In His Sleep

Tonight Mason allowed me to sing to him, cradle him, and give him his bottle as if he were a little baby. I say ”allowed me” because at this age he is just all over the place. He is striking out and trying to show all of us that he can do it! I set him down for diaper changes and before his back even touches down on the table he’s trying to flip over. Lay him down in the tub and he tries to flip over. Leave him in the foyer for 5-10 seconds and you’ll come back to find him on the first landing of the stairs. When we tell him, “no, no” for little things like touching the TV he looks right at us and waves his arms. This as if to say, “Get out of my hair people.”


This week has been a bit melancholy for me. I’m telling you that Mason grew overnight. I put him down and then woke him up to find him genuinely bigger. He’s like a little toddler, now. Sniff, sniff.


While it may make me a bit sad to see him racing toward the 1 year old mark, I am so glad and relieved that he is progressing and developing. As I was holding him tonight I looked down into his face and felt like I was looking through a haze for just a moment. Just like that I felt I was back in the NICU looking down at him, trying to get him to nurse well enough to get off that feeding tube. It was just a moment, an impression. Phew! He is growing, he is developing, he is just fine.


At the museum today we saw a large school group of autistic children. They were all ages, all capacities. But one child caught my attention. He looked to be 6 or 7 and he was playing in the astro-tot station. This is a space experience designed for toddlers. He was having a meltdown and saying, “You said if I put on my shoes…” Anyway, it sounded exactly like a tantrum Cooper could have. But, Cooper is 2 ½. I was instantly grateful that both of my boys appear to have absolutely no problems. They are continuing to grow up, just as they should.


PHOTO NOTE: These are pictures from the morning on which I woke up “Mason the BIG.” Can you see what I’m talking about?!?!? I know Cooper noticed because when I dressed Mason this morning he said, "He looks like Crew." (Mason's younger, but larger cousin.)