Not Missing Much...

"Honey, you’re not missing a whole lot." Part of me wants my husband to believe that and part of me wants ME to believe that. But 2 things happened, one last night and one this morning, that made reality hit hard and I thought, Man, Joe is missing this.

Last night, when we were winding down for bed, Deivy and Justin ran into my room and Deivy yelled, “Mom! Mom! You gotta see this!” And I was like, “What is it?” Then Justin did the single funniest thing I think I’ve ever seen any of our kids do. Especially at his age, with his background of sort of being slow to communicate. It just made it so funny because it was so unexpected!

Justin was just looking normal, looking at me with his big, heart-shaped, solemn face. The only way I could tell that something was coming was by looking at his soft brown eyes: they sparkled with excitement and were slightly creased at the edges with the hint of a joke. He waited patiently for his cue from Deivy.

With a nod from Deivy to “Go ahead!” Justin threw his hands up in the air, stuck his tongue out, practically down to his chin, and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. I laughed and clapped for joy that my little 2-year-old was finally coming out of his shell. He was purposely trying to be funny, and achieving the right effect!

Then this morning I was helping Justin get dressed. He stepped into his shorts and I pulled them up to his waist—-maybe a little too high. He thought that was funny and pulled them up to his chest and laughed and laughed. I yelled for the kids to all come and see him. We all had a good laugh.

Two good laughs. Because of Justin, Joe---your 2-year-old-but-not-missing-much little boy. But don't worry. We'll remember and tell you when you call.