A little piece of heaven

This morning I woke up at 10:30 am, simply because my body was rested and did not need more sleep. It’s been years since I’ve had such a beginning to a day. The kids are with my mom, who graciously takes them overnight on Fridays so Owen and I can have a date night. Owen was off at first light to go paintballing with his friends. And I…I was left alone to languish in bed, to rest, to recover.

No 6 am screeching baby next to my ear, burying her face into my body, nursing herself to a gentle start to the day.

No 6:30 babbling from the monitor next to my ear, Nathan’s soft voice letting me know that he’s awake, time to come get me mommy.

Ahhhh…and how I cherish this morning, all alone, no one’s needs but my own.

I love my children…I love my man….I love them all with all my heart. But this…this moment alone…how precious to me, how restorative, how lovely to be reminded that not every moment of my life is comprised of other’s needs.

I sincerely hope all my lovely mommy friends out there get to experience this every once in a while….

And now I leave you to return to my quiet joyful moments of solitude.

So I have a small triumph to report. Ever since Nathan was born, he’s slept on his belly because of his exaggerated startle reflex. As soon as he starts falling asleep he startles, his arms flail out, which wakes him up, making him unable to sleep on his back.

Well, as of this week – Nathan can now sleep on his back! His exaggerated startle reflex is GONE GONE GONE!

All we do is place him on his back, with his head on a pillow, this pillow brace in between his legs for his hips, and voila – out all night.

We are SOOO happy and thankful!! This will mean his back and hips will stay in better shape!

There are little things about life with Nathan that keep things interesting. Little things that I would’ve never in a million years imagined having to do but nowadays are second nature. Little things that have become inside jokes to us because if only people knew…

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So here are a few of them…

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* Nathan can’t really chew hard stuff, and we’re not so together that we always have soft or blended food for him…so we utilize our portable blender….called daddy or mommy’s mouth…and we pre-chew for him. So say we are somewhere where we can’t find something suitable for Nathan..we order something regular, chew it, and then stuff it in his mouth. It’s kinda funny when your kids looks at your mouth to ask for food, not at his plate 😉

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* We’re always talking about buying stock with napkin companies….Half of what goes into Nathan’s mouth dribbles out. So we make napkin bibs and cross our fingers that the napkins catch most of it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve changed diapers and found beans or pieces of chicken or lots of other stuff hiding in there.

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* Belle and Nathan are a great cleaning team, especially when Nathan is in his Pony gait trainer. Because he is leaning forward, he has extra difficulty swallowing…so he drools like crazy. So wherever we go, Nathan drools up the floor, and Belle crawls after him, cleaning it all up. Hey maybe we can rent them out as a cleaning team for supplemental income.

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* Did you know of the new delicacy called floatie water? Since we are never together enough to have a Nathan approved zippie cup with us, when we are out and about we give him water from whatever cups are available. About 80% dribbles down his mouth, but at least we get some in, right! If he’s just had a bite to eat, and we give him water, since he doesn’t swallow well, much of what is in his mouth dribbles INTO the cup…making Floatie Water! I can’t tell you how many times I have mistakenly grabbed Nathan’s cup and ended up swallowing food chunks 🙂

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In a past life I would’ve thought of these things as just horribly gross! But now, today…I find them comical. Nathan makes life interesting and entertaining! We’ve had to get over ourselves so much, in so many ways. And frankly, I like it! I like being able to laugh at stuff that in the past would’ve seemed insurmountable.

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More and more I am seeing past the “differences” and simply accepting the whole Nathan package, including the drool, the floppy head, the spastic limbs. More and more I see past the physical and into the soul of that child. And more and more I am grateful to have the opportunity to share this life with him! It’s like that onion, so many layers to peel, and the deeper I delve into it, the richer and more beautiful and delicious it becomes!

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So now that I’ve aired some of our dirty laundry, what’s yours?