new pillow case on the other pillow and still nothing.

Last night I bought her new bedding for her bed. Pillow cases and shams and all. I was so excited to finally be able to "trust" her with her bedding.

It sounds so odd. I know it does. But it's so great.

This is what I mean by the littlest of things. Most parents don't get a thrill from buying their kids a pillowcase.

Lately she has let me put her hair in pigtails and gets overly excited when she sees her cute little piggies in the mirror. She loves them. Now what is still sort of a struggle is getting easier. She's understanding that I'm not trying to torture her by fixing her hair. I'm making her "pretty" and she can grasp what "pretty" means. In relation to a 2 year old, anyway.

It is so fascinating watching her come out of her autism shell. Every parent gets excited when their child starts to talk and interact with them. When you have worked as hard as we have and continue to work, it's even more thrilling. It's hard sometimes when she does things that we know she can do better at. When she throws a tantrum and we get frustrated but then have to remember she is still TWO after all. So that isn't necessarily an "autism tantrum" but just a normal "two year old - I don't want to do anything you tell me" tantrum.

All of this work...while we are so very tired...is very much worth it. For every little moment. Every little blessing that God shows us through Maddy. Worth it.

So we'll keep on. Worn and tired but inspired by something so little as a pillow case.