Mean people suck....

A week ago today, Noelle received her "magic" shoes. A physical therapist that has been seeing her recommended AFO's (Ankle-Foot Orthotics) to help her progress with her walking. FYI...This is just another sign that she is just like her Auntie! I also had "magic" shoes when I was kid. Recently, Kelly and I were going through a bag of stuff from when we were little and there were my "magic" shoes. They weren't as cute as Noelle's but I guess they make improvements after 30 years. Go figure

Noelle looks totally cute with her little shoes on!!!

The people in this world continue to amaze me! I work with people with development disabilities and see on a daily basis how people with disabilities are treated. The majority of the time I have good experiences and don't run into many people that "make fun of" or mistreat my clients. I really thought that times of changed and people are more understanding and compassionate. But then last week I was reminded that this isn't a perfect world and there are people that find joy in making fun of others. I have never personally had a family member effected by a physical or mental disability but I have always been taught to treat people the way I would want to be treated. Since Noelle received her "magic" shoes a new chapter in my family's life has been opened. Noelle doesn't have a physical or mental disability however it has taken her a little more time to progress with her gross motor skills. Since she received her "magic" shoes a few ignorant people have found joy in making fun of her. Remarks were made like "where's the laidlaw bus" and "what is she retarded". First of all, even if she was "retarded", who cares and why would make fun of someone who was? What kind of comment is that? Second, who makes fun of a small child? Hearing that this actually happened made me sick. I got a sick feeling in my stomach and it made me even more mad that there was nothing that I could do. People are just ignorant and that isn't going to change.... If only I could change the world.

The good news is Noelle has made a lot of progress with her walking in the last couple of weeks. This weekend she walked from the back bedroom at my house to the kitchen all by herself. She definitely prefers to walk on her knees but hopefully in time she will see how much more comfortable it is walking on her feet vs. her knees. I'm so proud of her. She has picked up a couple of words..."Thank You", "Shoe", "Dog" and "That". She also picked up the sign for "eat". I was totally excited about that because I have been working with her for a long time on that one. Now, I need to find a new sign to teach her....

We had a great weekend together. I love having her here with me. I'm really lucky to have the opportunities that I do to see both her and Thomas as much as I do. Here's a little video of her walking. The second one is Noelle trying to put her sandal on over her "magic" shoe. Totally cute.