Gentle

In general, Averi is not the most "gentle" child. For months and months now, we have been admonishing her to "Be gentle" to other children, animals, toys, and especially us. When just words didn't seem to be working, after she would scratch or pinch me, I would take her hand and rub it gently on my face and say, "Gentle" over and over again. She would allow me to demonstrate gentleness with her hand, but as soon as I let go, she would usually immediately do something very ungentle again. Although it has been a long, difficult process, we have known that gentleness is a concept that Averi must learn. Well, tonight, I saw beautiful proof that we might finally be getting through to her. As I was rocking Averi and singing to her before bed, she spontaneously turned around on my lap to face me and then gently reached up and just stroked my face again and again with a sweet smile on her face. Then after a little while, she just stopped and turned back around and snuggled up close to me. Of course, I stopped my song to praise her for being so gentle. To me, it was like Averi was saying, "I love you, Mommy" even though she didn't have the words or the signs to say that sentence. It was such a special moment for me that I got tears in my eyes and could barely finish singing the song.