My Morning Sunshine

What do I love best about my son?

There are so many things.

His big, contagious laugh.

The way he sneaks off with his sister's snack or drink, after quickly checking to make sure she isn't paying attention. He is a regular Swiper the fox. (Sis is usually too engrossed in conversation with me to even notice -- what irony.)

The proud look on his face every time he jumps off a diving board. (Go figure, the boy who loves the Shock Wave is a teensy bit intimidated by diving boards).

How he still wants me to curl up next to him each night when he goes to sleep.

His complete inability to be mean. He just wouldn't know how. Stubborn, sure. Sneaky, without a doubt. But cruelty is a foreign land to my boy. He wouldn't even be able to understand the emotions behind an act of cruelty. Because my boy, well, he just loves life. Which brings me to what I love most about my boy.

Every morning, he wakes up with the most beautiful smile.

Every single morning.

This child who cannot tell anyone his thoughts, who cannot even tell me if he feels badly, who frequently cannot, due to receptive language delays, even appreciate what his day has in store for him .....

This challenged, beautiful child wakes up with a grin and wraps his arms around me with all his might every single time I wake him up.

What a privilege it is to be the person who gets to wake him up every morning.