Life is far different for my daughter than for Sami or I and we are thrilled. We recognize that our parents did the best they could with the information they were provided and with the people who had modeled daily life for them.

We decided to treat our daughter with respect and honor from before she was born. We have always spoken to her with the knowledge she understood what we were saying. When Tesla was about 2 months old, Samantha and I had only been getting 30 min-2 hours of sleep at a time and we were seeing bunnies out the corners of our eyes. Samantha, with tear-filled eyes explained to our crying infant that if she could sleep for at least 3 full hours, she would be able to be more present, produce more milk, would physically feel much better, and she could be a better mom.

That beautiful tiny being gestured in a way that appeared to be a shrug and made a noise close to, "hmm", and rolled over. She fell asleep almost instantly and stayed asleep for about 4 hours. We knew then that things were much different from what our parents and grandparents experienced and explained them to be (even with each other).

I look at the minis way of interacting in this plane similar to what it's like to operate in the interior of Mexico when someone doesn't speak Spanish. Most can tell what is being communicated, but are unable to speak the language. This idea was reinforced when we taught Tesla sign language and she was able to communicate by signing a good while before she had learned to speak. She quickly passed the limits of my vocabulary and became my teacher.

I will do my best to continue to provide her tools that will enable her to quickly maneuver through, around, and beyond the challenges of previous generations and many challenges the current one faces.

Thanks for your post and your commitment to your family.