I like you

I shouldn't be writing this.  It's the dead of Winter and everything seems...well, dead, or dying, or sick.  I'm just your average mom in the USA who hasn't left her house much because just when we get done circulating one sickness and I can breathe again, the school nurse calls me and tells me to high-tail it down there to pick up a crying child.  Or, (God bless her), my son's friend's mom called me to tell me my son had puked all over her living room carpet.  And me-well, I don't have time to be sick, but unfortunately, I had to make the time and also unfortunately, my toilets, my sinks, my floors, my drawers and my husband have all noticed as well.  How many times does one become bedridden without becoming depressed?

 I certainly have an appreciation for those of you out there and bedridden and sick for forever.  I'm sorry.  I'm sorry you have to go through this flu, this sickness, this cancer, this old-age thing.  I'm sorry there is not a ray of sunshine shining through your window right now.

Honestly, I've been super thankful for the Olympics, Disney, Adventures in Odyssey, the actual onion-thin pages of the Bible and the creators of This is Us for the last couple months.  Thank you for helping me get through this season.  Oh, and the book, Hillbilly Elegy.  If you haven't read it, you should.  If you like true stories.

Which brings me back to Disney.  And my June-bug.

It all started a couple weeks ago, when, in between sickness, I went to observe June in her classroom.  I usually do this once a year to check out her situation, since she can't really tell me what's going on at school.  Usually she ignores me completely while I sit at the back of the class.  I usually see her happy at circle time, steal a kiss, she wipes it off, then I leave.  I breathe a sigh of relief that things were as good as I had imagined.

Well, this time was different.  Upon entering the classroom, she turned completely around in her chair and stared straight at me.  She kept giggling like the secret was out.  "Guys. My MOM is here.  Can you believe it?"  She kept making eyes at me, and while I was trying to ignore her, I really sat there mesmerized and in disbelief.

She notices me I thought.

She likes me.  LIKES me.  I can't even believe it.  My 8 year old likes me!

I grabbed her little cheeks and looked her in the eyes and said
Mommy sees you.  And I like what you are doing here.  Thank you for having me in your class.  
I love you.
And I walked out of the classroom.
And she didn't follow me.  She sat in her little chair in the circle at the front of the classroom because that's what little third graders do.

A week later I was watching Frozen with my 5 year old. We were both sick and snuggled up on the couch.  All of the sudden June came barreling into the room and squished her body right next to mine and put her hand in mine.  I was startled.
Oh!  You want to actually watch a movie with me?  
Okay....well this has never happened.... 
And she watched the entire second half of the movie with us.
On the couch.
With her hand in my hand.
She kept looking up at me and smiling as if to tell me
Mom I like you.

I know it doesn't seem like much to some of you.  But this is HUGE for our family.  We are not your typical family that sits down and watches a movie together while mom and dad lay there zonked.  It simply doesn't happen because June doesn't care to or doesn't have the attention span for a movie.  And not that she will for every movie, but this is a small window for me into learning that she is growing up just a little, and if we have to watch Frozen once a month as a family, we will.
Because it feels so normal.

This morning my 5 year old handed me a slip of paper.  And I almost cried.

Do you?
Do you really?
Because
In between the
Iloveyous
hugsandkisses
Momineedyous

It sure is nice to be liked.

June's new happy spot.  I like it.

The perch

Lately it's been a bit comical around here with all the funny things my toddlers are doing.  You know, the usual hunting for dragons with flashlights, or using the holes in Mr Potato head for any and every extremity, or eating every extremity, or putting your hands in the potty and swishing them around a few times (I think I've mentioned this before), or just plain eating what's in the potty, or my absolute favorite...asking God daily to deliver a trampoline to our back yard.  

 Well, my daughter has been obsessed with a certain position in our house.  The funny thing is, my son was NEVER allowed to sit on this antique piece of furniture, nor would he be allowed to lounge on it and take a nap, drooling...No, he was firmly told, "No!" and redirected to another spot.  Well, one day I walked in the living room and found Iva June lying up on the coffee table, hanging out like she was sunning by the pool. I at first laughed, but then took a closer look.  She had her whole body pressed firmly against the marble tabletop (drooling and all).  I watched and waited and she did not move, so I left her there, and after thirty minutes or so she hopped on down and got back to playing (I mean, chasing strings and eating crumbs off the floor and waiting for the floor vents to blow in her face).  We have come to call this very familiar spot her perch.  What's even more spectacular is she does tricks up on the perch. She hangs her legs and arms off, does a back bend to reach toys and move wagons, all from up on the perch...  Concerned parents and therapists come by and say, "Ut-oh, she's on the coffee table. Do you want me to get her down?" "No," I always reply. "She's just hanging out on her little perch".  She gets so much joy out of it.  I don't know if she likes that she's higher up, or she likes the cold marble against her belly (she's low sensory so this is likely), or if she knows something we all don't, like you get extra energy from recharging on marble.  Either way, it's her spot, so I thought I'd take some pics:

She thinks she's hot stuff if she hangs one leg off.

I know...frightening she's resting on a laptop. My husband took this pic. Blame him.