milestone moments

As Ella and Ezra grew from tiny little babies into crawling exploring toddlers and into the inquiring and opinionated preschoolers they are today...their milestones were pretty obvious: sitting up, crawling, eating solid food, cruising, first words, walking, etc.

With a newly adopted child I am learning that there is a whole new spectrum of milestones worth celebrating. Milestones slightly less obvious...but milestones none the less.

• Eli came to me a week ago and told me he wanted to eat breakfast. Not by whining or pointing. But by walking over to me and saying, "Mom, Eli eat."

• For the first time ever he walked through the church with me last Sunday, holding my hand, and waving hi and flashing his winning smile to everyone that passed him. A far cry from the quiet, unsmiling, little guy who just gave stares to new people.
  

• While sitting on the couch downstairs this week Eli climbed up next to me and shyly slid his arms around my neck. His first attempt at initiating a hug. Unasked for by me.

• He fell while riding his bike down the driveway and scraped his knee and came running to me crying. The first time he has brought his boo-boo to me. The first scar I could identify.

Simple moments. Easily overlooked. But monumental moments worthy of noting.