Here comes the sun…

Here comes the sun!! I mean that both figuratively AND literally; after months of mostly being stuck in the -30 to -45 Celsius region (for my friends elsewhere, that is about -22 F to -49 F…yeah, I’m dead serious), this weekend we finally felt the strong warmth of the sun as we hit -7 today!!! “Whoop whoop” (I say in my head, in my very best Will Smith voice 😉 ) Whether it was the boost of vitamin D or not, we had a spectacular Sunday here, and I cannot wait to tell you about it.

Our bug has been going through so many positive changes lately, it just warms my heart. He is so interactive, so involved with us, in a way that he never was prior to a few months ago. And days like today, with MORE new and encouraging things happening, make all of the tough times that much more manageable.

After being quite sick yesterday, Scott woke up feeling much healthier today. So, as per our usual Sunday morning unspoken agreement, I nursed Lydia when she woke up (just before 8 A.M.) and he took the kiddos, while this mama got another hour or 2 of decadent snoozing time. Is there any better feeling than knowing that you can go back to bed, and snuggle right in, for an hour or two of UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP? (as a mom of 3 little ones, I can tell you that this RARELY happens) Nope, not much beats that, my friends! I didn’t even have my usual strange morning dreams, I just slept soundly, all snuggled up to my 3 pillows (yes, I’m a high-maintenance sleeper with my 3 pillows)…

I began waking on my own around 9:30, and a few minutes later, in came Scott. He was carrying our darling Lydia, and Evy came running alongside them & gave me the BIGGEST smile ever. He came straight over, giggling like crazy, and climbed up on the bed to sit on me. (Seriously, right on my chest. Ha!!) He took my face in his hands, looking in to my eyes & studying them closely, and smiling (and of course drooling a bit) from ear to ear. I could feel how much he loves me, even though he cannot yet consistently articulate it with words. It was so very strong at that moment that my heart could have exploded with happiness! We played on the big king bed, laughing and rolling around, until Miss Lydia needed to be nursed for her morning nap. He whined for “mommy” when I said we had to be all done for the time being. He says “dada” so often, “mama” once in a blue moon, but that wonderful word “MOMMY” had NEVER come out of his mouth before today.

I then asked what the plan was for breakfast: “maybe we could do blueberry banana pancakes again?”, I asked hopefully. (Scott is the “top chef” in the house, I’m more like the “top cleaner-upper”) I was then informed that everyone had already eaten…and my inner child sort of went “boo-hoo”…but then Scott showed me a video: Evrett had eaten his own yogurt for breakfast, with a spoon, and almost NO. HELP. This was music to my sleepy ears!! For those who may not know–Evy basically only eats a few foods, mostly: toast, granola or protein bars, crackers, or dry cereal. And he has difficulty coordinating muscle movements (called “ataxia”-because the white matter in the brain is what communicates between the grey matter). So the fact that he A) actually ate yogurt, and B) served HIMSELF, with a SPOON and minimal help was absolutely amaaaaazing news.

Once Lydia was down for her nap, I grabbed my coffee and joined the boys in the dining area…where Cody was trying to pry iPad from Evrett (they had been playing Codys’ monster truck game together, and Evy gets so sad when playtime is over). Cody put iPad away, high on the counter out of Evys’ reach, and the tears began to fall. He came over to me (just as I was trying to get my first sip of coffee, geez kiddo, let mamabear have her fuel!), grabbed me by the hand to pull me to help him get it back…and just as I thought to myself “oh for god sake!”…my darling bug said that glorious word again:

“Mommy?”

(Oh little bug, you have no idea how it feels to hear you say my name that way. Please say it every day!!)

As the day went on, bug had more and more to say. We cannot understand the majority of what he is telling us just yet, but the important thing is that he is TRYING. We FaceTimed with his Grandma and Papa, who live 8 hours away in Winnipeg, and he voluntarily came over to look in the camera. He made eye contact, and even said “hi there” (3 whole times!!) in response to their “hellos”. All of this from a little guy who, only a couple of months ago, would not have even bothered to look at the faces on the phone.

Once again, my heart jumped for joy.

It was not only our darling bug, but Cody and Lydia as well, who had an awesome day. Lydia struck up a lovely conversation with a cute little girl. She touched her face, smiled at her, and made all sorts of new sounds. All while in the comfort of mommys’ bedroom…yup, she was having a visit with her twin in the mirror, ha!! It was just adorable, and when she caught sight of me snapping a picture, she did her happy “cackle”. I should explain the cackling: when Missyloo is happy (which is our nickname for Lydia) she makes this adorable cackling sound, like some happy little witch! A good witch, though 😉 She cackled up a storm with the girl in the mirror today, what a sight!

And our big boy, Cody (whom we affectionately call “Spunkin”), got to DRIVE the snowmobile for the first time!! Of course, daddy was holding him the entire time (and I assure you, they were on a wide-open lake so there was virtually no danger), but Cody had such a blast getting to be the big guy today! He even showed me how fast it went, by running around the house and imitating the noises the engine made. (How it doesn’t hurt his throat to make rumbling noises like that, I will never know…) Then, as I was cutting a cucumber up for supper, he stood across from me over the counter, looked at me with his big beautiful blue eyes (with the longest lashes ever!) and floored me with this adorable question: “Mom, why do they call it a cucumber? Because it’s “cute” and it’s also a “cumber”?”

Right on cue, my heart did another happy dance. How much do I love these sweethearts?! More than I could possibly put in to words.

For what feels like forever, we have had to sneak liquid omega 3, and a baby vitamin called “poly-vi-sol” in to Evretts milk, bit by bit, every day. He would not crunch up other vitamins, and sneaking a true multivitamin in liquid form in to his milk was a definite no-no (he could taste it too much, and would spit it everywhere). Even Pediasure was a iffy…sometimes he would drink it when mixed in his milk, and sometimes he would spit it out like it was toxic. We would come in to his room to find his crib soaked in a yucky milky-pediasure mixture…and it would be laundry time. yet AGAIN. Since his 3rd birthday (on Valentines Day) we have had some candy left in his box from daycare, and I would often try sneaking a few of the vitamin gummies I had purchased in with the other ones he enjoyed…with no success. Ugh! He would get to one of the vitamin gummies, not even look at it, but once he tasted it, this look of disgust just spread across his sweet face, and he would spit it out in a messy glob. Yuck…. But tonight, right before bedtime, Evrett actually ate his Omega 3 and Multi-Vitamin gummies for the first. time. EVER.  Hallelujah!!!! PROGRESS!!!!!!!

And for what felt like the hundredth time today, my heart danced with joy. I look forward to many more happy days as spring approaches…

Here comes the sun, indeed.