Grateful

I lived this past week with more thankfulness and appreciation for my little tot.  With last weekend's uncertainty, I tried not to worry until I heard the definitive news from the doctors, but I must have been nervous because on Tuesday's drive in to work, my stomach was twisted in knots and I struggled to get organised for a routine day of school.  Jackson's bubbly attitude and energetic playfulness was reassuring, but after dealing with such a fragile situation for three days, it was hard to just forget how 'up-in-the-air' things were during the weekend.

After the hospital room and amenities, I was also more thankful for our house which feels much bigger now, having our own refrigerator in which we have food that we don't have to label, and free parking for our car in our driveway.  Surprisingly, I was also happy to do four loads of laundry today and catch-up on other household chores that obviously didn't get done last weekend.  It was really nice to have a quiet, productive day at home--something that I may have not appreciated as much before last week's uncertainty.  The dirty diapers, screaming tantrums, and other lovely little perks of raising a toddler that popped up this week also didn't bother me as much as they may have before. 

I'm not trying to be morbid or dramatic; I was just surprised at how much seeing my little baby sick, stuck in a hospital room quarantined away, and seeing the doctors' concerned faces when they noticed his developing rash adjusted my thinking.  It also created more empathy in me for the families that were in the hospital before we got there and were still there when we left.  The worry that parents must have for their children who have serious illnesses must be debilitating.  I don't know how I would function if I were in their shoes.

So, I'm thankful to God for the doctors, medicine, His healing, and Jackson's strong spirit and good health.  We made it another week and I am grateful.

Another set from his two-year-old photo shoot

Developmental updates:  Jackson has come along really well with his new words and phrases.  This week's additions include "pretzel," "red," "blue," "help," "Benedict (his new friend at nursery)," "thank you," "hiya (a Northwestern English greeting)," "one, two, three, four, five, seven, nine, ten," "witch (inspired by Halloween decorations at nursery)," "yogurt," and "Huh? What?"  He started tricking us by pretending to need help by burying himself under some couch cushions.  His other trick was 'falling' while he was chasing me, making me go back to check on him, and then jumping up and laughing because his ruse worked.  Today, at football practice, Jackson sat in the centre of the circle during warm-ups and he looked like he was leading the group.  When a couple of children's footballs rolled into the middle, he kindly rolled them right back to them like a true professional.  Jackson started eating apples whole, one tiny toddler bite at a time, and even nearly polished a whole Pink Lady apple off today.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.