Gwen's Father's Day Gifts

There are many moments in a father's life that make his heart swell with pride. Needless to say, even the sight of the girls at snack time can for some reason render me a bit misty sometimes. And as you can guess, in their nearly 21 months of life, there have been countless times that have caused pause for reflection and thanks. (Some for serious reasons, some funny and some that I can't really explain at all.)

This past week, our little Gwendolyn had a pair of special Father's Day gifts to share ahead of the big day. As we mentioned earlier, she had her first aqua therapy session on Friday. While she obviously has a ways to go (and that's precisely why she's getting this form of P.T.) she did quite well. Taking into account it was her first time in a pool of that size, she didn't have a "freak out" moment whatsoever as I had feared she might. And while she was a little apprehensive about the whole experience altogether, she really did well by the end of her session.

Her biggest issue right now is a lack of strength in her glutes. While she was able to stand for 20 minutes against the side of the pool unaided, she did have a tendency to lean forward as her body attempted to balance itself while she was taking "steps" in the pool aided by her therapist. So, he gave us some exercises for Gwen to try at home and there is now an optimistic hope that she progresses each week. In fact, Mom took the ball and ran with it on Gwen's P.T. "homework"... Yep, I'm staring at an inflatable pool on our patio right now. Of course, I've been told by Mom that the only true reason for the pool is to "work" with Gwen. (wink, wink, nod, nod)

We also had mentioned earlier that Gwen was inching closer to crawling. She'd get into the correct position and sort of "scoot" forward but she still hadn't quite mastered the whole experience yet. As Mom and I have come to realize, all things happen on Ms. Gwendolyn's time schedule and not ours. That was more evident than ever on Saturday when she finally figured out the process in what seemed like a nanosecond. By the end of the day, she was crawling the length of the living room, stopping only from time-to-time to engage in her saying new favorite sound: "Oooooooooooh." It was almost as if Gwendolyn was marveling in her progress right along with Mom and I.

If you'd like to see Gwen in action, please feel free to check it out by clicking here.

So, between her UTI false alarm, the good experience Gwen had during her initial aqua therapy session and mastering the wonderful world of crawling, there have been quite a few moments of tears for Dad this weekend.

And as I sat on our sofa this morning, a girl perched upon each knee, it dawned to me that the best gifts really are the most simplistic of all!!!

Happy Father's Day everyone... I know it will be a joyful day for us.